Colorado Real Estate Journal - June 1, 2016
SendGrid’s move to a downtown Denver high-rise will triple its Colorado footprint and pave the way to continue growing its workforce in the Denver-Boulder area. The Boulder-born company will move its headquarters to 52,000 square feet at 1801 California St. in the fourth quarter. SendGrid, a cloud-based email delivery provider, is the second large tech tenant to land in the building in the last year. Ibotta, which allows shoppers to earn rebates on online purchases, leases 39,000 sf. Approximately 200 SendGrid employees will work in the new location, which is capable of housing 450 workers as the company grows. “We feel like it’s going to be a place to grow the company going forward,” said David Friedman, SendGrid director of corporate communications. “We want to drive employee engagement, productivity and collaboration, and the best way to do that is to have all our employees in one location.” SendGrid will maintain a small presence in Boulder to retain ties to the tech community there, including the Techstars accelerator. Borrowing from a Silicon Valley practice, it will invest in a WiFi-enabled shuttle service to connect employees in Boulder with the new headquarters. SendGrid believes the shuttle will be a long-term recruiting tool, allowing it to continue to tap talent in both Denver and Boulder. “Really it wasn’t an option for them to expand in downtown Boulder,” said Chris Boston of Gibbons-White Inc., who represented SendGrid in the lease. “There was no space available at 50,000 square feet.” The headquarters build-out will include lots of collaborative space and productivity tools, and will be designed by Hampton Architecture in Longmont. “They will help us create a market-leading experience for our employees,” said Friedman. Brookfield Office Properties owns 1801 California St. “We are thrilled that they have chosen to grow their platform in downtown Denver and at 1801 California,” said David Sternberg, executive vice president of Brookfield’s Mountain and Northern California U.S. Office Division. “We think it’s great for the city. We’re thrilled to be growing the tech sector in the property as well.” Brookfield completed a more than-$50 million renovation of 1801 California St. after buying the property in late 2011. The 1.3 million-sf tower has light-rail and Free MetroRide stops on both sides of the building. “It’s a building and location that resonates with people who want to use public transportation,” said Sternberg. That was a prime consideration for SendGrid, said Boston. Plus, “They wanted building amenities or nearby amenities – various restaurant and coffee options,” he said, adding, “1801 California has common area conference rooms that were attractive to them, and it also has a fitness center that was seen as desirable for their employees.” Boston is marketing SendGrid’s existing 20,000 sf at 1401 Walnut St. in Boulder for lease. The company signed a seven year lease for the downtown Denver space, according to Friedman.