Colorado Real Estate Journal - January 3, 2018
Confluent Development is under way on the latest piece to its retail project at The Ridge at Centennial. The Denver-based investment and development firm broke ground recently on its three building, 20,000-square-foot project at the northeast corner of Arapahoe Road and Nome Street in Centennial. It is developing 2.78 acres within the 15-acre The Ridge at Centennial, which is located in the Lincoln Executive Center, and currently includes a Holiday Inn, the Centennial Gun Club, two office buildings and additional retail/restaurant buildings. The three buildings will house Starbucks, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, which will represent Natural Grocers’ new store prototype, and a future third tenant. Confluent Development is partnering with Equity Ventures Commercial Development to deliver the Natural Grocers location. The partnership broke ground in December on the 13,300-sf building with Natural Grocers relocating in the third quarter to The Ridge space from the store’s existing location on Arapahoe Road. The new prototype will include a nutritional education center with a nutritional health coach in addition to organic and natural groceries, dietary supplements and body care products. In September, Starbucks opened its 2,000-sf location at the retail development, marking Confluent’s fifth project as developer for Starbucks. The balance of Confluent’s development will include a 4,200-sf space, which is under contract. SullivanHayes Brokerage is handling its leasing. Rogue Architecture Inc. designed the Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage building for which McPherson Contractors Inc. is the general contractor. Starbucks was built by the Pioneer Group. “We are pleased to welcome Natural Grocers to the area,” said Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon. “We look forward to working with Confluent Development to continue enhancing the Arapahoe Road corridor.” Other News ¦ Evergreen Marketplace LLC recently closed on a Northglenn retail property. The 39,485-square-foot retail strip center at 450-560 Malley Drive sold in an off-market transaction for $4.23 million to Evergreen, which was in need of a 1031 replacement purchase. Seller Par Acquisitions LLC originally purchased the property in 2012 with the building being approximately 30 percent occupied and added value through the lease-up of vacant space and capital expenditure improvements, including a new roof, HVAC units and parking lots. The buyer purchased it as a up leg in a 1031 exchange and plans to finish adding value by completing the exterior face-lift, modernizing monument signage, renaming the center and continuing to lease vacant space and bump rents over time. John Sheflin of SVN|Denver Commercial was the listing broker. ¦ Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors LLC closed several retail properties within the metro Denver market recently, including a $3.2 million sale along Colfax Avenue. Pando Holdings LLC purchased the two buildings on approximately 11,250 sf of C-MS-8 zoned land at 1600-1608 E. Colfax in Denver from Holleco LLP. Eric Shaw of Pinnacle represented the seller in the transaction. “We were able to maximize the price of this redevelopment play because of its C-MS-8 zoning and its excellent location,” said Shaw. “The properties had been under the ownership of one family for two generations and they finally felt it was the right time to sell due to the current market cycle. The properties are located at the heart of Capitol Hill at the intersection of Colfax Avenue, Franklin Street and Park Avenue. Pando Holdings LLC was the perfect buyer because they controlled the parking lot adjacent to the property. This will be an incredible redevelopment site for Pando Holdings.” Also, Pinnacle’s Jules Hochman, Justin Brockman and Chris Student represented an unnamed buyer in the purchase of 2199 S. Parker Road in Denver. The multitenant retail building sold for $1.44 million, or $133.22 per sf. ¦ Buffalo Run Commercial Investors LLC acquired a Commerce City land parcel at a price of $2.1 million. The 13.8 acres of land, at the southeast corner of 120th Avenue and Chambers Road, were sold by Buffalo Run Village Center Partners LLC. Avison Young Principal Rick Egitto and Associate Sam Crowe, based in the firm’s Denver office, represented the seller. “Our client Buffalo Run Village had owned this legacy parcel since the mid-2000s, when the firm was an active retail strip center developer; however, post-recession the company morphed into a private placement equity firm,” noted Egitto. “Accordingly, the firm required Avison Young to sell the entire site to one developer, rather than selling off any of the seven different parcels that may have had user interest. This requirement made execution difficult, but ultimately the user interest and a buyer knowledgeable of the local area led to the successful completion of this assignment.” The buyer, very active in the Commerce City market with land holdings nearby, has now engaged the Avison Young team of Egitto and Joella Rodarte to lead the go-forward sales effort to sell the individual parcels. The parcels are located along 120th Avenue between E-470 and Interstate 76 at the Buffalo Run Golf Course, and will take advantage of the continuing residential growth that is occurring nearby at Buffalo Run and Reunion by delivering needed retail, recreational and medical/ dental opportunities, according to Avison Young. ¦ A vacant, single-tenant retail building in Grand Junction sold to the parent company of U-Haul for $2.1 million. The 85,485-sf building at 2809 North Ave. was purchased by Amerco. The former Kmart building was sold by a privately held operator out of the Midwest. Zoned for retail, office and other commercial uses, the building sits on 10.34 acres in the heart of the North Avenue retail corridor, a major east-west artery connecting Grand Junction’s major business districts. It is 2 miles from downtown and is a half mile off Interstate 70. Holiday Fenoglio Fowler LP’s Chad Murray and Mark Williford marketed the property on the behalf of the seller. “We continue to see opportunity in well-located vacant retail boxes, and 2809 North Ave. was no exception, garnering significant interest from traditional retailers and non-retailers alike,” Williford said. “The former Kmart provided an opportunity for U-Haul to expand its current presence in Grand Junction with a highly visible and well trafficked location.”