Re/Max of Cherry Creek buys office, will relocate next year

After 40 years in business, Re/Max of Cherry Creek has purchased its first office asset with plans to relocate its operations to the property next year.

Under the entity name Cherry Tree Ventures LLC, Re/ Max of Cherry Creek and its investment partner, Orange Coast Title, purchased the 6,935-square-foot, Class B office building at 100 Jackson St. in Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood from seller Zoma LLC. According to public records, the stand-alone property traded for $3.3 million. John Gustafson of Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller. The buyer handled the transaction internally.

Kristopher Coe, executive director and managing broker of Re/Max of Cherry Creek, was the designated broker representing the buyer in the sale. Bailey Dolian, president and employing broker, had a hand in the process as well. “When Kris and I took over leadership of Re/Max of Cherry Creek about a year ago, one of our main objectives was to get out of a lease and into something that could build equity and create long-term financial stability for the company,” Dolian said.

According to Dolian, the new purchase will lessen the company’s overhead costs and initiate property portfolio that can continue to grow in the future. Dolian said the company’s existing 15,000-sf office space, located at the Ptarmigan building at 3773 Cherry Creek North Drive, also was no longer suiting the brokers’ needs. With its lease agreement coming to an end in June, the team was looking to downsize.

“Our current office is massive, and it no longer feels like the right kind of space for the way our brokers work these days,” Dolian said. “It’s all segregated, private offices for each broker or their team and there’s no real collaboration space.” The buyer began looking for a new office property in summer 2019. According to Dolian, the brokerage always has leased in Cherry Creek, so remaining in the neighborhood was important while looking for a new asset. When it found the Jackson Street office at the beginning of this year, it was a perfect fit.

“The new space is half the size of our current office and is much more open. It’s also a lot more modern and allows for more coworking as well,” Dolian said.

The buyer went under contract on the property early this year, but when COVID-19 hit in March, the process was put on hold.

“We had to stop the process and talk with our shareholders and board of directors to see if this purchase was something they wanted to continue pursuing due to all the concerns around the office market,” Dolian said. “What got us through was the fact that this property was a stand-alone building. Our hesitation was lessened by the fact that we wouldn’t be sharing a space with potentially 10 to 20 other tenants. It also checked every box for us, especially the prime location, so we didn’t want to give that opportunity up.”

Despite challenges caused by the pandemic, the sale successfully closed in recent weeks. Dolian said the office is move in ready and will require no major improvements.

Re/Max of Cherry Creek plans to occupy the entire property with some employees of its investment partner working from the location as well. According to Dolian, the brokerage expects to relocate to the office in spring.

Published in the Oct. 21-Nov. 3, 2020, issue of CREJ.