Metro Denver’s industrial market is about to get significantly larger as HighPoint industrial and logistics business park prepares for expansion and its first groundbreaking in Aurora, Colo. Hyde Development and Mortenson Properties closed today on the acquisition of 145 acres just north of their existing 125-acre site. Next month they will add 129 more acres and break ground on the park’s first structure—Building 1, a 541,840-sq.-ft. Class A speculative building.
The site is located along E-470 at East 64th Avenue, just south of Denver International Airport. Eventually spanning nearly 400 acres, HighPoint could include up to 15 buildings totaling over 5 million sq. ft. at full build-out. CBRE’s Todd Witty, Daniel Close, Tyler Carner and Jeremy Ballenger are marketing HighPoint for lease and sale opportunities. The new industrial park offers a number of compelling options for companies depending on their needs, including speculative construction for lease, build-to-suit development and land-site purchase.
“It is incredibly rare to have a blank slate opportunity like HighPoint, where an industrial user has the flexibility to build exactly what they need, from 100,000 sq. ft. to over 1 million sq. ft.,” said Daniel Close, first vice president, CBRE. “HighPoint’s strategic location between an international airport and a major population center is a significant competitive advantage for companies looking to optimize their distribution strategies and get their products to consumers as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
The first building to break ground speculatively is Building 1, slated to deliver in the third quarter of 2021. The building will have 36-ft. clear heights, 50-by-54-ft. column spacing, an ESFR sprinkler system, 92 dock-high and four drive-in doors, 68 trailer parking spaces and 273 parking spaces.
The full site plan for HighPoint is still flexible, but initial plans call for retail development through the middle of the park, along East 64th Avenue, providing ample walkable retail options for tenants and visitors. HighPoint will additionally feature outdoor seating areas for employees, ample overflow truck parking and potential outdoor yard storage space. The property is zoned for industrial with utilities and roads currently being constructed.
“Mortenson and Hyde saw an opportunity with HighPoint to meet that demand and support the continued growth of the Colorado economy by providing companies of all sizes with the space they need in an ideally located hub at the center of the country,” said Gene Hodge, vice president and general manager of Mortenson.
HighPoint is located adjacent E-470 with tenant signage visible to the freeway. The site is bordered by Denali Street to the east and East 60th Avenue to the south. The initial 125-acre site included up to 64th Avenue. The incremental 274 acres takes the project up to East 68th Avenue. Infrastructure improvements are underway to widen East 64th Avenue to four lanes at HighPoint (six lanes west of E-470) and to add a full interchange at East 64th and E-470, giving tenants the option to bypass I-70 to reach the metro’s northern and southern suburbs.
The location is a six-minute drive from Denver International Airport and a 20-minute drive from downtown Denver. The park is additionally situated within three economic benefit zones: a Federal opportunity zone, an Adams County Enterprise Zone and a Limon Foreign Trade Zone.
The industrial sector has performed remarkably well in 2020, according to CBRE research. In metro Denver, leasing activity, net absorption and sales volume were all up year-to-date at the end of the third quarter. The Airport submarket, home to HighPoint, led the metro area in industrial net absorption, recording 476,000 sq. ft. in Q3 alone.
“COVID-19 quickly accelerated consumer adoption of e-commerce and triggered supply chain restructuring as companies sought to prevent a repeat of the inventory shortages experienced early on in the pandemic. These changes have fueled demand for warehouse and distribution space in growing markets like Denver,” said Todd Witty, first vice president, CBRE.
The e-commerce industry, specifically, leased 701,000 sq. ft. from January through September in metro Denver, compared with 97,000 sq. ft. in the first nine months of 2019 (an increase of 723%).
In addition to marketing HighPoint, CBRE’s Witty and Close are representing Hyde Development and Mortenson Properties in the land acquisitions. CBRE’s Carner, Ballenger and Jessica Ostermick are representing the seller.
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