Colorado has been a major hub for real estate here in the USA for some time now. It does not seem to be slowing down and here are some highlights from a few of the top stories showing the growth and building properties of this area.

The U.S. General Services Administration is proceeding with the sale of the 59 acres of vacant land located at the Denver Federal Center Lakewood.

GSA received confirmation March 23 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that allowed GSA to make the 59 acres available for public auction.

The auction sale start date will be announced Monday, April 2. Bidders will have the opportunity to acquire the 59-acre parcel, which is zoned for transit-oriented development. GSA auctions are open to anyone interested in purchasing surplus government real estate and attract a national market of land developers and international investors. All that is required to start bidding is a monetary deposit, which is posted on the online auction site, and to fill out a one-page bid form that is kept confidential by GSA.

This auction supports GSA’s goal of reducing the federal government’s real estate footprint.  It is the largest sale in the city of Lakewood since the 2007 transaction that led to the development of St. Anthony Hospital and the west corridor light-rail station.

“The sale of this property will provide an opportunity to transform underutilized federal real estate into a transit-oriented development that will spur economic growth,” said Tim Horne, GSA acting regional administrator, Rocky Mountain Region. “This approach is part of a long-term master plan for the DFC and we envision that it will benefit the community and the 6,000-plus workers at the DFC in the same way as the 2007 land sale that led to the development of a regional hospital and transportation district.”

The parcel fronts the south side of West Sixth Avenue and is east of Union Boulevard. Denver’s RTD light 0-rail Denver Federal Station adjoins the property to the south, which is just across West Second Place from St. Anthony Hospital.

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Inland Real Estate Acquisitions LLC paid about $509M for eight multifamily properties in Colorado throughout 2017. To date, Inland has completed the purchase of 22 multifamily properties totaling 5,183 units across the state. The properties are primarily along Colorado’s Front Range, including in Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Lakewood, Loveland, and Westminster. “We have continued to see strong economic drivers and demographics throughout Colorado, signaling a need for multifamily properties and a want for renters,” Inland Senior Vice President Matthew Tice said.

Throughout the United States, Inland Real Estate Acquisitions has purchased 502 multifamily and student housing properties totaling 77,431 units for a total purchase price of more than $5.2B. “When looking for individual assets, we are open to multiple classes of products but strive to acquire high-quality properties in prime locations that serve as employment hubs, retail trade areas or are easily accessed by public transportation,” Inland Senior Vice President Mark Cosenza said.

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Denver’s commercial real estate market is hitting on almost all cylinders, brokers said Tuesday at a market forecast seminar.

Demand for investment properties and leasable space is outpacing supply, said panelists at the Colorado mid-year forecast of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association.

“We’re in a very tight market, a very tough market for tenants,” said Doug Wulf, an office broker with Cassidy Turley Colorado.

Wulf said demand for office space is set to increase because of Colorado’s above-average growth in white-collar employment compared to other U.S. markets.

Buyers of the commercial real estate are competing for a limited number of available properties, creating what CBRE broker Brad Lyons called “a perfect storm for sellers. We’re seeing a lot of capital chasing a very limited supply of product.”

Vacancy rates are down, and lease rates are rising in almost all property categories throughout Colorado. Metro Denver showed the largest first-quarter decline in office vacancy rates among the nation’s 12 largest markets, according to a recent survey by CBRE.

However, one segment of the market — large retail — is sluggish.

Lyons noted that metro Denver has at least 75 retail spaces larger than 20,000 square feet that are vacant.

With limited demand for “big box” retail space, those vacant properties likely will need to find non-retail users, said Christopher Burton, a broker with Legend Retail Group.

Most new retail development will be focused on grocery-anchored centers, Burton said, with Walmart, King Soopers, Sprouts and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage being the most active.

Other speakers at the forecast event included industrial broker T.J. Smith of Colliers International and land broker Eric Roth of CBRE.

Resources:

https://crej.com/news/gsa-to-reopen-auction-for-federal-center-site/

https://www.bisnow.com/denver/news/multifamily/inland-pays-509m-for-colo...

https://www.denverpost.com/2013/07/09/colorados-commercial-real-estate-m...