Colorado Real Estate Journal -
A Honolulu-based company with approximately 1 million square feet of properties in the Denver area added I-70/270 Business Center to its portfolio in a $15 million transaction. WPC I-70/270 LLC, an entity created by Watumull Properties Corp., bought the 314,078-square-foot Denver industrial center from Etkin Johnson Group. Etkin Johnson acquired the property in 1999 and upgraded the landscaping, exterior colors and individual tenant signage. It recapitalized the asset with a new investor group in 2010 and achieved 94 percent occupancy at the time of the sale. Watumull Properties Vice President J.D. Watumull said his company acquired the property because of its central location near the freeways. The price was $47.75 per sf. I-70/270 Business Center is an eight-building industrial property on the I-70 corridor in Denver’s Airport/Montbello industrial submarket. Situated on 17.7 acres in the 6700 block of East 46th Avenue Drive and 6600-7000 blocks of East 47th Avenue Drive, the development houses 28 tenants ranging in size from 2,250 to 36,000 sf. The concrete tilt-up buildings were built in the early 1970s through the early 1980s. They are located at the northwest quadrant of I-70 and 270, just east of the Northfield Stapleton retail development. Colliers International brokers T.J. Smith and Brad Calbert, along with Aaron Johnson, Etkin Johnson Group vice president of investments, represented the seller in the transaction. Watumull Properties Corp.’s Denver assets consist primarily of industrial and flex properties. They include Hampden Park West and I-25 Corporate Center. The purchase of I-70/270 Business Center brings its local portfolio to approximately 1.5 million sf. Etkin Johnson plans to redeploy proceeds of the I-70/270 sale into other assets. “This sale further demonstrates Etkin Johnson Group as an active investor in the Denver metro market,” said Johnson. “Additionally, we are well-positioned to move on viable acquisition opportunities in a wide range of asset classes.” Etkin Johnson Group is a Denver-based development, investment, ownership and management company that owns more than 6 million sf of office, retail, hotel and industrial properties nationwide valued at more than $500 million.