Colorado Real Estate Journal - December 3, 2014
The Richardson family of Greeley recently paid $77 million for a transit-oriented apartment community along a light-rail line in Littleton. The family, which made its fortune in the energy business, bought the 350- unit 5151 Downtown Littleton building at 5151 S. Rio Grande St. The seller was CBRE Global Investors of Boston, which paid $60 million in 2012 to the developer, Trammell Crow Residential. That represents a 28.3 percent return on the sale price in two years. The sale price equates to $220,000 per unit and $230.60 per square foot for the 333,913-sf building. The property was listed by the Denver CBRE team of David Potarf, Dan Woodward and Matt Barnett. Separately, the CBRE Denver team also sold another property on behalf of CBRE Global Investors for $71 million, bringing the total for the two deals to $148 million. The 5151 Downtown Littleton apartments would have attracted a lot of potential buyers, given its location, the quality of construction and the strong demographics of the Littleton market, according to Potarf. “But it was an off-market transaction,” Potarf said. The Richardson family had sold a large land holding and was looking to make a 1031 exchange, he said. The Littleton community had previously been listed by another brokerage firm, but did not sell. Potarf, however, thought it would make a great purchase for the Richardson family. “Being local, they really understand how the traffic works in the Denver area, and how important it is to be along light rail,” Potarf said. “Projects along light rail are going to outperform other properties for who knows how long. Probably forever.” The property was built in 2009. “Trammell Crow (Residential) is a great builder and did a great job,” Potarf said. “It’s really a great property.” The sale represents the first purchase of an apartment community in the Denver area by the Richardson family, he said. In another large deal by CBRE Global Investors, Potarf’s team also recently sold the 324-unit Heritage Creek Apartments at 690 S. Dahlia St. Mill Creek Residential Trust paid $71 million for Heritage Creek. That equates to $219,136 per unit. Records show that CBRE had paid $54.3 million for the property in 2011. The property was built in 1995.