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— Office Properties Quarterly — October 2015
responsible as a tenant or
landlord cost.
Historic buildings along
Wazee and Wynkoop streets
are preferred by lots of ten-
ants and owners because of
the buildings’ character and
historic features, including
exposed timber framing and
brick facades. These historic
buildings may have items like
asbestos, lead paint, uneven
floors, dated mechanical sys-
tems and other code compli-
ance requirements for ADA.
When making changes to
the exterior to add canopies,
new windows or roof decks
you need a Lower Downtown
Design Review Board approv-
al prior to starting construc-
tion. In some instances, we
have had to investigate the
feasibility of joining historic
buildings together with an
adjacent building to create
an open environment, which
has a big impact on fire life
safety, synchronizing build-
ing controls with varying sys-
tems and structural impacts
to the building structure. All
of these existing conditions
can be easily addressed if
identified early.
As site selectors and real
estate brokers continue to
enjoy this economic boom
and as we continue to pri-
oritize and seek out these
preferred demographic
requirements for a com-
pany’s success, we have to
keep an eye on the last part
of the puzzle. A thorough
due-diligence process is criti-
cal with every transaction
to identify any financial and
schedule impact items early
in the site-selection process
so as to allocate the appro-
priate funding and to ensure
all financial and schedule
expectations are communi-
cated and achieved.
s
“A few years ago you
couldn’t say you were Class
A if you were not pursuing
LEED Gold,” said Kemberlin.
“These days, you can’t say
it if you don’t include some
nod toward getting people
outdoors. That’s essentially a
requirement now. These fea-
tures are expensive, but well
worth it, especially if they
can generate revenue for the
landlord.”
The office building will
now feature several balco-
nies, a wraparound exterior
deck for the lowest office
floor, and a 4,000-sf com-
munity indoor/outdoor area
on the rooftop. The area will
be used for office functions,
as well as catered events like
weddings and parties.
The definition of must-
have amenities also is shift-
ing as tenants place more
importance on what is avail-
able around the office versus
only what the building itself
houses. This shift increased
the importance of the retail
space, which now plans to be
less reliant on retail chains
and more reliant on local
and regional flavor.
“We’re investing more on
the outside of the building
for the benefit of the people
on the inside,” Kemberlin
said.
While Lincoln Property
Co. was attracted to this
site from the beginning to
achieve a well-balanced
mix of properties at a busy
transit center, the five-year
hiatus let the team recognize
how to best capitalize on
these goals, which required
embracing a 24/7 environ-
ment immediately, rather
than further down the time-
line.
“You cannot overestimate
the value of people living
on the site, which has never
happened in the site’s his-
tory and will help rebrand
Colorado Center,” said Kem-
berlin. “RTD has embraced
this concept, the equity
in Washington, D.C., has
embraced the concept and
the city has embraced this
concept. We’ve been able to
envision the project as it was
originally intended.”
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Buyers searching for addi-
tional yield are focusing on
properties in the west Den-
ver and Aurora submarkets,
which are older. Competition
in west Denver and Aurora is
muffled and cap rates often
top 8 percent. Increasing
demand will accelerate the
timeline of owners who are
considering near-term dispo-
sitions, especially those with
well-located, low-vacancy
assets, boosting transaction
velocity marketwide.
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Denver
Colorado Center
Job Growth
