United Power will re-energize a vacant 130,117-square-foot building along Interstate 25 in Longmont.
The power cooperative bought the former Abound Solar building at 9586 E. I-25 Frontage Road for $9.2 million, or $71.71 per sf. The building will serve as a fourth location for the Brighton-based co-op.
Abound vacated the office/flex/manufacturing building when it declared bankruptcy in 2012. Cushman & Wakefield took over the listing for the seller, an entity of W.W. Reynolds Cos., late last year.
Aaron Valdez
“We had interest from a variety of groups,” said Aaron Valdez, a director in Cushman & Wakefield’s Denver office. There were users looking to take a small portion of the building for lease and other users looking at alternative uses, including ministorage, he said.
“We had one group look at it to split it up, and it just didn’t make sense,” Valdez said, adding there were a couple of users who may have been able to use the entire building but that couldn’t “make it pencil.”
“It really came down to finding the right user as opposed to investor,” he said.
“When United Power came along, I think we all knew it was the perfect home for the future of the power cooperative,” said Valdez.
“As the territory becomes more populated, our ability to respond quickly and efficiently to our members is vital. This west office will allow us to dispatch trucks and personnel to the west and north sides of our territory quickly, without the substantial drive time from the headquarters in Brighton,” said United Power CEO Darryl Schriver.
The facility also will free up space for training and storage at the Brighton headquarters. A portion of it will be leased to Ward Electric, United Power’s primary contractor.
The building sits on a 7.66-acre site with 825 feet of frontage along I-25. It has 10,000 sf of office area, just over 19 feet of ceiling clearance, dock-high and drive-in loading, and 252 parking spaces. It was built in 1997.
Valdez represented the seller with Cushman & Wakefield brokers Alec Rhodes, Chris Ball and Jason Ells. Jan Hepp-Struck of Hepp Realty LLC represented United Power.
United Power is a rural electric cooperative that serves customers throughout Northern Colorado.
