Colorado Real Estate Journal - December 3, 2014
Denver has caught the eye of an Austin, Texas, company, and Solarium is its first asset. CapRidge Partners purchased the 171,189-squarefoot southeast suburban office property from Lowe Enterprises Investors for $23.4 million, according to public records. Significant improvements to the property are planned, as are additional acquisitions in the Denver market, according to Steve LeBlanc, who managed $45 billion in private equity and real estate for one of the nation’s largest pension funds before co-founding CapRidge two years ago. “We’re interested in Denver,” said LeBlanc, formerly of the Teachers Retirement System of Texas. A value investor, CapRidge Partners invests in new-economy growth markets that have highly educated workforce, quality of life and compare favorably in terms of cost of doing business. “Denver fit those filters very well,” LeBlanc said. The company has two additional assets under contract. Solarium offers a great location at the corner of Orchard Road and Quebec Street in Greenwood Village, plus, “It has the opportunity to do what we do best, which is increase the quality of the common areas, the restrooms, and deliver premium customer service,” said LeBlanc. “We are known in all of our markets as delivering the best customer service in the industry in office space,” he said. New elevator cabs, showers and lockers, lobby and restroom renovations, and improvements to the parking garage, lighting and HVAC are slated for the property, which was built in 1982 and last renovated in 2007. Located at 7400 E. Orchard, the building is defined by an impressive atrium lobby, with three- and four-story wings on either side. Occupancy at the time of the sale was in the mid-80s, which gave the deal a value-add aspect and stirred “robust activity” on the part of investors, according to Mike Winn of CBRE. “It had some vacancy, so it was more of a value-add-type deal. Those deals are hard to find these days,” said Winn CBRE’s Tim Richey and Chad Flynn. Solarium’s largest tenants include Selling Simplified, Heckenbach Suazo LLP and Hellersetin & Brenner Vision Center. LeBlanc said CapRidge Partners buys assets below replacement cost with a goal of also selling below replacement cost while providing investors with attractive returns. Its portfolio comprises approximately $400 million worth of office product in Texas; Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Nashville; and Atlanta. CapRidge was co-founded by Tom Stacy, a major player in the central Texas real estate market who has been acquiring, repositioning and selling commercial real estate for 25 years.