by John Rebchook
While the sale price
wasn’t released, records
show that Invesco Real
Estate recently paid $125
million for the 518-unit
Retreat at Park Meadows.
It is believed to be the
largest apartment commu-
nity sale in the southeast
corridor submarket since
the 1,184-unit Palomino
Park sold about a decade
ago for $176 million.
However, Palomino Park
sold for $148,649 per unit,
while the Retreat at Park
Meadows sold for $241,313
per unit.
“On a per-unit basis,
for sure, this was a record
sales price for this area,”
said Jordan Robbins, a
managing director at Hol-
liday Fenoglio Fowler LP,
who represented the sell-
er in the transaction with
HFF Associate Director Jeff
Haag.
The seller was PNC Real-
ty Investor Inc., acting as
investment adviser to the
AFL-CIO Building Invest-
ment Trust.
Records indicate PNC
purchased the property in
2002 for $56.5 million, or
$109,073 per unit.
The Retreat at Park
Meadows was developed
by the Morgan Group and
opened in 2000.
None of the units had
been upgraded since it was
built 15 years ago.
“I wouldn’t say it is total-
ly unusual, but what that
does is create an ideal situ-
ation as a value-add play,”
Robbins said.
Buyers,
he
said,
know they can receive a
much higher yield from
improved properties than
from units that they buy at
market rates.
“Invesco is going to
be putting quite a bit of
money into the individual
units and the exterior,”
Robbins said.
“A year from now, this
property is going to look
quite a bit different, on the
inside and the outside,”
Robbins said.
“I think Invesco will do
very well with this prop-
erty,” he said.
Because of its location,
size and the value-add
component, Invesco had a
great deal of competition
from other buyers.
“There was a ton of inter-
est,” from prospective buy-
ers, Robbins said.
“We had a lot of national
players interested in buy-
ing it,” Robbins said.
“A lot of the buyers inter-
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
A sale-leaseback with a
Chicago buyer netted Rocky
Mountain Instrument $13 mil-
lion for its 89,360-square-foot
headquarters facility on 8.7
acres in Lafayette.
Zaragon Inc., a real estate
investment and management
company, purchased the prop-
erty at 106 Laser Drive. RMI
signed a 20-year lease with the
new owner.
The property includes excess
land, which Zaragon is making
available for a build-to-suit up
to 60,000 sf. CBRE Inc. is mar-
keting the property to users
looking to establish a presence
or relocate within the north-
west corridor submarket.
CBRE’s Jeremy Ballenger,
who handled the transaction
with CBRE’s Jim Bolt and Tyler
Carner, said the transaction
demonstrated the strength of
the market, drawing a broad
range of potential buyers. The
acquisition was Zaragon’s first
by Jennifer Hayes
There wasn’t one defin-
ing moment that led Adam
Harding to architecture.
Rather, it was a passion for
drawing and being creative
that led Harding to a career
in design. That is, after he
learned in his first architec-
ture class what a façade was.
“I remember we were told
to go out and find examples
of facades and I had to ask
what a façade was,” laughed
Harding, AIA, LEED AP, and
project architect with Roth
Sheppard Architects.
Yet in less than 12 years
Harding has gone from ask-
ing what a façade is to win-
ning not only AIA-Denver
Young Architect of the Year
in 2014 and 2015 Young
Architect of the Year for AIA-
Colorado but also recently
being named the American
Institute of Architects West-
ern Mountain Region’s 2015
Young Architect of the Year.
“It is a huge honor to have
been presented this award
by my Western Mountain
Region peers,” said Harding.
“Being worthy of this level
of recognition was a goal I
set for myself after becoming
licensed. I continually push
myself to be the best archi-
tect I can be, so to be selected
at this point in my career
is indeed humbling. This
award will forever serve as a
reminder to strive to be the
best I can be.”
Self-accountability has
been a hallmark to Harding’s
young career, which started
at Roth Sheppard following
graduation from the Uni-
versity of Colorado Boulder
with a degree in environ-
mental design in 2004. Hard-
ing became a licensed archi-
tect at the age of 29.
“I am a big proponent of
self-accountability, setting
goals and reaching them,”
explained Harding. “But it’s
not about the destination, it
is about the path taken and
the people encountered.”
“Adam’s work is impact-
ful beyond the confines of a
specific project. It influences
the entire office and our
desire to raise the level of
design expectation through-
out the region,” said Jeffrey
Sheppard, AIA, co-founder
and design principal of Roth
Sheppard. “It is rare that a
young architect has the abil-
ity, passion and conviction
to influence the culture of an
office and the environment
that surrounds us. Adam
has done this, not only with
his design and management
skills but also with his dedi-
cation to improvement.”
“I have known Adam
personally and profession-
ally for over 15 years. He is
an exceptional individual
and leader, and a percep-
tive architect with boundless
energy, discipline, dedica-
tion and passion for this
work and the profession of
architecture,” added Herb
Roth, FAIA, co-founder and
principal of Roth Sheppard
Architects.
Over his career, Harding
has overseen a number of
public- and private-sector
projects as a designer and
project architect at the firm,
including Izakaya Den,
MillerCoors Blue Moon
Brewery, the Boulder Mod-
ern Market (formerly named
Modmarket) restaurant,
Breckenridge Brewery’s Ale
House at Amato’s restaurant,
Riverside Library and Cul-
tural Center in Evans and the
Cherry Hills Village/South
Metro Fire Rescue Joint Pub-
lic Safety Building.
“The work that we do is
very thoughtful, design-
driven and a lot of fun. We
always are pushing the
boundaries, pushing think-
ing to new creative ways,”
said Harding. “It’s recog-
nizing places being special,
recognizing the importance
of what we do here – creat-
ing spaces that are unique,
comfortable – creating a
community.”
It is this creating of a com-
munity that is especially
rewarding to Harding, who
relishes the challenging
transformation of an idea
into a physical place people
can experience.
“Designing is my No. 1
love with this work,” added
Harding, who attributes his
success to being accountable
and doing what he says he is
going to do; the support of
his peers and mentors, Shep-
pard and Roth; as well as the
atypical route he took – fore-
going graduate school to get
hands-on design experience
right away.
“The past 11 years have
flown by.”
Harding also advocates
giving back and is active in
outreach with AIA, mentor-
ing CU students, mentoring
interns within Roth Shep-
pard’s own office and par-
ticipating in the firm’s So
You Want To Be An Architect
program for high school stu-
dents.
Outside of the office, Hard-
ing enjoys snowboarding
and riding bikes. However,
he is most excited about the
arrival of his and wife Jen-
na’s first child in February.
s
Adam Harding
SECTION AA
Rocky Mountain Instrument sold its facility in Lafayette in a sale-leaseback transaction.
