Westminster event center sells for $3M

A Westminster event center is under new ownership following the previous tenant’s bankruptcy.

Explorer Bradburn Property LLC purchased the 12,824-square-foot, Class A retail property, purpose-built as an event center, at 11885 Bradburn Blvd. from a 14-person tenancy-in-common group. The property traded for $3.05 million. Randy Roberts of Tributary Real Estate represented the buyer, while John Propp of John Propp Commercial Group represented the seller.

The center was occupied by Noah’s Event Venue, a national event service provider, until May 2019 when the company declared bankruptcy and closed the Westminster location. Following the closure, the seller hired John Propp Commercial Group to take over the property’s management and market it for sale. After completing some minor cosmetic improvements, Propp said he listed the property for sale earlier this year, shortly before the onset of COVID-19 in March.

“Despite the pandemic, we had a surprising amount of buyers inquiring for a variety of uses,” Propp said. “Some prospective buyers wanted to turn it into office space, and one group wanted to use it for a school, but with the building purposefully built as an event center, it made sense to go with a buyer that would continue to operate the property as such.” According to Propp, he received three offers from event service providers, all of which planned to keep the property’s use intact.

He said COVID-19’s hit to the event management industry has made the property significantly cheaper, attracting buyers to the low-cost asset.

“Before COVID-19, buyers couldn’t find this kind of fully equipped event center for such a low price, and they definitely couldn’t build their own because it would cost more than three times the amount to invest,” Propp said.

The center, which sits on 2.2 acres, features two soundproof rooms so separate events can occur at the same time, each with stage areas, dance floors, large projectors and bars. There also are outdoor areas for photo shoots and patio seating. According to Propp, the buyer acquired the asset for a steal, paying approximately $2 million less than the seller did just a few years ago.

Featured in the November 18-December 1, 2020, issue of CREJ