Hyde Development, Mortenson break ground on industrial park

Mortenson recently broke ground on the first phase of 76 Commerce Center, a 1.8 million square-foot, Class A industrial park in Brighton, developed by Hyde Development. The first phase is a 266,240-square-foot speculative building designed by Ware Malcomb and being built by Mortenson.

“Designing a speculative building is more challenging than a set project type from both architectural and civil engineering perspectives,” said Matt Chaiken, principal, architecture, of Ware Malcomb. “For example, if high-pile storage is required in an industrial facility, there are different codes to follow. Since the building may be used for storage, retail or manufacturing, the design of a speculative facility needs to allow for flexibility in use.

“Although designing an industrial space is different than office space, both types initially depend on the owner requirements, site limitations, code and zoning for each city,” Chaiken continued. “For example, an office design typically has different space requirements and more design may be required due to the increased number of rooms and the smaller nature. Another differentiating example is the lighting requirements in both facilities. In an industrial facility the lighting needs to cover more area than in an office space, where the areas are more task specific, requiring different lighting options.”

The development is a joint venture between Hyde Development and Mortenson. As the region’s newest distribution hub, 76 Commerce Center will offer tenants easy access to the entire Denver metropolitan area and the Rocky Mountain region to more efficiently serve the burgeoning Front Range growth.

“The 76 Commerce Center has been getting great feedback from the market,” said Paul Hyde, cofounder of Hyde Development. “We are excited to break ground on the first building in the park and raise the bar on industrial space offered in the greater Denver market.”

“We’re proud of our history of success with Hyde Development and we’re delighted to be working with them as their development partner and design-builder for their first project in Colorado,” said Maja Rosenquist, senior vice president at Mortenson.

Ware Malcomb provided in-house architecture and civil engineering services for this project. Having these two disciplines work side by side allowed the site and building designs to remain cohesive and as flexible as possible due to the speculative nature, according to Ware Malcomb’s Chris Strawn, principal, civil engineering.

The campus consists of six buildings ranging from 66,000 sf to 600,000 sf. The buildings were designed for maximum flexibility and can be subdivided into varying sizes. The flexibility allows 32-foot clear heights and 36-foot clear heights. Amenities such as an exercise room, patio and bike trail are designed throughout the campus.

Published in the May 16-June 5, 2018, issue of Colorado Real Estate Journal.