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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— December 2-December 15, 2015
an even stronger tourism and
visitor base,” Underdahl said.
“I think all of these new hotel
rooms will increase Cherry
Creek North’s visibility and
these tourists and visitors will
really support the restaurants
and retailers in Cherry Creek
North,” she said.
Also, there currently are less
than 50 residential units in the
heart of Cherry Creek North.
The 250 Columbine mixed-
use project will bring 71 new,
high-end condos to Cherry
Creek North.
And in the greater area,
including apartments, the resi-
dential base is skyrocketing.
“The number being bandied
about is that maybe 1,500 new
residential units will be open-
ing in the area,” she said.
Underdahl thinks there are
three main driving forces for
the success and growth of the
increasingly diverse Cherry
Creek North.
“When we step back and
look at why this is happening,
I think it comes back to these
reasons:
“No. 1, the regulatory frame-
work. The Cherry Creek Area
plan has been updated and we
have new zoning in place to
replace the 20-year-old design
guidelines.
“No. 2, Denver’s boom-
ing economy and its ability to
attract millennials and entre-
preneurs. We’re benefiting from
where we are in the real estate
cycle right now, with local play-
ers like Matt Joblon making big
investments in Cherry Creek
North and new investors com-
ing here,” Underdahl said.
No. 3 is Cherry Creek’s walk-
ability.
“The trend in Denver, and
nationwide, is that people are
being drawn to urban, walk-
able areas. In Cherry Creek
North, you can park your car
and walk to whatever you
need, whether it is a great res-
taurant or a great retailer.
“And if you stay in one of our
existing or new hotel rooms,
you don’t even need a car. You
just have to step out of your
room and start walking to your
destination.”
Meanwhile, by the num-
bers, here is some information
gathered by the Cherry Creek
North Business Improvement
District:
n
Assessed Valuation.
The
total assessed valuation in
2014 in Cherry Creek North of
$159.2 million represents 1.4
percent of the total in the city
and county of Denver.
n
Jobs.
Businesses in Cherry
Creek North employed approx-
imately 6,800 workers in 2014,
with 3,350 office workers earn-
ing an average annual salary
of $142,500 and 3,450 workers
in the retail, hospitality and
other personal services earning
an average salary of $28,800.
However, the average annual
salary for retail, hospitality and
personal service employees
does not necessarily represent
full-time working status.
n
Real Estate.
Cherry Creek
North recorded a fourth-
quarter retail vacancy rate of
3.9 percent, the lowest level
recorded since the start of the
data series in the first quarter
of 2006. Cherry Creek North
vacancy rates were lower than
those throughout metro Den-
ver and the city and county of
Denver at the end of 2014.
s
Map showing construction in Cherry Creek North
ly traded in a $1.78 million
transaction.
Local company
625 Hatha-
way LLC
purchased The Land-
ings at Aero Flats community
at 625 Hathaway Drive.
Hatha-
way Partners LLC
was the seller.
“This location has some of
the best job growth stories in
the entire city, which caught
the buyer’s attention. FedEx is
building a $20 million distribu-
tion center within a half-mile
while Sierra Nevada is build-
ing an $88 million facility that
will employ more than 2,100
people at the nearby airport
park. Located only 10 minutes
from the property, Raytheon
also announced plans to add
700 employees to its workforce
by the end of 2016,” said
Saul
Levy
of
ARA Newmark.
Levy and ARA Newmark’s
Kevin McKenna
represented
the seller of the 1960s property,
where total population, since
2000, has grown 18.9 percent
within a 5-mile radius.
The acquisition represented
the first multifamily acquisition
by the buyer in the Colorado
Springs market, however, it
owns other multihousing prop-
erties in Denver.
“The rare unit mix was one
of the most attractive features
about this property,” added
Levy. “The property consists of
100 percent occupied three-bed-
room, 1½-bath, 1,000-square-
foot floor plans. Effective rents
were below 75 cents per square
foot at the time of sale and the
buyer will be able to push rents
aggressively after exterior reno-
vations.”
Two-thirds of the unit inte-
riors at The Landings at Aero
Flats already have been reno-
vated with new cabinets, coun-
tertops, tile backsplashes and
updated bathrooms.
n
Astride A Starship LLC
recently purchased the Manitou
Masonic Temple at 455 El Paso
Blvd. in Manitou Springs.
The buyer paid $450,000 for
the 6,644-sf building situated on
a 1.04-acre site.
NAI Highland LLC’s Brendan
Clarke
handled both sides of the
sale. The building was sold by
the
Manitou Masonic Building
Board.
n
Synergy Real Estate
leased
10,623 sf of office space at 5225
N. Academy Blvd. in Colorado
Springs.
It leased the space from
100
Wadsworth & Wychy LLC.
Weston Thomas
of
Cushman
& Wakefield, a Cushman &
Wakefield Alliance
handled the
transaction.
s
purchases, it is less of an issue on
construction projects where the
drone flight will be limited to the
project site, which the company
controls.
Drone-related privacy issues
focus generally on an individ-
ual’s reasonable expectation of
privacy. Again, this is less of
an issue on a construction site
where anyone present is likely
to be involved in the project, but
could be more of an issue when
drones are used for inspection
of existing buildings and infra-
structure. In such situations, the
drone could gather, or be per-
ceived to be gathering, images
and information about persons,
structures and activities on adja-
cent properties. Construction
companies should appreciate
these potential privacy concerns
and establish UAS operational
protocols to control and docu-
ment the purpose of each UAS
flight.
It is important to recognize
that legislation related to prop-
erty rights and privacy issues
may vary from state to state,
and is increasingly becoming
the subject of local government
ordinances as well. Construction
companies are well advised to
stay informed of state and local
UAS regulations in the location
of each project.
Finally, there are numerous
business issues that construc-
tion companies must consider
when integrating drones into
their operations. For example,
do not assume that your com-
mercial general liability poli-
cy covers sUAS operations; it
probably does not. A growing
number of insurers, however,
now offer UAS-specific policies.
Also, do not overlook intellec-
tual property issues. Who owns
drone-gathered project data
– the construction company or
the ultimate project owner? The
issue becomes more complicated
when the company is contract-
ing with a vendor for drone ser-
vices. Construction companies
must carefully consider these
and other risk management and
practical issues related to sUAS
operations.
Construction
companies
wanting to realize the full
potential of drones must care-
fully monitor the evolving fed-
eral, state and local UAS regu-
lations, and put in place prac-
tices and procedures to ensure
compliance and minimize risks
just as they do with many other
aspects of their business. If they
do, and if recent experience is
an indication of what the future
holds, drones may become as
common and ubiquitous on
construction sites as hard hats
and cranes.
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