Westminster?s business parks meeting demand as growing firms expand to metro north

by Amy Stogner

WESTMINSTER ? As expanding businesses continue to choose Westminster for new corporate facilities, new business parks are springing up and existing ones are seeing increased infill.

Total vacancy rates for commercial space in Westminster stood at 13.71 percent for May, up slightly from last years 12.08 percent. As new office space comes open, the average lease rate for office space is approximately $18.50 triple net, said Becky Johnson, economic development program coordinator for Westminster. A triple net lease is one that requires tenants to pay all ongoing maintenance expenses such as utilities, taxes, insurance and property upkeep.

The average lease rate for industrial/R&D properties is approximately $10 triple net, and the average commercial lease rate is around $18.50 triple net. ?In 2000, more than 1.9 million square feet of office space was built, with an occupancy of 98 percent? said Johnson.

Since last year, Westminster has begun to see a shift in development from along the U.S. 36 corridor between Denver and Boulder to the I-25 corridor. ?The I-25 corridor is offering the same amenities, and space is less expensive,? Johnson explained.

Last year alone, some 1,198 new ?basic jobs? ? those not in retail ? were created in Westminster, Johnson said. ?These jobs have significant salaries,? averaging about $50,000, she said.

Westminster offers one of the Front Range’s largest choices of office parks for any business looking in the city for expansion or relocation plans. (See map of Westminster business parks and leasing contacts on Pages 12D-13D.)CirclePoint Corporate Center

CirclePoint Corporate Center, Westminster’s Class A Corporate Office Park, located along the U.S. 36 corridor, is an 80-acre site located north of the Westminster Promenade at 112th Street and Westminster Boulevard. It takes its name from the circular park to be built in the middle of the Corporate Center.

Developed as a public-private partnership between the city of Westminster and Catellus Development, CirclePoint was developed to provide more Class A office space in Westminster. ?The city now has a complete diversity of business parks in which companies can choose to locate,? Johnson said.

One 120,000-square-foot, four-story building has been completed and is 100 percent leased by American Skandia Life Assurance, said Doug Bakke, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis, the company handling lease and sale transactions at the park.

A second, 150,000-square-foot, five-story building is under construction, and several tenants have shown interest. The second building will be complete in November, Bakke said. Building three will be six stories and 180,000 square feet, building four will be three stories and 100,000 square feet and building five will be two stories and 100,000 square feet, he added. There also is a 21-acre parcel adjacent to the highway available that could be used for a corporate campus, Bakke added. Westmoor Technology Park

The fast-growing Westmoor Technology Park, a plug-and-play high-tech business park situated on 240 acres on 108th Avenue west of Highway 287, has more than 1.8 million square feet of space completed or under construction.

At full build-out, the park will have a total of 2.8 million square feet. Westmoor Technology Park was created and designed to meet the needs of high-tech companies and their employees. Westmoor also was developed as a public-private partnership, this one between Westfield Development, the city of Westminster, Jefferson County and the Jefferson County Airport. ?Each of the four players contributed to the success of this park,? Johnson said.

?Without the four entities, Westmoor could not have done what it’s done in the last three years,? said Don Slack, executive vice president of Westfield. ?It has brought more office space and jobs to Westminster than projected.?

Westminster was involved both with development of the public golf course and the public recreation center on the site.

Don Slack, executive vice president of Westfield, said the four entities worked together by trying to project needs in the park and determine which entity could best meet those needs.

The Heritage at Westmoor golf course and the Westview Recreation Center are public facilities to which city of Westminster residents and Westmoor Technology Park employees get discounts, Slack said. The recreation center includes exercise rooms, a fitness center, racquetball courts and community meeting rooms, and an addition of a swimming pool is planned as a second phase, he said. ?These amenities serve as an extra benefit for companies to offer their employees? said Slack.

Building 10 of the park, which will be four stories with a total of 150,000 square feet, now is being built and should be complete in November, said Rodney Foster, broker associate for Frederick Ross. Recently, the top two floors of Building 10, which total approximately 82,000 square feet, were leased to Global Health Care Exchange, which plans to move in this November. Frederick Ross also will move its management and marketing office to Building 10 in November, taking 4,000 square feet on the first floor.

Frederick Ross is in the final design phase of Building 11, Foster said, and no construction schedule has been set for that building yet. Other tenants at Westmoor include Requisite Technologies, Regus Business Centers, Avolent, Sun Microsystems and Corporate Express. Church Ranch Corporate Center

Church Ranch Corporate Center, a 145-acre mixed-use business park located west of U.S. 36 at Church Ranch Boulevard, continues to expand its mix. It has already attracted impressive companies such as MatchLogic, Level 3 Communications, Progressive Insurance, University Medical Center, Advantage Computing and MC Technology.

In a park that offers banking, medical facilities, convenience stores, and Class A office space, the Etkin Johnson Group now plans to build two Marriott hotels there. Marriott Springhill Suites, now under construction, will consist of 154 suites, and the full-service Marriott will include 284 rooms, meeting space, two full-service restaurants, meeting space and ballrooms, said Jim Vasbinder, president of development.

Developer Charlie McKay, whose family homesteaded the area, is now developing the park in a joint venture with Etkin/Johnson. The McKay/Church family has a rich history of success in Westminster. Bradburn Village

Bradburn Village is a planned mixed-use development on 112 acres at 120th and Tennyson. The development is planned to include residential, commercial and office space.

Construction is slated to begin this summer, with completion of the first homes by the spring of 2002 and full build-out is scheduled for 2005, said Jeffrey Bedard, development director for Continuum, project developer.

The development is one of the first in the north metro area to incorporate new urbanism, Johnson said. ?New urbanism means mixed-use community, including retail, office, higher density residential, and concentration of services with pedestrian orientation,? she said.

?Think of it as a timely reinterpretation of a timeless idea: the American small town? says Mark Falcone, senior partner with Continuum Partners LLC.

Plans for the development call for 250 single-family homes, 150 town homes, 378 apartments, 22,000 square feet of office space, 72,000 square feet of retail and 16,000 square feet of restaurants, Bedard said.

Single-family homes will be on lots ranging in size from 4,000 to 100,000 square feet, he said, and prices will range from $250,000 to $1 million. Town homes, which will be three-story buildings situated in rows, will range in price form $190,000 to $250,000, Bedard said.

There will be two apartment complexes, one 310-unit one in which each unit has its own front door and street address and 68 units in the Main Street portion of the development that will be situated over retail and office space.

In the Main Street area, the buildings will consist of three-story buildings with retail on the first floor, office on the second and residential on the third. Also included in the development will be two, 75,000-square-foot office buildings. The Village at Park Centre

The Village at Park Centre is a unique composition of mixed-use retail and office development located on the northwest corner of Huron Boulevard and 120th Avenue.

The center provides services to major companies in the Park Centre area, such as Avaya , Western Gas, Voyant Technologies and others. Johnson said. ?The Village at Park Centre is critical in providing quality services for that area,? she said.

The development’s master plan calls for 140,000 square feet of different uses, including retail, restaurants, business service facilities and a hotel. Tenants presently include CB & Potts Restaurant & Brewery, Kinkos Copies, Starbucks Coffee, Chili’s Bar & Grill, Qdoba, Tokyo Joes, Nick ?N Willy’s, Delectable Egg, Skin Concepts, US Bank, Texaco, Bellco Credit Union and Extended Stay America.

The project is near completion with one pad site available for retail and office space, said Michelle Gayeski, leasing agent for Gayeski & Associates, the company developing the project.Park Technology Center

The Park Technology Center (PTC) is a four-building, 145,684-square-foot office/showroom/flex project in the Park Centre Business Park. The PTC is located on 124th Avenue near Huron Street and will feature new 3,584-square-foot suites of office space.

Spec office space is available for potential tenants to look at, and if a company is interested in a space, it can be ready for occupancy within 90 days, said Graham Riley, regional development officer of First Industrial, the company developing the center.

Construction of the project began last year and shells of four buildings now are complete, Riley said. A lease has been signed with Western Restoration, a construction company, he said, and a couple of other leases are pending.

The facilities offer loading docks, fiber-optic capability, plenty of electrical power and free parking, he said. NorthRidge at Park Centre

NorthRidge at Park Centre, a 105-acre property on the northwest corner of 121st Avenue and Pecos Street within the Park Centre business complex, consists of 13 lots ranging in size from approximately two to 18 acres and is being developed as office, R&D and light industrial.

Two sites have been sold, and four are under contract, said Todd Parker, office broker for Grubb & Ellis.

This development is unique, Westminster’s Johnson said, because it is one of the newest business parks in the city and one of the few sites where companies can purchase a site that is already for construction. ?A developer or company can buy a lot, and then they construct a building,? she said.

Prime West is developing an 83,000-square-foot facility for Voyant Technologies on one of the lots that has been sold, Parker said, and is building another 42,000-square-foot building for office space next to the Voyant building that does not yet have tenants. Construction of another, 140,000-square-foot office/R&D building will begin next year.Walnut Creek Business Park

Walnut Creek Business Park is now under construction to expand on 39 acres at 108th Avenue and Wadsworth Parkway. At full build-out, the park will have 15 buildings, said Steve Rasmussen, regional partner of MIE Properties Inc., which is developing the property.

Phase One, to be built this year, will consist of three one-story office, warehouse and R&D buildings totaling 99,000 square feet. The buildings will include glass fronts and garage doors on the back. Also this year, six one-story buildings with a total of 85,000 square feet of office space will be built, Rasmussen said.

After these buildings are complete, six more one-story office and warehouse buildings will be added to the park. Full build-out is expected to be complete in four years.

Although tenants have expressed an interest, MIE will not begin leasing properties until the shells are almost built, Rasmussen said.Sheridan Park/Westpark Office Center

Sheridan Park, located on the southeast corner of U.S. 36 and 92nd Avenue, is a 75-acre office and commercial park with 10 buildings. Major tenants include Rose Healthcare, Double Tree Hotel, the University of Phoenix, AlphaTRAC and Dencol Real Estate. The park is almost built out with just under one acre available for development.

Westpark Office Center is located across U.S. 36 from Sheridan Park at 85th Avenue, said Ron Schaefer, co-owner of the business park. Three buildings, which are between 20,000 and 25,000 square feet each, have been completed and are 100 percent leased and occupied. The principal tenant is Interlink, a computer consulting company, which has 12,000 square feet in building three.

A fourth building is ready to go next to the highway but has been put on hold temporarily because of the slowdown in the market right now, Schaefer said. This building is planned to be 30,000 square feet, he said, and is available for preleasing.

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