Hines constructs spec Class A building

BROOMFIELD – Construction is starting on a 186,000-square-foot Class A office building in Interlocken, which is being built on a speculative basis by a large international real estate development company.

(Courtesy Hines) This architectural rendering shows the 186,000-square-foot office building named Eos at Interlocken being built by Hines, which has its U.S. headquarters in Houston. The project near the eastern entrance to the Interlocken office park will be LEED Gold precertified and feature a number of energy-efficient features.

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Hines, which has its U.S. headquarters in Houston, announced Sept. 19 that work has started on a project it has named Eos at Interlocken. The building near the eastern entrance to the Interlocken office park will be LEED Gold precertified and feature a number of energy-efficient features.

Eos is the first part of a multibuilding campus, which could grow to include more office buildings, retail space, apartments and a hotel. Site plans for the campus were approved by the Broomfield City Council in 2007 and 2008, but the project was delayed when the economy turned south.

The building will be built on two lots at 250 Interlocken Blvd. and 105 Edgeview Drive, and it will have four stories. Forum Architects of St. Louis, Missouri, is the architect. David Hart and Chris Phenice of CB Richard Ellis will lead the leasing team. The Denver office of Whiting-Turner Construction is the general contractor.

Speculative projects have become scarce in the past few years, and area vacancy rates remain somewhat high, but the U.S. 36 corridor, and Interlocken in particular, are ready for a new Class A office building, Hart said.

“That sub-market continues to show positive growth,” Hart said. “If you break it down to Class A, Class AA buildings … then there is justification for new construction.”

The Central Park Tower at Interlocken, at 385 Interlocken Crescent, is the most recent addition to Interlocken. The building, with 297,000 square feet of rentable Class AA office space, opened in the summer 2010.

It is about 70 percent leased, said Hart, who leases the building.

Hines will own the new property through Eos Development LLC. Eos Development bought two adjoining lots totaling 12.2 acres on Sept. 9 for $5.3 million, according to Broomfield County property records.

The press release from Hines emphasized the building’s green features. Large 10-foot floor-to-ceiling windows will enhance the lighting, solar panels will provide 8 percent to 10 percent of the building’s power and 18 electric vehicle charging stations are planned for the building’s parking lot.

The features will align with the ambitions of companies in the area to be more sustainable, Hines senior vice president Charles Elder said in the release.

“This building was envisioned and designed in direct response to the values and initiatives currently at the forefront of corporate and personal environmental decision-making within the Denver-Boulder Corridor,” Elder said. “The Boulder and Interlocken markets have a burgeoning grassroots movement toward the sustainable occupation of office space and housing. To the surrounding community, being environmentally efficient and responsible is a way of life, and we believe that we have embodied the essence of this lifestyle in the Eos project.”

New Class A office space will be a welcome addition to Interlocken, Broomfield Economic Development Corp. interim chief executive Don Dunshee said.

Companies interested in relocating to the U.S. 36 corridor continue to look for large spaces with large floor plates, but not much is available.

“You’ve only got one building to look at,” Dunshee said, referring to Central Park Tower.

If Eos is the first part of a large campus, it would help complete the development of Interlocken, Broomfield’s assistant city and county manager Kevin Standbridge said. While the campuses of Level 3 Corp. and Oracle dominate the western part of Interlocken, and there are several high-rise towers in the central part, the eastern third is relatively undeveloped.

“It definitely would be a substantial anchor,” Standbridge said.

The site plan allows the construction of up to 678,250 square feet of office, 44,000 square feet of retail, a 650-unit multifamily residential complex and a 148,500-square-foot building that could be a hotel or an additional office. The buildings would be spread over 50 acres.

Standbridge would not speculate about when that portion of Interlocken will be complete.

“We’re just kind of thrilled it’s moving forward at this point,” he said.