Colorado Real Estate Journal - March 18, 2015

Tritower Financial makes first buy with pair of Raytheon buildings

A pair of buildings leased to defense contractor Raytheon Co. sold to a Boston-based company for $25.3 million.

Tritower Financial Group’s acquisition comprised 174,924 square feet of Class A office and flex space at 16430 and 16470 E. Hughes Drive in Aurora. UBS Realty Investors LLC was the seller.

The buildings were built for Raytheon in 2001 and constitute Tritower Financial’s first acquisition in the Denver area.

“We will be expanding our footprint in metro Denver. We’re looking at some other assets in Denver,” said Tritower Financial Group partner and Director of Acquisitions Tod Brainard.

“We really like the knowledge economy that resides in metro Denver, and also in Fort Collins,” said Brainard, who added the region is a national leader in technology, “and we think it’s going to continue to do well compared to other cities.” In the case of the Raytheon buildings, “We believe in investing in mission-critical facilities associated with national defense,” Brainard said. Raytheon has about 2,400 employees in five buildings in Aurora who support space command operations, including satellite surveillance and communications, at Buckley Air Force Base.

The three-story building at 16470 E. Hughes Drive comprises 105,221 sf of Class A office space.

The 16430 E. Hughes property is a single-story, 70,703-sf flex building that includes a data center, cafeteria and other facilities. The properties are located in CentreTech Business Park.

Mary Sullivan and John Jugl of HFF represented the seller in the transaction.

Tritower Financial Group is a real estate investment and management company formed in 2012 by longtime executives of Franklin Street Properties Corp.

Tritower invests in real estate on behalf of high-net-worth individuals seeking stable, income-producing assets in prime markets across the country. Its emphasis is on office, industrial and multifamily properties.

Other News -McWhinney, Sage Hospitality and Grand American have started redevelopment of the historic Windsor Dairy Block in Lower Downtown Denver.

The redevelopment, called Z Block, is located between 18th and 19th and Blake and Wazee streets. It will include 200,000 square feet of office space, a 172- room Sage hotel, 30,000 sf of restaurant and retail space and a 400-car below-grade parking garage, all integrated with three historic buildings. Completion is scheduled for September 2016.

“The rich history of the Windsor Dairy Block is remarkable and an important part of Denver’s future,” said Chad McWhinney, CEO of McWhinney. “Our team looks forward to the enhancement of this block while preserving and respecting its significance to our city’s history.”