Page 4 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— May 4-May 17, 2016
Metro Denver
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
A lighter, brighter North Val-
ley Tech Center with inviting
spaces for tenants to gather
already has made a big impres-
sion on an existing tenant.
Regis University is expand-
ing its footprint in the building
at Interstate 25 and East 84th
Avenue in Thornton following
extensive renovations by Glob-
al Pacific Properties.
Global Pacific bought the
470,000-square-foot building
at 500 E. 84th Ave. in a com-
plex transaction two years ago
and has no debt on the prop-
erty. The building provides
large, flexible floor plates with
ample parking in a location
close to downtown. But at the
time Global Pacific Properties
bought it, it needed some help.
“Our first goal was to
improve the common areas
and make them useful,” said
Global Pacific Properties Presi-
dent Michael Law. Additions
to the main entrance have
been stripped away to bring
in much-needed light, and a
seating area with a flat-screen
television was added to invite
people to linger. Skylights and
trees line the interior corridors.
The building has new monu-
ment signage, landscaping,
security cameras and asphalt,
and new pylon signage will
enhance its interstate visibility.
“We have great, flexible floor
plates, and it’s all uniquely
linked with this common area,”
Law said in recently reintro-
ducing the property to the bro-
kerage community.
Thornton Mayor Heidi Wil-
liams hopes the building will
be a catalyst to bring new jobs
to the area.
CBRE Inc. Senior Vice Presi-
dent Frank Kelley, who has
been involved with the prop-
erty since 1997 and is han-
dling leasing for the owner,
said North Valley Tech Cen-
ter’s location 10 minutes from
downtown Denver at a major
intersection on I-25 always
created a lot of interest. “But
now that the owners have done
extensive renovations and have
repositioned it, people can see
the opportunity to occupy flex-
Live trees, plants and skylights line the corridors of North Valley Tech
Center.
North Valley Tech Center underwent extensive renovations over the
past two years.
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Publicly traded real estate
investment trusts have invested
approximately $434 billion in
commercial real estate assets in
markets across the country over
the past five years, and Denver
has not gone unnoticed.
With strong market funda-
mentals and Denver outpacing
the nation in job creation, gross
domestic product growth and
net migration, the metro area
certainly is on the REIT radar
screen.
“On a relative basis, Denver is
very strong and very well diver-
sified, and we’ve seen that across
our portfolio in terms of recov-
ering occupancies, the diversity
of tenants and expansions we’re
seeing in our own portfolio,”
said Peter Schultz, executive vice
president of Chicago-based First
Industrial Realty Trust, which
owns approximately 2.7 million
square feet of industrial space in
the Denver area.
“It’s been a steady and strong
performer for us,” he said. “It’s
an important part of our fran-
chise.”
Approximately 55 REITs have
investments in Denver, accord-
ing to the National Association
of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
They span every commercial real
estate product type, and players
range from Stapleton developer
Forest City to Franklin Street
Properties – a $1 billion office
REIT – to Taubman Centers, a
global retail real estate company
that owns Cherry Creek Shop-
ping Center.
Denver also is headquarters to
some of the nation’s and world’s
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