Colorado Real Estate Journal -
Westfield Company Inc. purchased a 100,800-square-foot office property in Golden in its fifth acquisition in the Denver area this year. Golden Ridge, which Westfield bought from an entity of Crown West Realty, consists of two single-story Class A buildings that were 100 percent leased at the time of the sale. A pedestrian bridge across U.S. Highway 6 will connect the property with the Jefferson County Government Center, where a West Corridor light-rail station will open next spring. Situated on a ridge overlooking the city, the buildings at 500 and 560 Golden Ridge Road were completed in 2000 and 2001. They comprise 57,600 and 43,200 sf. “For the Denver West submarket, it’s some of the newer and nicer product,” said Kevin McClintock, Westfield vice president of acquisitions. With tenants including the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, Panorama Orthopedics, Rockwell Automation and The Boppy Co.’s headquarters, the asset has a strong and stable tenancy. The public defender occupies 17,000 sf. The back-office operations for Panorama’s neighboring campus consume about 13,000 sf, and Boppy, at 9,000 sf, is the smallest of seven tenants. “That was one of the attributes that we were most attracted to. It historically has had strong occupancy,” said McClintock, who noted a lot of decision makers live close by, and with quick access to the county offices, courts and freeways, “It seems to be a bit more insulated during some of the downturns.” “It performed very well for us, and that’s one of the reasons we sold it,” said Crown West Realty Vice President Kevin Richey. “We took it to 100 percent occupancy with fairly reasonable term leases, so there was real value there from when we purchased it in December ’06. It was just a nice asset in that marketplace on the west side that we did very well with,” Richey said. “We experienced a strong level of activity on Golden Ridge,” commented Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado broker Chad Flynn. “Investors continue to be attracted to the positive economic drivers of the west side,” he said, citing supply constraints, proximity to executive housing, completion of light rail, St. Anthony Hospital’s relocation to the Denver Federal Center, and a concentration of renewable energy and government employers, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Flynn, along with Cushman & Wakefield brokers Mike Winn and Tim Richey, represented the seller in the transaction. The price Westfield paid for the property was not disclosed, however, public records put it at $13.9 million. Westfield purchased three other Class A office properties in the Denver area this year: tw telecom’s headquarters in Lone Tree, Belleview Corporate Plaza in the Denver Tech Center and Mountain View Corporate Center in Broomfield. It also acquired the Monaco South apartment community in Denver.