Colorado Real Estate Journal - September 2, 2015
A marijuana grower paid $116.14 per square foot for a Montbello industrial building, a surprise given hurdles to obtaining a new retail marijuana license in Denver. “I was actually a little surprised to see the buyer coming out of the marijuana industry,” Taylor Hazard of Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado Inc. said of the property at 10975 E. 47th Ave. At least until Jan. 1, 2016, only existing medical marijuana companies can apply for retail licenses in the city and county of Denver. Others have to buy licenses from existing licensees, typically at exorbitant prices, said Hazard. That stemmed the tide of growers looking to buy older industrial buildings in Denver, he said, adding the vast majority of those who toured the 47th Avenue property were traditional industrial users. The buyer, Post Investment Group, is new to the market. It paid $1.99 million cash for the property. “I had the building listed for a year, and I showed it three times a week on average,” said Hazard. “It’s a pretty high price per square foot, so it took awhile to find the right buyer,” he said. The building totals 21,135 sf, but that includes 4,000 sf of mezzanine space that typically isn’t considered part of an industrial building’s footprint, said Hazard, who listed the property with Cushman & Wakefield’s Kirk Vanino. The seller was Global Holdings LLC, which is affiliated with the current tenant, Global Fire & Safety. “The building has great, light-up monument signage and really strong presence on a high-traffic-count street,” said Hazard. Given the heavy office build-out, a total of 8,000 sf, he said the buyer probably will put a dispensary in the building in the future. Built in 1994 and renovated in 2006, the building has been “impeccably maintained,” Hazard said. It occupies a 1.41-acre site in Montbello, which has a large concentration of marijuana growing facilities. John Wickens of Brokers Guild represented the buyer in the transaction. Other News Precision Homes recently paid $1.9 million for a 21,300-square-foot industrial building at 1900 Federal Blvd. in Denver, which it will use as its main office and showroom. Dawn McCombs of Avison Young represented the seller, Walter W. Martin Inc. Mike Brunetti of David Hicks & Lampert Brokerage represented the buyer. Copper State Bolt & Nut leased 11,200 sf of industrial space at 2590 W. Second Ave. in Denver. Alec Rhodes, Tyler Smith and Aaron Valdez of DTZ represented the landlord, Bryant St. LLC. Taylor Hazard and Kirk Vanino of Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado represented the tenant. Replay Electronics Inc., a “free-dimensional video” company, leased 4,437 sf of showroom/warehouse space at 3055- A West 74th Ave. in Westminster for its first Colorado location. Gene Stone of Antonoff & Co. Brokerage represented the landlord, West 74th Partners LLC. Michael Andrews of Column Commercial Partners LLC represented the tenant.