Expansions under way in Del Camino business parks

Managing EditorDEL CAMINO – Development is beginning to pick up in some of the nine business parks in Del Camino, led by the expansion of sheet-metal fabricator Star Precision Inc.

The Del Camino area stretches from Colorado Highway 66 south to Colorado Highway 52, and about three miles on either side of Interstate 25, which runs north and south through the center of the area.

Star Precision is ready to expand after working some deals to its advantage during the recession. While some companies sat tight weathering the economic downturn, Star Precision focused on expansion. It bought land and built a new plant for less than what it would have paid had the economy been better, said Mark Hayes, vice president of finance for the 5-year-old company.

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Star Precision bought 15.1 acres for $780,000, which equates to about $1.15 per square foot, well below the general asking price in the Del Camino area that ranges from $2.50 to $5 per square foot, he said.

The new building cost about $5 million. Hayes said, that, too, was less than it would have been if economic conditions had been better. He said contractors bid lower than usual while scrambling for the work.

Star Precision expected to move six miles south from a 40,000-square-foot building at I-25 and Colorado Highway 66 in Mead to the Two Charlies Business Park in Frederick on May 2. The new facility will include 100,000 square feet for manufacturing and 8,400 square feet for administrative offices.

Fifty employees will be added to the present staff of 113 during the next year, Hayes said. Because the new building is in an Enterprise Zone, Star Precision will receive a $1,000 state tax credit for each new hire. Hayes said the company likely will employ more than 150 workers by the end of the year and add another 100 workers in 2003.

Star Precision logged revenues of about $12 million in 2001, a drop of about 3 percent from the previous year. “We’re not complaining considering what the economy was like,´ said Hayes, who anticipates growth in the coming year. “We’re targeting $25 million to $30 million once we’re up and running at the new plant.”

The company runs four shifts around the clock seven days a week. “We do that to make sure we keep our customers happy.” he said.

Star Precision specializes in machining, welding, water-jet cutting, painting and powder coating, silk screening and assembling sheet metal.

On Colorado Highway 119, west of I-25 in the 22-acre Milky Way Business Park, Ron Morrow is developing the 1.5 acres he purchased last year for about $1.50 per square foot.

Morrow’s Solid Rock Properties LLC is building a 13,400-square-foot, eight-unit building. Two of the units will house corporate headquarters for his five Grease Monkey franchises. His son Ron Morrow Jr. along with partners Steve Paige and Shay Balman will take two of the units as they move Rock Solid Landscape from within Longmont’s city limits to the park about five miles to the east.

“We expect to have the building completed by mid- to late-summer,” Ron Morrow said. The remaining four units are office/warehouse space and are available for sale or lease, he said.

Further to the south, Kuehne & Nagel, an international logistics company headquartered in Switzerland, is expanding its Greeley operations into the Del Camino Center. K&N leased 65,000 square feet of warehouse space in the former headquarters of Flextronics International, a subsidiary of Flextronics International Ltd. in Singapore. Flextronics built a 132,000-square-feet building next door for its headquarters last year.

Across the street, at 4093 Specialty Place, Sopris West Educational Services is expanding with the first of two phases under way. Sopris West publishes educational materials and develops programs for at-risk students.

Henry Cooper Contractors is adding about 16,600 square feet to Sopris’ existing 13,700-square-foot warehouse to make room for more products, which include CDs, tapes and training aids. A mezzanine level will house data storage equipment. The addition should be completed by the end of May, said Sara Beatty, a multimedia producer and spokeswoman.

Beatty said the second phase, pending approval of final plans and permits, will expand the front of the building by 14,700 square feet making room for a training/classroom area and needed office space. The 20-year-old company employs 80 people. Thirty were added in the past 18 months, she said.

Gerard’s French Bakery is reportedly expanding — again — in Del Camino Center, said John Cody, president of the Longmont Area Economic Council. The wholesale bakery owned by Mountain View Harvest Cooperative and United Bakeries International LLC last expanded in 1998, when it grew to 28,000 square feet from 13,000. Gerard’s could not be reached for comment.

Further north, in the Del Camino Junction Business Park in Firestone, Richmond American Homes’ new three-story office building stands tall next to a 70-room Best Western Motel under construction. But that’s the extent of life in the 40-acre business park seven miles east of Longmont on the frontage road that runs parallel to I-25.

A year ago those projects were in the works, but since, no new contracts have been signed. The park, at the northeast corner of I-25 and Highway 119, consists of 19 1.2- to 3.6-acre lots for office, retail and commercial development.

Terry Matthews, one of three Fuller & Co. brokers who listed the park, said inquiries dropped off after Sept. 11, but several inquiries have been made since February. She said two lots are being looked at seriously. She said one company well known in the Denver metro area is interested in erecting an office building, and a retailer is interested in buying another lot. She said since the South Weld County Service Complex, which borders the north end of the park, opened, interest in the park has increased. Contact Doug Storum at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail dstorum@bcbr.com.