Colorado Real Estate Journal -
The Douglas County residential market continues to heat up with the purchase of 173.11 acres located at the northwest corner of Chambers and West Parker roads. According to Russell Crandall, vice president of Lennar Homes of Colorado LLC, Lennar will begin construction on 635 single-family units in fall 2014. Site work will commence upon recordation of Sierra Ridge Filing Nos. 2 and 3. According to the Douglas County Clerk and Recorder’s office, Club Vista Properties X LLC, owned by billionaire Gary Tharaldson, sold the property to Lennar Colorado LLC for $21.65 million. While the legal description was recited in metes and bounds, the parcels conveyed by the special warranty deed have been platted into two separate parcels that include Sierra Ridge Filing No. 2 and Sierra Ridge Filing No. 3. Ventana Capital completed much of the entitlement and replatting in 2008. “With the slowdown in the market, the final development process was shelved in late 2008,” said Curt Weitunat, senior planner for Douglas County, who has been involved in this project since 2007. With Meritage’s acquisition of 232 “paper” platted lots known as Sierra Ridge Filing No. 1 for $2.5 million Feb. 4, both homebuilders control approximately 314 acres located on the southwest corner of Lincoln Avenue and Chambers Road. The Meritage Homes transaction with Tharaldson Ethanol Plant I LLC included 232 platted lots located at the southwest corner of Lincoln Avenue and Chambers Road. Both Lennar Homes of Colorado and Meritage Homes will add 867 single-family lots in Sierra Ridge filings. “We will commence construction on 635 single-family homes priced in the $300,000s to $400,000s,” stated Crandall. “We plan to commence vertical construction in the fall of 2014.” The Douglas County Board of Commissioners approved Sierra Ridge Metropolitan District in September 2005 and the Sierra Ridge property, consisting of 317.3 acres, was rezoned from A-1 to Planned Development in August 2005.
A California data storage firm acquired 5350 S. Valentia St. in the Denver Tech Center for $17.6 million. The property consists of three parcels in Arapahoe County with two parcels consisting of 2.26 acres and 4.68 acres of vacant land. The third parcel contains 177,557 square feet of office data storage on 7.36 acres, according to the Arapahoe County Assessor’s Office. “The office data storage space is actually closer to 270,000 square feet,” commented Josh Simms, manager of H5 Capital Denver LLC. According to Arapahoe County records, the purchase price was $17.6 million and the buyer executed a note of $14.8 million payable to FirstBank, due and payable Nov. 1, 2028. “We are intending to use the property for a data storage center and may build additional space, however, we may be open to a re-sale of the excess land to a developer looking to develop an alternative use,” commented Simms. The property is located in the heart of the Denver Tech Center with a total of 14.29 acres. (See map)
MJF LLC purchased the 8.33- acre storage yard with office/ warehouse in October for $2.1 million. The sale was facilitated in two phases with a 4.73-acre parcel including a high-end, 3,328-square-foot metal office/ warehouse building. Michael J. Folsom is no stranger to real estate, acquiring real estate for his Cowboy Moving & Storage business. He started out buying a parcel of land on South Kalamath Street in Englewood. In 2001, he acquired his current corporate headquarters at 4535 S. Santa Fe Drive for $2.79 million. This included a 68,000-sf industrial building. Folsom’s acquisition of his first building followed years of working out of his garage with his aunt and mother. ‘’I was very fortunate to be able to work with my mother and aunt for many years as they taught me the business when I got out of high school,” said Folsom. The purchase price on the first portion of his most recent acquisition was $1.6 million, as verified by Craig Myles of Cassidy Turley, listing broker for the property. “The buyer subsequently purchased the adjoining 3.32 acres for $500,000 for future storage area,” Myles said. “The 3,328-square-foot office/warehouse has significant office finish and reflected pride of ownership.” Douglas County Asphalt Co., which is owned by Jeffrey T. Morrell and Eric F. Morrel, acquired the property in 1986 and constructed the office/warehouse for their company headquarters. The original 4.73 acres was completed with infrastructure. The adjoining 3.32 acres is platted but needs site work. The sales price was nearly $3.50 per sf, while the 4.73 acres plus the building were $7.75 per sf. “We leased back a portion of the property to the seller for one year. With the escalating cost of renting, we decided to buy our own storage facility, and the location and size of this property made sense,’’ reflected Folsom. “We already have 30 trailers on the site and plan to bring in 50 or more in the next few weeks.” “This expansion by Cowboy Moving & Storage reflects the robust return of the residential market in the Douglas-Arapahoe market coupled with business expansion into the business parks in the Denver metro area,’’ said Myles. Myles, SIOR, LEED AP, represented the seller, while the buyer represented himself. He has been with Cassidy Turley since 2000.
BH Parker Inc., with Jeff Willis of Berkeley Homes, acquired a 7.53-acre site at the north side of Hess Road, approximately one-quarter mile west of Motsenbocker Road, with frontage on the southwest side of Triple Crown Drive, in Parker. According to Jeff Willis, buyer and president of Berkeley Homes in Aurora, development approval began in early 2013 with the buyer’s engineer, Peak Civil Consultants Inc., initiating the site engineering work on the proposed 33 lots for single-family homes and a park within the site. The property was bank-owned for the last three years. Twin Silos LLC executed a public trustee’s confirmation deed Oct. 12, with Citywide Banks the grantee.
This transaction included numerous lots in the Horseshoe Ridge development. In November 2009, Twin Silos LLC deeded the property to Citywide Banks via a deed in lieu of foreclosure. “We are excited about our site in the Horseshoe Ridge development,” said Jeff Willis, CEO of Berkeley Homes. “It has been a successful area for other homebuilders and we have excellent exposure with the frontage on Hess Road.” The $700,000 purchase price equates to $21,212 per lot and $2.13 per square foot. The buyer has worked on the site for nearly nine months with the entitlement process and the transaction was subject to completion of the process. Land brokers Jim Capecelatro and T.J. Johnson of Cassidy Turley negotiated the transaction.
Mountain Aire Mechanical LLC, currently located at 2165 S Kalamath St., in the south Denver area, acquired a 12,568-square-foot office/ warehouse at 1415 E. 58th Ave. for $820,000. The building is situated on 1.67 acres and was constructed in 1977. The owner of the company, Timothy Bordahl, executed a $738,000 U.S. Small Business Administration promissory note, secured by a deed of trust payable to Seacoast Commerce Bank. The property is on East 58th Avenue, a primary feeder from Interstate 25. The property is an interior site located east of Marion Drive and west of Franklin Street. Deed records show the sale closed Oct. 18.
Allstar Holdings LLC purchased the property located at 1221 E. 56th Ave. for $1.25 million after the property was on the market for slightly over a year. Russell Gruber of Newark Grubb Knight Frank represented the seller, The Englert LP. The metal building was constructed in 1981 and contained 30,800 square feet. The vacant property was fenced and was situated on 4.03 acres. The buyer will relocate from his space located at 6200 N. Washington St., Unit 10, Denver. Bret W. Plue, the owner of the transmission parts supplier, has been in business for more than 15 years and executed a $965,000 loan payable to U.S. Bank. The sales price reflected $40.58 per sf. The property had fenced outside storage. The loan to value was 77.2 percent.
A new 12.72-acres parcel of land was replatted in July in order for the Denver Broncos to acquire a site it has leased for nearly 14 years. Since Jan. 12, 1999, a lease has been in place between Angelo Mariani, general partner for Dove Valley Business Park Associates as landlord and PBD Sports Ltd. (Bowlen Sports Inc., Joe Ellis, president). An option to purchase was recorded July 3, 2007 (B7085199), and rerecorded July 30, 2013 (B3095901), prior to the deed executed by the parties Nov. 1 for $1,87 million. It is not known if the price was set at the time of the option agreement in 2007. This property adjoins the Denver Broncos facility toward the west and is vacant land. The 12.72 acres is rectangular in shape and fronts on the north side of East Broncos Parkway, approximately 500 feet west of South Potomac Street. The zoning is M-U in unincorporated Arapahoe County. John V. Winslow is president of Winslow Property Consultants LLC and has more than 40 years’ experience in commercial real estate. He can be reached at (720) 612-7878 or colprop2012@gmail.com.