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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— April 6-April 19, 2016
Retail
by John Rebchook
Jeff Johnson and Matt Ritter
of Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors
recently represented a partner-
ship that paid $5.35 million for a
43,770-square-foot shopping cen-
ter at the western edge of Wheat
Ridge.
The buyer of Independence
Square at 4980 and 4990 Kipling
St., just north of Interstate 70, is
a tenant-in-common partnership
of a trust and a limited liability
corporation, Johnson said.
The principals behind the
group are experienced buyers of
infill centers in the area such as
Independence Square, he said.
One partner was in a 1031
exchange and the other was not.
The $122.05 per sf the group
paid is far below replacement
cost, Johnson said.
“I think this is going to be a
phenomenal opportunity for
them,” Johnson said.
“It’s a great retail location,”
he said.
The main reason that the group
received such a sweet deal is that
the center has a high vacancy rate
of about 22 percent.
“They have a vacancy rate
around 25 percent at a time the
overall retail vacancy rate is
around 7 percent,” Johnson said.
That provides a lot of upside
potential if the remainder of the
space is leased, he said.
“The previous owner, in my
opinion, did a pretty nice job
with themaintenance of it, except
the buildings need a new roof,”
Johnson said.
The current owners have bud-
geted for a new roof, he said.
However, the previous owners
didn’t do such a great job with
the property management and
leasing, he said.
The new owners have hired
a sister company, Pinnacle Real
Estate Management, to take over
the management and leasing, he
said. They already have several
letters of intent.
“Pinnacle Property Manage-
ment turned around a similar
center at 20th and Wadsworth,
and frankly, this one is in better
shape and has a far better loca-
tion,” he said.
The demographics are strong
for Independence Square.
Within a 3-mile radius there
is a population of 110,884 and
an average household income of
$73,301, according to research by
the listing brokers, Brad Cohen
and Larry Thiel of Transwest-
ern. They represented the seller,
the California-based Ann Hurley
Hodgdon Trust.
Some 122,600 vehicles at I-70
and Kipling pass the center daily.
Kipling, south of West 50th Ave-
nue, draws 38,709 vehicles a day.
“Independence Square is a
rare, value-add opportunity situ-
Independence Square in Wheat Ridge recently sold.
We are the guys you
cheated off of in math.
There was a reason for that. And still is.
We are the best at what we do.
