REIT acquires Harvest Junction in Longmont

LONGMONT — A Michigan-based real estate investment trust is acquiring the Harvest Junction North and Harvest Junction South shopping centers in Longmont for $69.2 million.

Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE: RPT), a REIT based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, announced that it reached a definitive agreement to buy the shopping centers from Panattoni Development Co. It will pay $35.5 million for Harvest Junction North and $33.7 million for Harvest Junction South.

Ramco-Gershenson will take over property management and leasing duties, said Dawn Hendershot, its director of investor relations and corporate communications.

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Buildings at the two centers, on either side of Ken Pratt Boulevard just east of South Main Street, contain a combined 327,875 square feet and are 96 percent leased, according to a press release from Ramco-Gershenson. The centers were built in 2006.

In addition to the shopping centers, Ramco-Gershenson also purchased a 14-acre lot adjacent to Harvest Junction North for $2.7 million. The deal, an all-cash transaction, closed June 1.

Given the centers’ age and very high occupancy rate, the new owner is not planning many changes. Instead, it plans on expanding onto the adjacent property when the conditions are right.

“Future development can be expected,” Hendershot said. “We certainly like the income level and the prospects for growth.”

Ramco-Gershenson announced the transaction in May as part of a major addition to its portfolio. As of March 31, the company or its joint ventures owned and managed a portfolio of 80 shopping centers and one office building with approximately 14.9 million square feet of gross leasable area, according to its website.

Most of the centers are in the Midwest or Southeast.

Harvest Junction’s major tenants include Staples, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Lowe’s hardware also is located at the site, but the company owns its store.

ROOSEVELT APARTMENTS: The developer behind a $21 million apartment and retail development project in downtown Longmont has received the fee waivers he said are necessary for the project to move forward.

Longmont’s City Council on June 12 voted to pass two ordinances that will waive $703,816 in fees due from the developers of Roosevelt Apartments, a redevelopment project planned for the northwest corner of Longs Peak Avenue and Main Street.

Roosevelt Apartments is the brainchild of Cotton Burden and Burden Inc., a Longmont-based development company. The project would build 115 apartments, have 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space, and construct a 185-lot parking garage, according to Longmont. The project will be on 1.55 acres.

Burden said before the June 12 meeting that the project was contingent on City Council granting the fee waiver, as well as other investments made by the city.

“We can’t do this project without some significant support from the city,” Burden said.

The council approved ordinances that will waive part of the park-improvement fee and totally waive the public-building community-investment fee. The waivers apply to mixed-use redevelopment projects at least one acre in size that are within the Longmont Downtown District Authority. The projects also must include at least 50 residential units and 10,000 square feet of commercial retail, restaurant or office space.

The ordinances reduce the Park Improvement Fee on the Roosevelt Apartments development from $587,075 to $27,905. The Public Building Community Investment Fee would have been $144,646.

The LDDA will contribute more than $3.5 million to the project, including $2 million for the parking garage. The city of Longmont’s contribution will be nearly $1.4 million, in the form of waived fees and money spent on public improvements.

Burden said he is optimistic the project can get under way soon.

Demand for new apartments in downtown Longmont is strong, which has led to interest from investors and banks, Burden said.

“I’m actually getting banks calling me, and saying, ‘We want to look at this,’ ” he said.

TWIN PEAKS: Looks like the Twin Peaks shopping center in Longmont is going outdoors.

Outdoor restaurants with rooftop patios, an outdoor fountain, a “village” gathering space for community events and a children’s play area are envisioned for the new shopping area, according to Allen Ginsborg, managing director and principal of NewMark Merrill Mountain States. The development company bought the mall for $8.5 million in February.

Ginsborg recently hosted a public open house where he said NewMark Merrill is motivated to move forward quickly, but he declined to give a date for demolishing current mall structures or to name any specific retailers who are interested in being in the new mall. About 150 people attended the event at the mall in the space previously occupied by a JC Penney store.

“These plans are fluid right now,” Ginsborg said. “The one area we can’t control are retailers, and retailers are notoriously fickle.”

Ginsborg and partner Sandy Sigel formed NMMS Twin Peaks LLC to buy the mall, which was in bankruptcy. The development team has said it plans to spend $25 million to $50 million to renovate the mall.

The new shopping center also may include a renovated movie theater with stadium seating, a natural-foods grocery store and a Costco or Sam’s Club store, Ginsborg said. Those retail priorities come from polling of residents done by NewMark Merrill, he said.

NMMS Twin Peaks LLC paid a fraction of the approximately $26.5 million that former owner Panattoni Co. owed to creditor Bank of America. Panattoni purchased the mall in 2007 for a reported $33.6 million. NewMark Merrill Mountain States had been managing the mall since October 2010 on behalf of Panattoni.

LAFAYETTE

NURSERY GROWING: An historic nursery school in Boulder has purchased property in Lafayette with plans to open a new day-care center.

The Boulder Day Nursery Association paid $333,200 recently to acquire 2.5 acres of land and a building in the Westgate Office Park, located at the northwest corner of South Boulder Road and Cimarron Drive in Lafayette.

The association is the nonprofit that operates Boulder Day Nursery, an early education and day-care center. The nursery was founded in Boulder in 1917 and has been at 1518 Spruce St. since 1930. That nursery is to remain open.

The expansion is likely to double the size of the operation, according to Steve Callander, executive director and chief executive. The nursery had 31 employees in 2011, and about 18 full-time employees are at the nursery daily. It had 106 students in the 2011 calendar year.

The association plans to start building immediately and is hoping to have the building completed by August 2013, Callander said.

Money for the acquisition comes from $1.3 million the nursery has raised, and the association will continue its capital campaign, Callander said.

RMA Holdings Inc. was the prior owner. It was represented by Chris Ball, Jim Capecelatro and Mike Kboudi of Cassidy Turley Fuller Real Estate. Keith Kanemoto of Prudential Real Estate represented the buyer.

Beth Potter contributed to this story.

Michael Davidson can be reached at 303-630-1943 or via email at mdavidson@bcbr.com.