Denver's office market is hopping, so we thought it would be the perfect time to launch ourinaugural Denver State of the Market event April 26 at the Four Seasons. And owning one of Denver CBD's biggest towers is starting to pay off for one of our panelists.
That would be Brookfield Office Properties. SVPDavid Sternberg(at a recent broker event with Denver Broncos cheerleaders) tells us the firm recently secured two big deals at 1801 California, including Halcion, which inked 50k SF, and Newalta, which took24k SF (a full floor). Brookfield picked up the 1.3M SF downtown tower two years ago when occupancy hovered around 30%. These deals bring it to40%, David says.
The market's particularly hot with potential relocations. David sees a handful of companies eying Denver for new HQs.For companies wanting to attract and retain employees, Denver offers good climate, educated workforce, and investment in pubic transit, he says.
Another panelist, Hines Jay Despard says the firm is so confident in the Denver office market that it's developing two spec office buildings: The 298k SF 1515 Wynkoop (completed in 2009), and 1601 Wewatta, a 300k SF building Hines will break ground on in June next to Union Station. And now were out in the market for that, theres quite a bit of interest, Jay says. Spec in most of the country is still highly unusual, even for Hines. But in this cycle, Jay says money behind projects likes core opportunities and is a little more realistic and patient.
When she's not pushing for deals, Lowe Enterprises Mara Fabian, another panelist, practices her fishing skills--here, she's catching a trout at South Boulder Creek. My husband loves to fly fish. We used to go a lot, and I would sit on the bank and read while he was fishing, she says. As for CRE, Lowe recently acquired Alamo Plaza and El Dorado Ridge, and Mara says activity has been steady. We do have pent-up demand. Recently, the firm renewed and expanded McDivitt Law to 4,800 SF and Agile1 to 3,500 SF. We'll see you at our event: Sign up here!
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