Comunale inks large industrial lease at Mulberry Connection

FORT COLLINS — Commercial real estate investor and developer Comunale Properties has completed what it says is Northern Colorado’s largest industrial lease of the year, securing a full-building commitment that now fully leases Mulberry Connection, the first Class A speculative industrial project to deliver in Fort Collins in 20 years.

Construction of the 164,200-square-foot, two-building project on 13 acres at 3874 and 4036 Redman Drive, just off Interstate 25, began in August 2021. The project is owned and developed by Armie Management LLC, a Denver company that uses the trade name Comunale Properties.

The 93,000-square-foot lease in Building 2 was completed by an as yet undisclosed manufacturing user that provides prefabrication, construction, analytics and automation services to industrial manufacturing and processing operations across the globe. Prior to the Building 2 lease, ASCH, which designs, builds and installs custom cabinets and countertops for multifamily homes across the United States, expanded into the final speculative suite at Mulberry Connection’s Building 1.

Comunale also signed pre-leases at Building 1 this year to two tenants: Gustave A. Larson, a regional distributor of HVAC equipment, and Winlectric, a national full-service electrical wholesaler. With these leases, Building 1 at Mulberry Connection is now fully occupied and operational. Building 2 is undergoing major tenant improvements for a planned move-in by mid-2024.

“In addition to being a developer, we are an investor-operator with a long-term-hold strategy and a commitment to creating the market’s highest quality industrial assets for our portfolio,” said John Comunale, president of Comunale Properties, in a prepared statement. “Mulberry Connection’s success is owed to a singular focus on execution and a lot of hard work in activating a great site with tremendous highway visibility, in a market where development is very difficult. We’re proud and excited to have these buildings filled with excellent tenants who needed Class A space and quick access to the growing Fort Collins labor pool and consumer base. It is a great validation of our investment thesis.”

Mulberry Connection boasts highway visibility along I-25 and features 28- to 32-foot clear heights, 22-foot dock-high and eight drive-in doors, modern early-suppression, fast-response sprinkler systems, generous power, and interstate-fronting signage opportunities. It also offers extensive trailer parking and slightly more than a half-acre of additional yard space, both increasingly critical components of light industrial tenant operations.

Sprink Construction has completed all existing tenant spaces at Mulberry Connection Building 1 and is now managing the office, manufacturing and warehouse buildout at Building 2.

The project’s core and shell general contractor was Alcorn Construction and the project architect was Grey Wolf Architecture. Travis Ackerman with Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is the exclusive leasing broker.

“Hats off to the Comunale team and the city of Fort Collins for all of the work they put into this development,” said Ackerman. “The quality of Mulberry Connection is reflected in how quickly it leased and the great mix of tenants that are here now.”

Matt Haskell with URealty Inc. represented the tenant for this transaction.

“We were pleased to get our client into such a well-designed and sizable space where it can continue to grow its business,” said Haskell. “Mulberry Connection offered it a prime location in Fort Collins, modern finishes, and the hard-to-find yard space in this market.”

Comunale specializes in Class A infill industrial development and the acquisition and repositioning of light industrial buildings. Its industrial portfolio consists of around 1.4 million square feet across 40 properties and is more than 99% leased. It has acquired three properties in the past year and has one more under contract that is expected to close next month, all of which are fully leased.

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