Colorado Real Estate Journal - January 6, 2016
The city of Boulder purchased Boulder Community Health’s 8.79-acre campus west of Broadway for $40 million and will begin the process of determining the site’s future. The deal included the hospital campus at 1100 Balsam Ave., as well as two properties on Alpine Street and two small properties on North Street. The improvements total approximately 350,000 square feet. “As a longtime partner in the community, the seller is excited to see the city of Boulder acquire the property,” said CBRE’s Eric Roth. “This is a logical transition that will allow for the site to benefit the community in the future.” Roth and Martin Roth, first vice presidents in CBRE’s Land Services group, represented Boulder Community Health in the transaction. The deal includes a two-year leaseback during which BCH will retain possession of the hospital and continue to provide additional medical services, including Behavioral Health and Rehabilitation. “We are so excited to be the new owners and stewards of this important property,” Boulder City Manager Jane Brautigam said in a statement. “The city is very appreciative of the partnership this sale represents and of the leadership BCH showed in understanding the importance of this site to the neighborhood and the city. “We look forward to undertaking a meaningful and significant community engagement process that will support the thoughtful consideration of the future uses of this site. Redevelopment opportunities like this are rare in Boulder, and we want to ensure we leverage this one wisely and collaboratively,” she said. The scarcity of such redevelopment opportunities in Boulder is reflected in the price, which took into consideration both land value and the value of some structures that can be repurposed for other uses. The 407-stall parking garage with attached ground-floor retail, for instance, “remains very functional and will likely remain in place,” said Eric Roth. The hospital retained possession of 183 parking spaces in the parking structure for the next two years, or until it completes its consolidation at the Foothills Medical Center at 4747 Arapahoe Ave. The city has immediate use of 198 spaces and will encourage city employees to park there to free up spaces for the community and to relieve congestion in the Civic Area. The city of Boulder wanted to acquire the Broadway medical campus to ensure redevelopment fits the community’s vision for the area. Also, the city currently leases office space throughout Boulder, and some of its buildings in the Civic Area are in the flood plain. The BCH Broadway campus could provide an opportunity to build new, modern city facilities, but all potential uses are on the table. “There will be a community engagement process that the city will undertake to determine what will happen with that campus,” said city Communication Director Patrick von Keyserling. “This sale is a true win-win situation that exemplifies Boulder Community Health’s longstanding commitment to our hometown,” said Dr. Robert Vissers, BCH president and CEO. “It benefits BCH and local health care in multiple ways and also provides the city of Boulder with a valuable property that has tremendous potential for redevelopment.”