One of Colorado’s top general contractors, which recently launched a development services platform, is planning a new $9.5 million headquarters building in Englewood.
Saunders Construction Inc. will build the 40,000-square-foot building on 6 acres along Interstate 25 and Dry Creek Road, on the 16th green of Inverness Golf Course in Englewood. Saunders Development, which acquired the site for $1.66 million, will develop it.
The building is scheduled to break ground this spring, with completion expected in early 2017.
The headquarters building launches Saunders’ development services platform, allowing it to add value to clients by seeing projects through from inception to delivery. Offering development services, in addition to construction management, enables it to bring greater efficiencies and expertise to complex projects, the company said.
“Saunders is taking the lead in bringing a new kind of partnership philosophy to the competitive development and construction industries with the creation of Saunders Development,” Greg Schmidt, Saunders president and CEO, said in a statement. “The ability to underwrite and procure development opportunities means that Saunders can now provide a level of service to its longstanding and new clients that goes beyond construction services – a model for future growth.”
Vice President of Development Trae Rigby joined the company last summer to head up the new line of services, including the new headquarters project.
Trae Rigby
“We had a need to diversify our business portfolio to balance out our construction work with long-term development projects that provide greater stability,” he said. “It is our hope to grow Saunders’ real estate holdings to create a more balanced business approach.”
The new headquarters is designed to accommodate 170 employees, including marketing, human services, integrated technologies, preconstruction services, accounting, safety, executive management, information technology, and other professional and administrative support staff.
It will feature plenty of parking and is within a half-mile of I-25. Saunders currently occupies an approximately 30-year-old building 4 miles east of the interstate, off busy Arapahoe Road.
The new building will be LEED Silver, at minimum, with a much more open floor plan. The upper floor will have a conference room and patio overlooking the golf course, while the lower floor will have a coffee/breakfast lounge opening to a hardscape patio, also on the golf course. “We’re talking about having operable windows so people can take advantage of fresh air,” Rigby said.
The sister building will be designed and entitled so it can be completed in nine months or less. It will be marketed as a build-to-suit opportunity for one or more tenants.
