Colorado Real Estate Journal - December 21, 2016
The owner of a Denver moving and storage company sealed the largest single-building industrial deal of the year with the $20.1 million acquisition of a 326,844-square-foot warehouse in Aurora. S&Z Realty LLLP, headed by Stuart Smith of Buehler Cos., bought the building at 16456 E. Airport Circle from Graebel Warehouse LLC. The building was built for Graebel Van Lines and was well-suited to house Buehler’s multifaceted moving and storage, warehousing and logistics businesses. Those include Buehler Moving & Storage Co., a Mayflower Transit Inc. agent; Alliance Relocation Services, a United Van Lines representative; and Student Movers. Buehler also is acquiring Graebel Van Lines business in Denver, which Graebel Companies Inc. sold two years ago and which occupies space in the building. “Our warehousing and logistics business is growing at a very fast pace, and the building on Airport Circle is built for what we do,” said Smith. “I’m really excited about being in this building because it’s a showpiece,” he said, adding it will “make it easier to take care of our customers and give them the best service out there.” “It’s certainly the nicest moving and storage building in Denver, and it really reflects Stuart, Buehler Moving & Storage and the quality they stand for,” said Tyler Smith of Cushman & Wakefield, who represented the buyer with Cushman & Wakefield’s Alec Rhodes and Aaron Valdez. For a user to buy a building that large in Denver is extraordinary, and being able to do so wasn’t easy given the metro area’s scarcity of warehouse space. “We were looking for about 300,000 square feet. To find a building that matched our needs for yard space, clear height and accessibility to highways is very difficult,” said Stuart Smith. “We looked at development, we looked at buying a building with excess land and adding on, we made a run at a couple of other properties that didn’t work out, and lo and behold, this came along,” said Tyler Smith. Stuart Smith said he spent a year and a half trying to buy the Airport Circle building, which for many reasons “was probably the most difficult purchase I’ve made in my life.” The building was the largest asset within an 11-building portfolio being sold by a Graebel family trust following the sale of Graebel Van Lines. “It actually never went to market,” said Brad Pech of Re/Max Commercial Alliance, who is handling the portfolio sale and represented the trust in the Aurora transaction. “I started working on this, and all of a sudden word got out and I started getting multiple offers for individual properties,” he said. There also was an offer for the entire portfolio. When that fell through, the trust decided to spin off the Denver building. It wasn’t set up for a turnkey investment because Graebel Van Lines didn’t need all of its space, and the other tenant in the building, Roper Western Wear, has a 75,000-sf lease expiring at the end of the year. Stuart Smith said he is “very close” to completing a new lease with Roper. “Stuart was there from the get-go,” said Pech. “I think it’s the perfect building for him. It all worked out very well for him and for us too.” “There are not many users in the Denver market that could take down 325,000 square feet. What a success story,” said Tyler Smith, who was part of the Cushman & Wakefield team that sold Buehler’s existing building in Aurora and has represented Stuart Smith in building sales and acquisitions for several years. “Stuart and Buehler have been an amazing group to work with. To see and be part of helping to facilitate this kind of rapid growth is really amazing,” he said. The acquisition follows the sale of Buehler Moving & Storage’s existing 277,236-sf building in Aurora. (See related story at right.) “We’re proud to be part of the Denver community. The growth that we’ve experienced in the last three years has been through the roof,” said Stuart Smith. In addition to its Denver operations, the company has facilities in Colorado Springs, Albuquerque and Fort Worth, Texas.