Colorado Real Estate Journal - April 6, 2016
Josh Simon and Kristian Lichtenfels of the Denver office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler recently secured a $30.5 million construction loan for a 216-unit apartment community in Broomfield. Working on behalf of Jeffrey Sanders of Boulder-based MountainView Capital LLC, Simon and Lichtenfels placed the loan with a regional bank. The loan is for the garden-style Mountain View at Palisade Park. It will open in 2017 on an 8.29- acre site at the southwest corner of 169th Avenue and Huron Street. Just off Interstate 25, Mountain View at Palisade Park is equidistant between downtown Denver and Boulder. It is about 20 minutes north of downtown and 20 minutes east of Boulder. The community’s eight threestory buildings will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Common-area amenities will include a community clubhouse, resort-style swimming pool, stateof-the-art fitness center, yoga room and garage/carport parking. “We had a tremendous amount of interest from banks, as well as a couple of life insurance companies,” Simon said about funding the property. The borrower, he said, received “highly competitive terms,” from the lender. Last year, the HFF team of Simon and Lichtenfels secured $77.5 million on behalf of Sanders for the Block 32 apartment community in LoHi and the Terra Vida multifamily community in Fort Collins. Sanders’ investment and development history was a “huge factor” in helping him get a great deal on the Broomfield development, Simon said. “Jeff has a good track record,” Simon said. “And he’s local.” In fact, local knowledge can’t be underestimated, especially as multifamily development financing is becoming more difficult in the Denver area, as lenders begin to worry about an oversupply, Simon said. “Being local and really knowing and understanding the market is highly important to banks today,” Simon said. “Getting construction debt is probably the most difficult financing to get for multifamily projects today, and will be the biggest constraint on construction,” he said. “Banks really look favorably on local, knowledgeable developers,” Simon said. Plus, the development is on a site that can’t be beat, he said. “It is a great location right next to the new Children’s Hospital and not far from the retail center/ downtown that is going to be built on the site of the old Westminster Mall,” Simon said “It’s right in the path of growth,” Simon said. “I think it is going to have a wide draw for residents,” he said. “Potentially, it can draw from people who work downtown as well as people along the U.S. 36 corridor to Boulder and beyond,” Simon said.