Colorado Real Estate Journal -
Denver-based Northstar Commercial Partners bought an Academy Park office building for a fraction of replacement cost. Northstar, along with Midtown group, paid $5.23 million for West Point, a 171,240-square foot office building at 3900 S. Wadsworth Blvd. in Lakewood. The building was 28 percent occupied, but just signed a new tenant for 10,500 sf, Computronix. “We were fortunate in acquiring the asset for 17 percent of estimated replacement cost,” said Northstar founder and President R. Brian Watson. The building sold six years ago for $17.75 million; occupancy at that time was 90 percent. West Point lost a couple of large tenants in the last three years, but is in great condition and ready for lease-up, said Patrick Devereaux of Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado Inc. Devereaux and Cushman & Wakefield broker Jason Schmidt represented the seller, CBRE Global Investors. There were multiple offers for the eight-story building, which is just south of U.S. Highway 285 and has highway visibility. “The buyer pool was very deep and diverse and included private capital investors, both in state and out of state. The attraction was the upside potential, the price per square foot and the fact that the asset is in excellent capital condition,” said Devereaux. “This sale demonstrates that the depth of the buyer pool for low-price-per-sf assets in Denver continues to be very strong.”Northstar Commercial Partners, which owns properties in Ken Caryl Business Center and Denver West, is a believer in the west market, said Watson. “We really like the west market. Every asset we have out there is 100 percent leased right now.” Watson called West Point a rare opportunity to find an opportunistic asset that had existing tenancy and a lot of improvements already done. “We’re very excited about the opportunity,” he said. ASG Software Solutions and Power Engineers, each with about 15,000 sf, are the largest tenants. West Point’s parking ratio is 4.6 per 1,000 sf, which is among the highest in the west metro market, especially for second-generation buildings, said Watson. Located on 13.64 acres, West Point was built in 1974 and underwent its most recent renovation in 2010. Northstar Commercial Partners acquires and operates commercial properties in Colorado and throughout the United States.