Colorado Real Estate Journal - April 5, 2017
A 30,000-square-foot multitenant industrial building with outside storage will kick off development of a 28-acre parcel of land at 10600 Havana St. in Commerce City. Rocky Crest Enterprises LLC purchased the site from William C. Gruenewald, Robert W. Deer and Derr Family LP for $3.1 million. The sale was one of the largest land sales in the area since 2007, according to Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. NGKF Director Russell Gruber represented the buyer in the transaction. Larry Cornell and Pete Gunderson of Phill Foster and Co. represented the sellers. The buyer secured a lease with logistics company Denver Intermodal Express for 10 acres of the property. It plans to break ground on the multitenant building in the third quarter. The land fronts Interstate 76 and is zoned I-2. It is adjacent to the city of Brighton. “We're excited with the potential for this site,” said Aaron Kinney, vice president of Rocky Crest Enterprises LLC. “The timing for new development in the Commerce City area is ideal, and the desirability of the location was highlighted by the lease with Denver Intermodal Express,” he said. Denver Intermodal, whose over-the-road trucking division is headquartered in Denver, will use the site for trailer storage and its grain operation, as well as a small office component. Gruber said the area has experienced record-breaking industrial lease rates and diminishing vacancy. “Although the current vacancy rate is at its highest peak in 15 years, it is due to a single, large move-out of a retail tenant, rather than a general trend,” he said, noting Kmart/ Sears vacated 1.2 million sf in 2015, pushing the otherwise tight industrial market to 30 percent vacancy. “There are no current industrial developments underway in the immediate area,” said Gruber. “Larger deals have been completed, but the need for smaller-sized units to accommodate small, related users is critical.” Large users in the vicinity include Staples, Intertape Polymer Group, BASF Construction Chemicals and Transwest. Gruber said he sold a neighboring 30,000-sf building as an investment last year. “The tenants there were great, it’s never vacant, your rents are high. It was just a home-run deal.” He expects Rocky Crest’s building will be similarly received. “Availability is really low in that market, period – especially for a building that’s going to have high visibility, with yard. “Rocky Crest’s planned addition of a multitenant industrial building designed to accommodate small service industry type users with grade-level loading will create tremendous draw. This is new construction, 15 minutes from Denver, in a tight market and underserved, premier location,” he said, adding lease rates likely will be in the vicinity of $10.50 per sf triple net or higher. The building will be delivered in 2018. Other News A 10,000-square-foot industrial building at 5350 Vivian St. in Arvada sold for $1.55 million. The buyer, BloomCO Properties LLC, is affiliated with a construction company that occupies about half of the building, according to Casey Grosecope of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, who represented the buyer. There also are two other tenants. Rodney Gustafson of Case Commercial Real Estate represented the sellers, Joseph L. Polito, Jill F. Polito, FESI LLC and Hanco Investments LLC.