Metro Denver’s next big industrial park will be in Brighton.
The 122-acre 76 Commerce Center will create up to 1.8 million square feet of speculative Class A industrial space on the Interstate 76 corridor, starting with a 266,240-sf building to break ground this year.
Going head-to-head with Denver’s Interstate 70 industrial corridor, the development is the first in Colorado for Minneapolis-based Hyde Development, whose partner, Mortenson, is a longtime Denver contractor and developer. The two just completed an industrial park in Minneapolis-St. Paul and were looking to tap into another market.
Paul Hyde
“Denver came to the stop of the list because of its low vacancy rate, its vibrant market and because our partner had such a strong construction presence in that market,” said Paul Hyde, partner at Hyde Development.
There are no large industrial development sites available on the I-70 corridor, “and we also saw that there was a significant dislocation that was going to be caused by the I-70 reconstruction. With our immediate access, just up I-76, we saw an opportunity with a site that was fully entitled, ready to do an industrial park, that didn’t have any traffic impediments,” Hyde said.
Developers bought the property, which is within Bromley Interstate Business Park, from an affiliate of DePaul Real Estate Investment Group. The price wasn’t disclosed, but Adams County records show the land sold for $8.26 million, or approximately $1.55 per sf.
Several companies occupy facilities in the immediate vicinity – Transwest Truck Trailer, United Power, Western United Electric Supply Corp. and Staples, for instance – but 76 Commerce Center will test the appetite for speculative product.
“We’ve been watching this site for a while now, and its time has come,” said Tim D’Angelo, senior managing director at Newmark Knight Frank. In the absence of large distribution sites on I-70 from Tower Road to downtown Denver, “We’re going to see every deal that that corridor sees,” he said.
New Amazon facilities along I-70 east will make it harder for companies to compete for labor on that corridor, Hyde believes. We’ve seen that with Amazon in the Twin Cities – they absorb a great deal of the labor pool,” he said.
“We’ve got an outstanding labor pool in Brighton, so not only are you going to be able to get there faster, you’ve got labor there. Those two things were real key drivers in our selecting the site,” he said, adding a trend of industrial development heading north of Denver also “gave us confidence that we’re on the right track.”
“We had a great, great fit with Brighton,” said Hyde. “Their mayor, council and staff have welcomed us. They’ve embraced the project, and we’ve always seen that an important part of a good project is having a great city partner.
“We are committed to building a state-of-the-art park in Denver’s newest commerce corridor.”
The initial building, geared to users 50,000 sf and larger, will have 32-foot clear height. Ware Malcomb is the architect, and Mortenson is the contractor.
D’Angelo and Newmark Knight Frank’s Mike Wafer and Mike Wafer Jr. are the listing brokers for 76 Commerce Center. Located in an enterprise zone, the industrial park offers quick permitting and PUD zoning that allows a range of industrial uses.
