Balfour Pacific sells industrial sites in Longmont portfolio

LONGMONT — Balfour Pacific Capital Inc., through holding company GCC Longmont Holdings LP, sold nine of its 10 remaining properties in its Campus at Longmont portfolio this month to BPVIF V Holdings 10 LLC, an affiliate of California investment outfit Berkeley Partners for just more than $20.2 million, Boulder County public records show.

The portofolio, located in southwest Longmont, totalled roughly 300,000 square feet.

The deal represents Vancouver, Canada-based Balfour Pacific’s first with Berkeley Partners, according to Balfour managing partner Mark Scott.

“We’d never done a deal with them, but they’re a very high-quality institutional investor,” he told BizWest.

Balfour entered the Longmont market in 2017 with the purchase of 27 commercial properties totalling 870,000 square feet in the Campus at Longmont business park at a price of $69.6 million.

“There were a number of good reasons at the time to invest in Longmont,” Scott said. “It’s in the greater Denver area, so it’s influenced by the Denver market. It’s also close to Boulder, but much more affordable both for tenants and individuals. That seemed to us to be a good indication that there was growth available.”

Colorado’s strong economic environment in recent years helps “attract in-migration and investment,” he said.  

Over the past three years, 26 of those original properties have been sold, resulting in returns of nearly three times the purchase price for Balfour investors, according to the company.  

“We are thrilled with the performance of our investment, which solidifies our BPRE IV returns,” Balfour Pacific managing partner Mark Scott said in a prepared statement. “We have one remaining building in The Campus, comprising 90,000 square feet, that we plan to sell in the months ahead.”

Balfour’s strategy in taking over the Longmont portfolio was to improve the buildings and attract new tenants, Scott said. “Once they were fully leased and mature, we sold them.”

The last remaining Balfour-owned property in the campus, 1830 Lefthand Circle, is 50% leased.

“When it’s fully leased, we’ll sell that one,” Scott said. 

Despite the divestment in the Longmont portfolio, Scott said Balfour Pacific plans to continue investing around the Denver area.

Berkeley Partners has about a dozen Colorado holdings, including commercial spaces on Boulder’s Spine Road and Walnut Street.

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