Jeffco Building Boom Breeds Options for Corporate Space
Published Dec 22, 2009
Coming down out of the mountains, MIE Corporate Center in Golden is the first business park on the route to Denver. Downtown is 15 minutes away. It’s 25 minutes to Boulder, 45 minutes to the airport and an hour to Vail.
It’s that type of easy access that makes Jefferson County an ideal place to work as well as live.
The county boasts more than 20 million square feet of office space, more than 4 million of it Class A. More than 20 major business parks include “flex” space, business condos and offices in mixed-used developments such as Lakewood’s Belmar, with amenities that rival a trendy historic neighborhood.
Frank Kelley, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis, says a highly educated workforce, moderate weather and great access to recreational opportunities give the area an edge.
The firm handles Westmoor Technology Park and Circle Point Corporate Center, both in Westminster, which together total 1.3 million square feet of office space.
Proximity to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Colorado School of Mines draws energy and engineering firms. Ascent Solar Renewable Energy Systems and Siemens are among recent arrivals to the Denver metro area.
“There is lots of good business for the future,” Kelley says.
The region is getting attention, too, as a corporate headquarters location. DaVita Inc., a major provider of kidney dialysis services, is relocating its headquarters to Colorado from California. Caridian BCT, a medical device manufacturing company, is in the 186,000-square-foot Signature Centre at Denver West, the first commercial LEED Platinum building in Colorado and one of the largest speculative LEED Platinum projects in the United States.
Pilatus Business Aircraft Ltd., a Swiss-owned maker of single-engine corporate jets, is headquartered within the terminal for Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. Service Magic, a consumer conduit to prescreened residential remodeling contractors, is in Lakewood at Denver West Office Park.
The Coors Technology Center in Golden is home to the headquarters for CoorsTek, which manufactures advanced ceramic and high-performance plastic components, and Kong Co., maker of a well-known line of dog toys.
It is a diverse lineup, and with space available, offices to finish out and developments that have room to expand, Jefferson County is poised to attract more business.
Belmar can grow with market demand, says Dan Murphy, chief operating officer of Continuum Partners, which developed the mixed-use project. All 250,000 square feet of office space are occupied, at rates higher than the market because the “downtown” has shopping, restaurants, movie theaters, residences and free parking, Murphy says.
Office tenants run the gamut: advertising agencies, architects, engineers, doctors, dentists, a surgery center, a trade school and the headquarters for a medical testing lab. Belmar also has executive suites with private offices and pay-as-needed support services.
“People can come here to work and park their cars and it is literally like being downtown,” Murphy says.
The 104-acre development can accommodate several hundred thousand square feet of additional office space in two- and three-story buildings to maintain the streetscape.
MIE Properties Inc. has Walnut Creek Business Park in Westminster and Sixth Avenue Place in Golden, near its Corporate Center. Walnut Creek has shells ready to build out for offices, medical suites and service centers.
“It is convenient to most parts of the metro area and an attractive place to live,” says Steve Rasmussen, regional partner at MIE. “A lot of our tenants live in the mountains.”
Story by Pamela Coyle
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