December 2-December 15, 2015 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— Page 15
Colorado Springs/So. Front Range
by Jennifer Hayes
A Greenwood Village-based
buyer continues to grow its
Colorado Springs portfolio,
most recently with the purchase
of a pair of properties for $23.6
million.
Vukota Capital Management
paid $18.35 million for the 312-
unit Residence at Austin Bluffs
and $5.25 million for the 92-unit
Chestnut Springs.
Both Residence at Austin
Bluffs and Chestnut Springs
combine historically high
occupancies, 94 percent and 96
percent, respectively, over the
past 12 months with convenient
locations and recent capital
improvements, noted CBRE
Group Inc.
“This transaction dem-
onstrates the value of wisely
investing in strategic assets in
a growing market like Colora-
do Springs,” said Jake Young,
senior associate, CBRE. “The
capital improvements made to
date have helped ensure consis-
tent tenant demand over time
and the opportunity for addi-
tional renovations combined
with rent growth sets the stage
for promising yields for the new
owner.”
Young, along with CBRE’s
Dan Woodward, Dave Potarf
and Matt Burnett, all of CBRE’s
Denver Multifamily Investment
Properties group, represented
the seller, The Lighthouse Group
of Pacific Palisades, California.
The seller had owned and
managed both properties for
more than six years and invested
in “significant” capital improve-
ments, including more than $2.5
million in Residence at Austin
Bluffs and more than $650,000 at
Chestnut Springs. The upgrades
included updated appliances,
countertops, lighting, floor-
ing and hardware; new HVAC
systems; upgrades to exterior
doors, windows, gates, railings
and electrical; and pool, roof
and pavement improvements.
TheResidence atAustinBluffs,
constructed in 1971, is located
at 4110-4380 Morning Sun Ave.,
at the intersection of Academy
Boulevard and Austin Bluffs
Parkway in the Palmer Park
submarket. Chestnut Springs,
built in 1969, is located at 4315-
4331 N. Chestnut St., just off
Garden of the Gods Road and
Interstate 25 and adjacent to the
Colorado Technical University.
Brady O’Donnell, executive
vice president with CBRE’s
Debt and Structured Finance,
arranged financing for the
buyer. Vukota also recently
acquired the Villages at Wood-
men and Wind River communi-
ties in Colorado Springs.
Other News
n
A 193,000-square-foot for-
mer Boeing rocket plant at
Pueblo Airport Industrial Park
will be redeveloped as the larg-
est CBD (cannabidiol) and hemp
processing plant in the country.
The
city of Pueblo
recent-
ly granted the newly formed
hemp oil processing company
CBD BioSciences,
a joint ven-
ture between O.penVape and
Thar Process, millions in capital
incentives.
“We all know terms like Sil-
icon Valley and the Research
Triangle. What this announce-
ment does today is put Pueblo
on the map as the Silicon Val-
ley of hemp,”
Sal Pace,
Pueblo
County Commissioner, said in
a release.
CBD BioSciences will receive
$4.89 million in an economic
incentive package to purchase
equipment and retool the plant,
which is projected to employ
163 people by November 2018.
The city’s half-cent sales tax
will partially fund the incentive
package.
CBD Biosciences’ incentive
package also includes a separate
pledge by the city of $3 million
to assist with the remodeling of
the Boeing building, owned by
the city, which has been vacant
since 2004.
CBD BioSciences is a recent-
ly launched joint venture
between the market leaders in
the hemp oil extraction indus-
try. O.penVAPE is the leading
global brand in medical and
consumer cannabis oil products.
Thar Process is the worldwide
leader in the chemistry and the
technology behind essential oil
extraction from a wide variety
of crops.
Hemp is an environmentally
friendly and textile-ready natu-
ral fiber while CBD oil offers
potential in the medical field.
“The United States is the larg-
est global market for foreign
hemp sourced primarily from
China. Let's change that,” said
Barbara Vidmar,
chairman of
the Pueblo Economic Develop-
ment Corp.
“Rarely, if ever, have we at
PEDCO been involved in the
birth of an industry that offers
so much potential for job cre-
ation,” said
Jeff Shaw,
vice
president of PEDCO. “What
other industry opens the door
for economic cluster opportuni-
ties including industrial textiles
(such as ropes and carpets), con-
sumer textiles (such as apparel
and bulk fabric), paper (such
as cardboard, printing paper,
and specialty paper), building
materials (such as fiberboard,
concrete, and insulation) and
even foods (such as granola,
food supplements, and cooking
oils)?”
The partnership between
CBD BioSciences and Pueblo
will extend into education and
workforce training. The compa-
ny will work with universities
and educational institutions in
the area to create an industrial
hemp technology ecosystem.
This includes the establishment
of a Global Hemp Center for
Innovation to promote scientific
research and educational con-
ferences.
n
Aprivate investor based out
of California acquired a Colo-
rado Springs self-storage facility
earlier this fall.
The buyer, which owns multi-
ple self-storage facilities nation-
ally, paid $5 million for the Stet-
son Hills Self Storage property,
according to public records.
Located at 5210 Tamlin Road,
on the east side of Colorado
Springs, the 49,680-sf property
comprises 217 storage units and
580 outdoor parking spaces. The
facility, built in two phases in
2003 and 2007, is fully fenced
and gated with 24-hour secu-
rity and keypad gate access.
The facility also is situated on
approximately 16.4 acres of
land, allowing for expansion
opportunities in the future.
The
LeClair Group
consisting
of
Adam Schlosser
and
Chico
LeClaire
in
Marcus & Millic-
hap’s
Denver office represented
the seller. The pair also procured
the buyer.
n
A 29-unit apartment prop-
erty in an “up-and-coming”
area of Colorado Springs recent-
The Residence at Austin Bluffs, pictured above, and Chestnut Springs communities were purchased by Vukota
Capital Management out of Greenwood Village.
