Colorado Real Estate Journal - December 3, 2014
Erik Hagevik, the chief operating officer of the Holland Partner Group, was familiar with the strengths of the area west of Interstate 25 off Belleview Avenue long before Holland ever looked at the site where the luxury MileHouse at Belleview Station apartment communities are underway. “When I was with Fairfield Residential, we built five building with 1,500 units,” said Hagevik. “I have a long history of building out here,” Hagevik said. From the window in the leasing office at the MileHouse, the previous units he built for Fairfield are visible. The MileHouse, however, will take luxury building to a new level along the southeast corridor, according to Hagevik. It will have the type of “worldclass amenities” found in Holland’s 17W community, which will include downtown Denver’s first Whole Foods and its Platform at Union Station luxury apartment tower in downtown that will open early next year. “We think we are really raising the bar and bringing a level of luxury that hasn’t been seen before in the suburbs, which will distinguish us from competitors in the area,” Hagevik said. “Holland is really leading the way,” both in downtown and along the southeast corridor, said Terrance Hunt, a broker with ARA. “Holland’s Line 28, a boutique apartment building in LoHi, has achieved some of the highest rental rates ever recorded in Denver and their new developments downtown have this great connectivity, being right on the rail lines,” Hunt said. “What they are doing in the suburbs is very similar to what they are doing around Union Station,” Hunt said. Belleview Station, walking distance to a light-rail station, is a true transit-oriented development, as are its future downtown communities, Hunt. “Their tech center (area) communities have a similar kind of great connectivity,” Hunt said. Hunt said some millennials who work downtown may even decide to rent at the MileHouse at Belleview Station and do the “reverse commute” to downtown, to save money on rent but still be a quick light-rail ride to downtown’s office market, as well as its sports facilities, restaurants and bars. “Our rents are less at Belleview Station, but they are not as cheap as people think,” said Scott Menefee, a senior development director at Holland. Rents at Belleview Station, where the average unit size is 810 square feet, is $2 per sf. Downtown units, by contrast, are commanding rents of about $2.50 per sf and even north of $3, in some cases Residents recently began moving into the first building on Block A at MileHouse, which will have a total of 678 units. Of those, 353 are in the first building in Block A and 325 in the second, Block B. The communities also will have about 70,000 sf of retail space, one of the largest concentrations of new retail in that part of the southeast corridor. Kelly Greene of the Legend Retail Group is leasing the retail space for Holland. Holland is the general partner of the first community, Block A, which is being developed with partner Invesco Real Estate on the apartments and Front Range Land and Development on the retail portion of the community. FRLD is headed by members of the Bansbach family, which owned the land since the late 1800s. Initially, the entire land swath was going to be purchased by Denver-based Continuum Partners, but the Great Recession forced it to back out of its plans of developing an urban village on the entire 18 acres. “The Bansbach family used to own what is now the Denver Tech Center all the way down to Happy Canyon,” Hagevik said. “The story goes that (the current family’s) great-grandfather was mad when they built I-25, because he couldn't get his combine across the highway,” Hagevik said. The property features rooftop amenities that include a pool and spa, fitness center, clubhouse and cabana, business center and barbecue grills. Free Wi-Fi is available in all common areas. The property also features ground-floor restaurants and retail. “Most apartment projects put the swimming pool on the courtyard,” Menefee said. The problem is the courtyard pool areas don’t get much sunlight, as shadows from the building block the sun. Also, residents who live near the pool area can be distracted by the noise. “We put our pool on the roof of the parking garage,” Menefee said. “We not only get more sunlight, but we get some of the best views of the mountains you will find anywhere.” “Just look at these great views,” he said, while pointing to the mountains on a recent tour of Belleview Station. The second development, on Block B, broke ground in July. The first residents will move in April 2016. Again, Holland is the general partner for the community. Its partner on the adjoining Block B is North America Sekisui House LLC, or NASH. NASH also is Holland’s partner for 17W in downtown. Holland hasn’t yet named the Block B community. Holland, based in Vancouver, Washington, also doesn’t yet know if either of the communities will be leased up and then sold, or held for the long term. “That is a decision to be made by our partners,” Hagevik said. The communities are in Denver, but they are part of the Cherry Creek School District. “That is like having access to a public school that is privateschool quality,” Menefee said. He said that the development will attract some divorced parents whose former spouse owns the house and the children are in a school in the Cherry Creek School District. One thing that Hagevik and Menefee both believe is that they have a home-run location along the southeast corridor. “These projects represent a significant evolution of the Belleview Station master plan,” Menefee said. “They provide a quality of rental housing not available today in this market,” he said. “The mixed-use structures reflect an urban lifestyle where one lives, works and plays in a walkable and transit-oriented setting.” That’s exactly right, according to Hagevik. “When Holland goes through its site selection process, it only wants urban or transit-oriented development sites. This is a great TOD location.”