Crown West Realty

By Brian K. Miller
Globe St.com

GOLDEN, CO – Golden Ridge I and II, a pair of single-story office buildings here totaling 100,800 sf, have changed hands for $11.35 million. The new owner is Crown West Realty of Spokane, WA.

Located at 500-560 Golden Ridge Rd., the buildings were constructed in 2000 and 2001; their combined occupancy is 84%. Noteworthy tenants include Rockwell Automation, Health Grades Inc., and TechLaw Inc. The vacancy rate and in-place rental rate (approximately $11.50 per sf/NNN) are comparable to the average for the submarket as a whole.

Crown West Realty president Rob Gragg tells GlobeSt.com that the buildings are the company’s second acquisition in the Denver area and that he expects to close several additional deals in 2007. The previous acquisition was Corporate 25, a fully leased three-building, three- and four-story office campus within Denver Tech Center.

“We’re investing there because it’s a recovering market,” says Gragg, on his cell phone in the Denver airport. “We are negotiating several other [Colorado] deals; we have one under contract and are in best-and-final on others.”

During escrow for the Golden Ridge Road property, Crown West was able to expand one tenant and renew another, eliminating any potential for lease expirations in 2006 and 2007. When the expansion deal takes effect in a few months, the cap rate on the Golden Ridge Road transaction will be in the vicinity of 8%, Gragg says.

Formed in 1996, Crown West Realty is the privately-owned real estate investment, development and management subsidiary of Petrus Partners Ltd., a New York investment firm. It owns and manages approximately seven million sf of leased office and industrial properties along with 600 acres of undeveloped industrial land.