In the wake of “mind-boggling” change around the National Western Complex, a businessman sold a 40,530-square-foot industrial building on 4.29 acres in the neighborhood for a record $175.18 per sf.
“It was an incredible opportunity, I’ll just put it that way,” commented George Medley of GI Investments LLC, who sold the site at 4920 N. Washington St. in Denver to an affiliate of Alberta Development Partners for $7.1 million.
Denver Scrap Metal Recycling, owned by Medley and his wife, completed a lengthy leaseback for the property, where the business has been located since 2009. “We’re going to stick around for awhile. We’re not going anywhere in terms of our business,” Medley said, adding the company eventually will relocate.
“The National Western Stock Show redevelopment has triggered the next genre of transformation for the National Western neighborhood, and the sale of the older, Class C industrial asset at 4920 N. Washington for record-level pricing per square foot indicates the high demand for redevelopment opportunities in the area,” said Newmark Knight Frank Managing Director Russell Gruber, who represented GI Investments in the transaction.
Gruber said there was “fierce competition” for the asset, which has frontage on Washington Street. “Now that much of the vacant land is off the market, the next level of opportunity will focus on older, antiquated industrial rea estate, especially ones located on larger land parcels and with a larger-than-average footprint.”
Denver’s nearby River North neighborhood has been a hotbed of investor activity, but Gruber said opportunities there have dwindled. “RiNo does not have any industrial buildings for sale that are larger tan 30,000 square feet, while the National Western neighborhood currently offers six industrial buildings for sale that are more than 30,000 square feet. This is a significant difference that will further spur activity in the National Western neighborhood,” he said.
“Denver is booming, both economically and culturally,” commented Medley. “This is an opportunity to redevelop this industrial space for a new use in line with the transforming National Western neighborhood’s rapid growth.”
Emily Klimas of SullivanHayes Brokerage represented the buyer in the transaction.
