Corporate Center at Academy Park, an office complex in Lakewood, consists of three largely identical four-story buildings. (Google Maps)
Three vacant office buildings in Lakewood have a new owner, who is interested in the ground beneath them.
Denver-based Central Street Capital purchased the 213,000-square-foot Corporate Center at Academy Park complex shortly before Thanksgiving for $8.1 million, according to public records.
“We just looked at it as a pure land play,” said Central Street President Isiah Salazar, adding the firm believes it is a natural site for apartments.
The largely identical four-story buildings at 7201, 7301, and 7401 W. Mansfield Ave. that make up the complex sit on 15 acres. They’re located just east of Wadsworth Boulevard, south of Highway 285.
The complex was leased through July to the federal government. The operations that had been there relocated to the Denver Federal Center, Salazar said.
The last arms-length sale of the property took place in 2002, when it fetched $28.75 million, public records show. Corporate Center is owned by Office Properties Income Trust, a real estate investment trust managed by Massachusetts-based RMR Group, according to websites for the trust and company.
Isiah Salazar
RMR put the property up for auction in October, and Central Street purchased it through that process. The firm essentially vied with one other bidder, Salazar said.
Central Street learned of the auction through the typical marketing process, he said, and wasn’t necessarily looking to get into the deep-discount office-buying scene locally. But “we’re always open to different opportunities,” he said.
It helped that Salazar had some familiarity with the general area. He doesn’t live far away, he said, and his kids go to school nearby. His father, Rob Salazar, is a member of nearby Pinehurst Country Club. Central Street is a family office, investing funds that Rob Salazar made as a health care entrepreneur.
Isiah Salazar said he believes the Lakewood site can support 400+ apartments, and that the suburb’s leadership is amenable to seeing the property’s use change. He is working on a request to rezone the property.
“I think there’s a true opportunity for multifamily,” he said.
Salazar hopes to get through the rezoning process in less than a year. It’s undecided, he said, what Central Street’s next steps would be. The firm could develop an apartment project itself, bring in a joint venture partner or sell the site to another developer.
“Everything is on the table as of today … I’m thinking by this time next year we have a very clear understanding,” he said.
Central Street, which operates from the Crawford Mansion in Denver’s Cap Hill, has developed an apartment building in LoHi, and has another under construction at 4040 Fox St. in Globeville’s Fox Island. Earlier this year, the firm began site work in Glendale for an Alamo Drafthouse-anchored entertainment district.
Corporate Center at Academy Park, an office complex in Lakewood, consists of three largely identical four-story buildings. (Google Maps)
Three vacant office buildings in Lakewood have a new owner, who is interested in the ground beneath them.
Denver-based Central Street Capital purchased the 213,000-square-foot Corporate Center at Academy Park complex shortly before Thanksgiving for $8.1 million, according to public records.
“We just looked at it as a pure land play,” said Central Street President Isiah Salazar, adding the firm believes it is a natural site for apartments.
The largely identical four-story buildings at 7201, 7301, and 7401 W. Mansfield Ave. that make up the complex sit on 15 acres. They’re located just east of Wadsworth Boulevard, south of Highway 285.
The complex was leased through July to the federal government. The operations that had been there relocated to the Denver Federal Center, Salazar said.
The last arms-length sale of the property took place in 2002, when it fetched $28.75 million, public records show. Corporate Center is owned by Office Properties Income Trust, a real estate investment trust managed by Massachusetts-based RMR Group, according to websites for the trust and company.
Isiah Salazar
RMR put the property up for auction in October, and Central Street purchased it through that process. The firm essentially vied with one other bidder, Salazar said.
Central Street learned of the auction through the typical marketing process, he said, and wasn’t necessarily looking to get into the deep-discount office-buying scene locally. But “we’re always open to different opportunities,” he said.
It helped that Salazar had some familiarity with the general area. He doesn’t live far away, he said, and his kids go to school nearby. His father, Rob Salazar, is a member of nearby Pinehurst Country Club. Central Street is a family office, investing funds that Rob Salazar made as a health care entrepreneur.
Isiah Salazar said he believes the Lakewood site can support 400+ apartments, and that the suburb’s leadership is amenable to seeing the property’s use change. He is working on a request to rezone the property.
“I think there’s a true opportunity for multifamily,” he said.
Salazar hopes to get through the rezoning process in less than a year. It’s undecided, he said, what Central Street’s next steps would be. The firm could develop an apartment project itself, bring in a joint venture partner or sell the site to another developer.
“Everything is on the table as of today … I’m thinking by this time next year we have a very clear understanding,” he said.
Central Street, which operates from the Crawford Mansion in Denver’s Cap Hill, has developed an apartment building in LoHi, and has another under construction at 4040 Fox St. in Globeville’s Fox Island. Earlier this year, the firm began site work in Glendale for an Alamo Drafthouse-anchored entertainment district.
