An opportunistic investor paid $40.75 million for the Sears distribution facility in Brighton, the largest single-story industrial building in Colorado.
The 1.31 million-square-foot building sits on 104 acres at 18875 E. Bromley Lane. Newport Beach, California-based Starboard Realty Partners LLC paid approximately $31.35 per sf for the asset.
Sears has a leasehold interest on the property with several years remaining, so there are no immediate plans for the property. But as the retailer faces an uncertain future, repositioning of the asset, which serves as a distribution center for retail stores in Colorado and several surrounding states, could be a future option for the buyer.
“With limited construction for larger distribution centers and the lack of infill land sites along I-70, we expect the I-76 corridor will continue to see increased demand,” said Dan Vittone, Starboard Realty Partners principal. “We are excited about the prospect of repositioning this state-of-the-art project should Sears change their outlook for this regional distribution center.”
Repositioning would involve transforming the building into multitenant space, possibly with a new truck court to create a cross-dock facility, Vittone said. With more than 100 acres, there also is an option to build additional buildings on the site in the future, he said.
Cushman & Wakefield Managing Director Drew McManus represented the seller, Brighton Lease Management LLC, with Cushman & Wakefield’s Matt Trone and R.C. Myles.
Drew McManus
“The offering of this high-quality single-tenant facility generated substantial investor interest from a broad range of prospective buyers. Interested parties included domestic and foreign high-net-worth individuals, private equity and institutional investors. Starboard was selected and completed the acquisition in an efficient manner,” said McManus.
Starboard Realty Partners is a private real estate investment manager and operator that invests in value-add and opportunistic office, industrial and multifamily properties in major Western U.S. metropolitan areas. It owns three other industrial projects in the Denver market: Chaparral Business Park in Centennial, Arapahoe Corporate Park I in Englewood and Hampden Industrial Park in Sheridan. It also owns a vacant Kmart store in Arvada.
The Sears building was built for Kmart in 1996. It has quick access Interstate 76 and E-470, and is located at the entrance to Brighton, near restaurants, retail and other amenities.
