Colorado Real Estate Journal - February 4, 2015
One of the biggest metal processing and distribution companies in North America met its match in the strength of Denver’s industrial market. Samuel, Son & Co. Ltd. is going the build-to-suit route because, with an extremely tight market, that met its requirements. Denver-based Central Development will develop the 70,000-square-foot building on 4.56 acres of land located, ironically, on Steele Street in unincorporated Adams County. The $6.7 million building at 8020 Steele will be ready for occupancy in December. Samuel, Son & Co. signed a 10-year lease. Dave Hollar, general manager for Samuel, Son & Co. locally, said the company had been looking for a larger facility for four to five years. “We couldn’t find anything that suited our needs,” he said, adding the two most important requirements were for 26-foot ceiling clearance and thick concrete floors to support racking. Dawn McCombs, formerly of JLL and now with Avison Young, worked with Samuel, Son & Co., exploring “every option, though limited, in the market.” “With vacancies at record lows and lease rates on the rise, Samuel decided that a build-to-suit would better meet their specific needs,” she said. “It shows how tight the market is,” commented Jeremy Records, principal of Central Development. “There just wasn’t anything out there.” Samuel, Son & Co. Ltd. currently operates in approximately 22,000 sf it has leased in Wheat Ridge for 40-some years. The local division operated as Esco Corp. until being acquired by Samuel, Son seven years ago. It is bringing on more product and has outgrown the Wheat Ridge space, said Hollar. Designed by Intergroup Architects, the new building will have 5,000 sf of office space and 65,000 sf of 26-foot clear warehouse and light manufacturing space with 10-inch-thick concrete floors. It offers good access to Denver’s highway system, said Hollar. It will be the first building in an 11-acre development called Steele Street Industrial Park. The property has Industrial 2 zoning and an infill location within seven minutes of Interstate 70. “It’s a great infill location that has development leapfrogging over it and continuing out to the suburbs,” said Records. “Its proximity to central Denver is very attractive to users,” said Brad Cushard, a partner in Central Development. Also, “What’s intriguing about this site for a lot of groups is the zoning,” he said. The property also is in unincorporated Adams County, so the tax basis is lower than in surrounding municipalities, noted Records, who said the property has received a lot of activity. It is likely to house two to three buildings, including Samuel, Son & Co.