Colorado Real Estate Journal - September 2, 2015
Landing one of the largest tenants in Denver was the latest good fortune for Enterprise Business Center, whose success even owner United Properties couldn’t have anticipated a few short years ago. “I don’t think anyone could have envisioned it,” said Kevin Kelley, United Properties vice president . “ We ’ r e very fort u n a t e that we started when we did. We did see the signs of a recovery in 2012, but to say that we could have predicted that this would be the outcome – there’s just no way.” Beverage Distributors, Colorado’s largest distributor of beer, wine and spirits, will occupy a 646,000-square-foot building at Enterprise Business Center at Stapleton, a Class A industrial park at Interstate 70 and Havana Street. The building is believed to be the largest industrial building built in Denver since the 1970s. Construction will start this month. A 157,000-sf speculative flex building also will be built. The new construction will bring the park to 100 acres and more than 2 million sf, most of which has been leased prior to completion. Preleasing success is attributable to market demand, as well as Enterprise Business Center’s location close to the city’s core with easy access to Interstate 70. Beverage Distributors looked at four other alternatives, but all were farther out than the company desired, according to company President and CEO Joseph Marotta. Most options were near I-70 and E-470. “We felt the location of the development was superior to the other available locations,” Marotta said in an email. “We were also impressed with the team assembled by United Properties and are very comfortable that our building will be delivered on time and as promised.” Beverage Distributors, a subsidiary of Charmer Sunbelt that employs more than 600 people, will consolidate its operations from three buildings in Aurora to the new stateof-the-art building. It initially will occupy 434,000 sf of warehouse and 70,000 sf of office space, growing into the additional 142,000 sf of warehouse as needed over the next five years. Given term left on its existing leases, it won’t move in until the first quarter of 2017. United Properties' speculative flex building will be completed late in the second quarter of 2016. It will have 24-foot-clear ceiling height and the ability to accommodate a higher degree of office space than existing development at Enterprise Business Center. “The idea is that as we move closer to Central Park Boulevard and closer to light rail, there may be tenants that have a desire for more office finish,” said Kelley. The buildings will be located on a 45-acre site with room for a third and final building, which could be office, possibly with some medical office space, retail or some other combination of uses. “It’s still evolving,” said Kelley. United Properties purchased the site for $7 per sf from Forest City Stapleton, which also sold land for the first two phases of Enterprise Business Center. It developed four buildings of approximately 701,000 sf on the first 38.2 acres. All of that space is leased. The company last year acquired another 24.8 acres for a 466,540-sf distribution building that it recently completed. Nearly 200,000 sf of that building is leased, and Kelley expects to sign a tenant for another 215,000 sf in the near future, leaving 53,000 sf. Mike Wafer and Tim D’Angelo of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank handle leasing and marketing. The Enterprise Business Center project team also includes Powers Brown Architecture and general contractor Murray & Stafford Inc. Wafer represented Beverage Distributors in its transaction. Marotta said the company is “thrilled to be in the position to consolidate our operations into this new facility,” which will serve its business, suppliers and customers for the next 20 years and beyond. In addition to being one of the largest leases signed in Denver, the lease is one of the largest that United Properties has transacted in its portfolio. United Properties has a large commercial and residential real estate presence in Minneapolis, where it is based. Its Colorado division develops retail, office and industrial buildings.