Swisslog changes location of proposed headquarters

BROOMFIELD – Swisslog Healthcare has changed the location of its new headquarters – from Arista in Broomfield to Interpark, a nearby site at 112th Avenue and Main Street – to accommodate a shift in plans.

Last August, Swisslog was planning to occupy a building that Arista developer, The Wiens Group, was going to build, to where Swisslog would move from Denver about 165 employees in administration, software development and marketing, but keep its manufacturing site in Denver near Stapleton.

Marian Robinson, a Swisslog Healthcare spokeswoman, said that the company has since decided it will move its manufacturing operation to Broomfield, in order to keep its research and development, production, product management and marketing teams at one location.

She said the current number of employees moving beginning in January will be 216 including workers in administration, human resources, finance, solutions management and marketing. She said more employees will relocate later in 2018 when the building housing a Technology Center is ready.

“We are projecting a 20 percent workforce increase over the term of the lease (10 to 15 years depending on the building) to support our growth plans,” Robinson said in an email.

Interpark is being developed by Minneapolis-based United Properties.

“United Properties will be able to build the manufacturing plant to our specifications, and we will be able keep the teams closer together,” Robinson said.

Swisslog Healthcare will lease the buildings from United Properties.

Swisslog Healthcare designs, manufactures and installs pneumatic tube systems for hospitals. Its parent company specializes in developing software to run its automated systems for material transport, medication management and supply-chain management in health-care facilities, data centers and warehouses.

Interpark is expected to be ready by 2018. It will have two industrial/flex buildings totaling 228,000 square feet and seven acres of walkable commercial service and retail amenities.

Interpark’s two buildings will be flanked on the south side by a seven-acre retail plaza at the intersection of 112th Avenue and Main Street. The east building, which United Properties will construct first, will have 119,873 square feet, of which Swisslog is taking 67,779 square feet. Swisslog originally planned to occupy about 47,000 square feet at Arista.

“Investing in retail, green space and other tenant amenities may be unusual for a flex/industrial project, but we wanted to create a unique setting at Interpark that would attract quality companies like Swisslog,” said Kevin Kelley, senior vice president and regional director for United Properties in Colorado.

Kelley said United Properties has the 23-acre parcel under contract and expects the land deal to close in June.

“In Denver’s tight labor market, employees can afford to have high standards for their workplaces, and when a company chooses to locate in a place like Interpark, it creates a distinct competitive advantage,” Kelley said.

Swisslog Healthcare’s chief executive, Stephan Sonderegger, said being in Broomfield will help attract and retain workers.

“Our new headquarters location in the corridor between the universities in Denver and Boulder is the right solution for attracting and retaining the technical talent we need to drive our vision for enabling better patient care. The Automation Academy and Technology Showroom on site will allow us to train customers and employees, and demonstrate our fully integrated supply-chain management and medication-management solutions.”

Swisslog Healthcare operates as an independent company under KUKA AG – based in Augsburg, Germany.

The remaining space at Interpark’s east building is available for lease and divisible down to approximately 15,000 square feet. The second building to the west will have 107,720 square feet of flex/industrial space that could house up to four users.

CBRE Group Inc.’s Frank Kelley, Jeremy Kroner and Erik Abrahamson are handling the leasing of Interpark.

A 7-Eleven convenience store has committed to open at the corner of the property in early 2018, and a national coffee chain is considering a location within the complex. Proposals from hotel users are also being considered for the site.

Interpark is within a short distance to the 1stBank Center, the Arista residential development, the Westin Hotel and The Shops at Walnut Creek. A bridge near the north end of the property offers access to nearby ball fields and a recreational area.

United Properties has developed the Enterprise Business Center, a 2 million-square-foot industrial project in Northeast Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood, and INOVA Dry Creek, a 695,000-square-foot mixed-use office and residential campus in Centennial.

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