Colorado Real Estate Journal - February 4, 2015
Interlocken Advanced Technology Environment has prevailed as a place where large tech companies can access the best of Boulder and Denver, and look good doing it. “I can’t think of a nicer office park anywhere,” said David Hart, executive managing director at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. “It is one of the best laidout, planned and aesthetically appealing parks in the country,” concurred Jay Despard, vice president of Hines’ Southwest Region. With 3.7 million square feet of development set against a Rocky Mountain backdrop, Interlocken combines a tech employment base with stunning natural beauty and amenities that include a first-class hotel and golf course, regional mall, restaurants and housing. Sun Microsystems, now Oracle, and Level 3 inaugurated the development along the U.S. Highway 36 corridor with huge campuses built in the late 1990s. Although there’s plenty of room for the 960-acre park to grow to its targeted build-out of more than 10 million sf, Interlocken is down to only one option for a sizable office campus. “This is the last remaining site for a large office campus,” Hart said of Eos at Interlocken, a 31-acre parcel with a single, 186,231-sf Class A office building. The campus could swell to 856,000 sf with construction of three additional buildings that are planned. Hart, who is marketing the Eos campus for the owner, a Hinescontrolled development entity, has watched Interlocken mature since the early 1990s. He participated in 1.2 million sf of new construction in Interlocken and helped create the vision for a sustainable, efficient office campus borne out of Interlocken’s success at attracting tech company relocations and expansions from California and Boulder. Hines bought the vision, developing a 186,231-sf Class A office building on a speculative basis in 2012. Now known as the Gogo building for its anchor tenant, the LEED Platinum building has electric car charging stations; solar panels that offset electric costs; beetle-kill-pine finishes in the lobby; sensor-controlled irrigation and lighting systems; a 2,500-sf fitness facility; and 50,000-sf floor plates. “There is not a more efficient floor plate anywhere,” said Hart. Operating expenses are $1.50 to $2 per sf lower than other Class A buildings in the market because of building efficiencies, he said. About 74,354 sf remains available in the building, and as that space is consumed, a second building will be constructed. “There are companies that are in the market now that are looking to upgrade and improve efficiencies. There also are companies that are in that north market looking to upgrade their image,” said Hart, citing activity by service, technology, engineering, financial services, consumer products and communications firms. “It really helps attract employees to be able to offer the amenity base that Interlocken has,” said Hart. The park and the whole corridor stand to benefit from the transformation of U.S. Highway 36 into a multimodal corridor as part of the largest highway improvement project in the state. It will include a bikeway, bus rapid transit, and managed traffic lanes for highoccupancy vehicles. While smaller than other “creative corridors” like Silicon Valley, North Carolina’s Research Triangle and Boston-Cambridge, U.S. 36 has many of the same attributes in terms of the kinds of companies it has attracted and continues to attract, said Bo Martinez, economic development director for the city and county of Broomfield. “We’re in a great position to really go after those types of businesses and bring them to our community,” he said, noting the list of companies already in Interlocken and the surrounding area is “pretty impressive,” including White Wave Foods, Vail Resorts, SCL Healthcare Systems, Renewable Energy Systems and Sandoz. Martinez said Broomfield has seen a lot of activity over the last three years from companies in those industries and others. Interlocken, said Hart, allows companies that need large space to maintain a high-tech identity and proximity to the University of Colorado while drawing employees from both Boulder and Denver. It has its own distinctiveness, too, with biking and walking trails and a more casual feel than downtown or even the southeast suburban office market. “It’s not for everyone,” said Hart, “but that’s also a significant draw and part of the appeal.” Hines always has taken a longterm view with Eos, said Despard, who believes the park and the office campus are well positioned to capture a large user or users. “It’s always been a big-user park,” said Despard. “We see every RFP that comes through our market. Interlocken is always on the radar, and I think inevitably something will land in Interlocken. There are not too many big blocks of space that are in existence in that area.”