There's no doubt that the Mile High City has been reeling lately from the country’s current economic downturn. At a time when other cities have experienced a significant decline, Denver has held on to a majority of its retail due in large part to business sectors, such as renewable energy and governmental agencies, choosing Denver for their headquarters and the unemployment rate remaining at around 7 percent, which is below the national average. While vacancy rates also remain below national averages, hovering around 10 to 12 percent, supply for retail space remains higher than demand. Although construction projects are happening downtown and in areas with high residential populations, developments have slowed greatly. Most projects currently under construction started either before the downturn with tenants already committed or were put on hold. One such project in the final stage of completion is the redevelopment of SouthGlenn Mall in Centennial. The entire mall—except for anchor stores Sears and Macy’s—was demolished in 2006 and completely rebuilt as a mixed-use center called The Streets at SouthGlenn. With nearly 1 million square feet of retail space, 140,000 square feet of office space and 200 luxury residences, the first phase of The Streets at SouthGlenn opened …
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THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. — A new 125-room Hampton Inn & Suites has opened at 510 N. Ventu Park Rd. in Thousand Oaks. The hotel’s opening completes the first phase of Thousand Oaks Marketplace, a development of NewMark Merrill Cos. Owned and operated by OTO Development LLC, the hotel offers free Wi-Fi and HD flat-panel TVs as well as a pool and an exercise room.
KAPOLEI, HAWAII — Colliers International’s Honolulu and downtown Los Angeles offices teamed up to negotiate the $19.2 million sale of 91-315 Hanua Street in Kapolei. The 189,000-square-foot property is the largest, single-tenant, cold/freezer food distribution facility in the Aloha State. Tower Plaza Associates LP, a private investor represented by Colliers’ Fred Cordova, Mark Bratton and Scott Mitchell, sold the property to KDI Investments Inc., which was unrepresented.
LOS ANGELES — G. A. Gertmenian & Sons’ new 150,000-square-foot design and build headquarters facility has been completed at 300 W. Ave. 33 in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles. Whittier, Calif.-based Oltmans Construction Co. was the general contractor on the project, which revitalized a former industrial site that had been vacant and dormant. HPA was the architect.
With a population of 2.2 million, Portland is the 28th largest metropolitan area in the country, the fourth largest city on the West Coast and the largest city in Oregon. Sportswear and equipment businesses Nike, Adidas-America and Columbia Sportswear are all headquartered in Oregon. National publications often cite the Portland area for its coolness factor. In 2009, Men’s Journal named Portland the third “Best Beer Town in the U.S.,” the Wall Street Journal dubbed it the fourth best “Youth Magnet City” and it was third in the Forbes annual list of safest major cities. Unfortunately, it’s not all positive news for the area. Oregon has the fourth highest statewide unemployment rate in the country. During the past year, Oregon has lost 100,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate is now holding steady at 11.5 percent. However, for the real estate sector, the state had the foresight to have well thought out land-use planning laws, and this has benefited the region in these tough times. In the early 1970s, Governor Tom McCall commissioned a study on the future of the Willamette Valley, whose farms and forests were being threatened by a wave of new growth and poorly planned development. Knowing that Oregon’s …
TUCSON, ARIZ. — Ryan Cos. US Inc. will develop an approximately 150,000-square-foot corporate headquarters for UniSource Energy Corporation on a 2-acre site at Broadway Boulevard and Scott Avenue in downtown Tucson. The building is expected to be completed by fourth quarter 2011 and achieve LEED certification at the Gold or Platinum level.
PHOENIX — CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has negotiated the $3.88 million sale of a 77,778-square-foot single-tenant warehouse located at 824 E. University Dr. in Phoenix. CBRE’s Joe Porter, Pat Feeney, Dan Calihan and Rusty Kennedy represented the seller, RGR Development Corp., in the transaction. Represented by Bill Hudson of Ross Property Advisers and Sperry Van Ness’ Adam Lopez, the buyer, Majik Ventures LLC, plans to relocate to the new building in August.
KENNEWICK, WASH. — Marcus & Millichap has negotiated the more than $3.1 million sale of Steptoe Car Wash & Mini Storage, a 22,526-square-foot self-storage facility located at 2001 Steptoe St. in Kennewick. Steptoe was built and opened in 2004. Marcus & Millichap’s Joel Deis and Christopher R. Secreto represented the seller, a partnership.
WALNUT CREEK, CALIF. — The approximately 250,000-square-foot new corporate headquarters for AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah has officially opened in Walnut Creek. Korth Sunseri Hagey Architects was the project designer, and Gensler created the interior design. The six-floor project began in January 2007.
ANAHEIM, CALIF. — DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services has represented The Ducoing Family Trust in its $4.075 million acquisition of a 26,400-square-foot industrial building located at 1251 N. Jefferson Ave. in Anaheim. DAUM’s Chris Migliori represented the buyer in the transaction, and Voit Commercial represented the seller.