Colorado Real Estate Journal - January 6, 2016
The developer of a 1,287-acre commercial property adjacent to Denver International Airport has opened a $13 million road that puts the property within 2 miles of the airport’s main terminal and within 3,000 feet of the cargo apron. Phoenix-based A&C Properties invested $13 million to complete Jackson Gap Street and related infrastructure as part of the first phase of Porteos. The first phase also included the new ParkDIA, a 7,500-space parking complex developed by Forum Real Estate Group that offers covered and uncovered parking, and shuttle and valet services. Jackson Gap Street, completed without public financing, provides a quick route between the development and terminal, including the new Westin hotel and soon-to-open airport lightrail station. “Before now, if you wanted to access the important parts of DIA – namely the terminal and the cargo apron – you had to drive over 7 miles to get there. We are now less than a three mile drive,” said Bill Wichterman, A&C Properties vice president and general counsel. “With the construction of this new south entrance to DIA, we have connected Adams County and Aurora to the massive economic engine that is the Denver International Airport, the fifth-busiest airport in the country.” Porteos is the only entitled, zoned and shovel-ready nonresidential site within a 4-mile radius of the airport. Located at the northeast corner of Jackson Gap Street and 64th Avenue, it is within a foreign trade zone and enterprise zone. Future uses include retail, restaurants, hotels, office/flex, industrial and aviation. JLL is marketing the property to users, investors and developers. “Right now the predominant interest is coming from industrial and distribution uses and also from hotel uses – in addition to restaurants and retail users that would serve both people staying in hotels and people working in warehouses, and the estimated 30,000-plus airport employees that now have nowhere to eat off campus, so to speak,” said Wichterman. Tower Road offers limited dining options, and Gateway Park is 10 miles away, he said. “Porteos is the ideal location for those interested in serving and gaining exposure to visitors in the DIA area,” Wichterman said. “It will eventually be home to thousands of hotel rooms, millions of square feet of industrial space and hundreds of other businesses that value proximity and access to the airport.