Colorado Real Estate Journal -
A nearly 80,000-square-foot industrial property in the Garden of the Gods corridor sold to a user relocating and expanding its indoor flea market “marketplace” concept. Willowstone Antique Marketplace paid $2.6 million for Hotsy’s former build-to-suit at 2150 Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs. Following renovations to the two-story property, Willowstone will relocate its marketplace, which has several locations, including 44,000 sf at 1710 Dublin Blvd. “This transaction represented the opportunity for my client to leverage current market conditions and purchase a high-quality, well-located piece of real estate at a fraction of replacement cost,” explained Charley Conrad of Olive Real Estate Group Inc., who represented the buyer. “The Garden of the Gods commercial corridor is one of Colorado Springs’ best maintained business and commercial areas and has historically fared well in both good and challenging economic environments. As such, I believe the investment in this property will prove to be a wise and prosperous real estate venture.” Constructed in 1977, the 79,951- sf property features approximately 5,000 sf of office space, three dockhigh doors and one drive-in door, and ceiling heights of 20 feet. As well, the building is situated on a 10-acre site, which could accommodate additional development of 59,600 sf, according to a conceptual site plan. “Obviously, the Garden of the Gods location was a big draw of the property but the additional acreage was a huge plus in selling it,” commented Randy Dowis of NAI Highland LLC, who, with NAI Highland’s Ryan Higgins and R.C. Myles of Cassidy Turley Colorado, represented the seller, CCI-B 2150 Garden of the Gods LLC. “Big users are having more and more difficulty in finding inventory like this in Colorado Springs. We’ve got a problem; there aren’t enough good-quality, high-bay properties. There is hardly anything in the market,” added Dowis, noting that while the market has a healthy vacancy rate, between 5 percent and 6 percent, there are no signs of speculative development. A number of offers were received on the building, which was last occupied by Tech for Less. Corporate neighbors include Verizon, Agilent Technologies, Entegris and LSI Logic. Willowstone is expected to occupy the space in October.