Colorado Real Estate Journal -
A Swedish company is setting up its U.S. headquarters in Boulder, the epicenter of the outdoor gear industry. Fenix Outdoor AB leased a 62,317-square-foot building at 7088 Winchester Drive in Gunbarrel Tech Center and expects to move in this month. The building will house Fenix’s Brunton, Primus and fjällräven outdoor gear and apparel brands, according to broker Dan Howard of Zakhem & Co., who represented the company in the deal. “There are very few warehouses available in Boulder,” said Howard. Fenix started searching the Denver area two years ago but really wanted a Boulder address, he said. “Boulder is what they considered the outdoor mecca of the United States.” Micro Motion previously occupied the building, but it was excess real estate for the company, which has other space in the tech center, said Tom Myers of Unique Properties LLC-TCN Worldwide. Myers represented the building owner, the Matrix Group. “They (Matrix Group) have been extremely helpful in getting this going and moving quickly,” said Howard. “We had a real short timeline because Fenix wanted to be shipping goods by the first of August,” he said. The building has approximately 12,000 sf of office space. Most of the employees housed there will be salespeople, said Howard. Boulder has approximately 75 outdoor companies, the largest of which include GoLite, Scarpa, Sea to Summit and Deuter, according to the Boulder-based Outdoor industry Association. “We are fortunate to be a hub for outdoor companies. Undoubtedly this is due to the excellent access to public lands and outdoor recreation opportunities we enjoy here,” said the association’s communications manager, Avery Stonich. “This is a magnet for companies (outdoor and not), as well as the sort of talent they hope to attract.”