Colorado Real Estate Journal - August 19, 2015
The day Fore Property Co. bought a 3.1-acre site on what was part of the Gates Rubber plant, Jonathan Fore, an executive at the Las Vegas-based company, told the Colorado Real Estate Journal he couldn’t imagine a better site to develop a 260-unit apartment community for his company’s Denver debut. “We like the location along Broadway,” Fore told CREJ. “The site is uniquely located within walking distance, 1,500 feet, of two light-rail stations, Broadway Station and Louisiana Station.” Fore went on to say the community would cater to “young professionals seeking convenient access to the Denver central business district and the Denver Tech Center, Denver’s preeminent employment and entertainment centers.” Fore also liked that the site near East Mississippi Avenue and South Broadway provides easy access to established neighborhoods. “The location provides residents with light-rail access to the urban amenities of downtown Denver complemented by the natural amenities of the surrounding Washington Park and Platt Park neighborhoods,” Fore said at the time. In 2012, he described the development, later called 1000 S. Broadway, as a $46 million project. It turns out, Fore was right on all accounts. His company recently sold the LEED Gold building, which was completed in 2013, for $64.6 million. Greystar was the buyer, adding to its portfolio of more than 1,600 units in a half-dozen apartment communities in the Denver area, according to Apartment Insights, a database by Cary Bruteig, principal of Apartment Appraisers & Consultants. “There was a lot of interest in it from buyers,” said Pam Koster, who listed, marketed and sold 1000 S. Broadway with Moran & Co. partner Dave Martin. The sale price equates to $239,793 per unit and $273.57 per square foot. Koster said there might have even been more interest from buyers, if the rents had been stabilized. “It was still in lease-up stage and some buyers of these coreasset deals prefer to buy after the rents have been stabilized,” Koster said. Still, there were multiple offers on the property, which is passed each day by 34,000 vehicles on Broadway and is visible from Interstate 25, which has a daily traffic count of 200,000. Greystar liked 1000 S. Broadway for the same reasons that drew Fore to the site, Koster said. “It’s not unlike what is happening in River North,” Koster said. “At first, people are like, ‘What are you doing here?’ Now, everyone is seeing all of the growth happening; it seems so obvious that was going to take off.” Not only are first-class apartment communities a sign of how attractive these urban neighborhoods are to millennials, but they also are changing the urban fabric of them, she said. “Often, these new apartments are the catalyst for even more developments,” Koster said. Greystar and other prospective buyers, like Fore, liked the 1000 S. Broadway site because of its proximity to light rail. At the same time, 1000 S. Broadway is in a class by itself, as far as other urban, infill sites, she said. “What 1000 S. Broadway has going for it that no other development has is that it is across the street is a 40-acre site to be developed,” probably mostly into industrial and offices, Koster said. “This is an area that is really evolving and is going to change, especially with a 40-acre development across the street,” she said. Other News Alta Bridge Square LLC paid $12.18 million for the 168- unit Bridge Square Apartments at 80 S. 18th Ave. in Brighton. The seller was Brixton Stratford Square LLC. It sold at a cap rate of 7.5 percent, said Brian Haggar of Marcus & Millichap, an associate who handled the transaction. “There was quite a bit of interest” in Bridge Square, Haggar said. The Brighton submarket is very tight and Bridge Square is the only apartment community built in the 1970s in the area with more than 50 units that was on the market, he said. He said the only other market deals of more than 100 units available are the Platte View Landing, built in 2003, and the Solaire, built in mid-2014. The buyer of Bridge Square “is taking advantage of a huge demand for affordable market-rate units at a lower rate than the newer product,” Haggar said. The community has new mansard roofs and seven of the eight boilers are new, he said. In addition, the elevators, leasing office and pool all have been renovated. Bridge Square is in “good shape, overall,” Haggard said. The new owners, he said, will be able to raise rents. They also will get additional rent increases beyond the “organic” market from cosmetic updates to units, he said. n An unidentified buyer paid $2.87 million, or $110,481 per unit, for a 26-unit apartment building built in 1972 at 2290 S. Oneida St. in Denver. The property is surrounded by mature landscaping and backs up to the Highline Canal Trail. Jeff Johnson and Greg Breslau, with the Johnson Ritter Team at Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors, represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction. “This building is a unique and rare multifamily property located between downtown Denver and the tech center,” Breslau said. “The property was well maintained by the seller with numerous capital improvements,” he added. “The buyer plans to hold the property long term and gradually renovate the units to keep up with Denver’s increasing rental market,” he said. n An unidentified buyer paid $397,000, or $79,400 per unit and $149.25 per square foot, for the fiveunit Regis Flats apartment building at 4402 W. St. Claire Place in Denver. Josh Newell, a senior adviser at Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors, represented the local seller in the transaction.