Page 8 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— November 19-December 2, 2014
This is the first time the
Stevinson family, which has
had a minority interest in the
office park since 2001, is not
part of the ownership.
“We are staying on as a ten-
ant, which is part of our com-
mitment to the park,” said Greg
Stevinson. “We think Denver
West is only going to get better
under the new ownership.”
Stevinson said he is “abso-
lutely thrilled” with High-
Brook.
“I have spent some time with
them and they are the per-
fect owner of the park. They
are bringing a lot of capital to
the park to reinvigorate it. The
park hadn’t been maintained
the way my dad and I used to
maintain it,” he said.
Denver West Office Park’s
two- to four-story buildings
occupy a heavily landscaped
site interspersed with ponds,
waterfalls, fountains, sculp-
tures and walkways. The park
adjoins the Denver West Vil-
lage retail center and is across
the street from Colorado Mills
mall and the Promenade at
Denver West. Gargiulo is inter-
ested in exploring the possi-
bility of a shuttle to make the
abundant restaurants and retail
more accessible to office park
employees.
Denver West Office Park’s
occupancy was 62 percent at
the time of the sale. Gargiulo
said it “is probably generating
less than half the net operat-
ing income it was generating
three to four years ago” due
in part to the loss of a couple
of large tenants. The National
Renewable Energy Laboratory
has downsized, but still occu-
pies approximately 100,000 sf.
Other existing tenants include
HomeAdvisor, which has
approximately 130,000 sf; the
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs,
at about 57,000 sf; Renal Ven-
tures Management, 33,000 sf;
and Catamount Constructors,
22,000 sf.
Numerous small companies
also are among the park’s 150
or so tenants.
A joint venture partnership
that included The Pyne Cos.,
Stevinson family members
and other investors sold Den-
ver West Office Park. The deal
included an undeveloped, six-
acre site that could accommo-
date 183,000 sf.
Gargiulo said HighBrook
Investment Management is
a well-capitalized firm that
acquires
underperforming
assets at a favorable cost basis
and adds value through opera-
tions and capital infusion. “We
don’t pick certain markets and
go deep,” he said. “We go after
specific opportunities.”
That said, “We like from a
macro standpoint what’s going
on in Denver. We think as some
of the hotter submarkets con-
tinue to absorb and rental rates
increase, obviously that will
push out to the suburbs.”
HighBrook retained Frank
Kelley and Blake Harris of
CBRE, along with longtime
Denver West leasing agent
John Wickliff, to market the
office park. “John and his team
bring a lot of experience to the
park,” said Stevinson.
Gargiulo said HighBrook will
be paying cooperating brokers
“more than what has historical-
ly been paid” in commissions.
Ed Anderson of Connex-
ion Asset Group, which was
involved in the sale, said it
took 90 days to identify the
buyer and close the sale “We
are pleased with our ability to
identify our buyer and close so
quickly on a transaction of this
scale,” he said.
HighBrook Investment Man-
agement, whose portfolio is
approaching more than 7 mil-
lion sf, owns properties across
the country.
“This is our biggest equity
investment, our most impor-
tant investment to date, and
we’re extremely focused on it,”
said Gargiulo, who added that
is being backed with signifi-
cant resources to ensure Den-
ver West Office Park’s success.
John Rebchook contributed to
this article.
s
Greater Denver
‘I have spent
some time
with them and
they are the
perfect owner
of the park. They
are bringing a
lot of capital
to the park to
reinvigorate it.’
– Greg Stevinson, developer
