The Lowry site is the largest undeveloped commercial tract left at the former Air Force Base. The other reason is that about two blocks from its current headquarters in Cherry Creek, a tony area about three miles southeast of the CBD, Denver developer Randy Nichols is developing a new office tower where Janus has signed a letter of intent to lease 150,000 sf.

"The Sears option just didn't exist two years ago when we started negotiating with Lowry," Johnson tells GlobeSt.com. "This will allow most of our employees to be within walking distance of our current headquarters. It just makes sense." Janus currently leases 635,000 sf in five different buildings in the Cherry Creek area.

Johnson also said that the decision by Janus has nothing to do with the local economy. Under the circumstances, Janus would have made the same decision regardless of the health of the office market or the economy, he says. "As any prudent company does, we constantly reevaluate every business decision we make," says Glenn O'Flaherty, Janus vice president. "Given the combination of events, this is the only logical step for us to take. At the same time, we're truly disappointed that the Lowry project won't come to fruition, because it's clear that after two years of working side-by-side with the people at Lowry, this is the premier campus location in all of Denver."

Tom Markham, executive director of the Lowery Redevelopment Authority, has returned the compliment. "The main disappointment is that Janus is such a classy organization," Markham tells GlobeSt.com. "They have been such a pleasure to work with. The whole team showed a lot of class, a lot of style. But we all ready knew about their business and what has been happening for the last six months. We really do respect their business decision."

But he said it might be necessary to sell the 35-acre site to several developers or companies. "One of the things landowners like us are finding around the country is that there are fewer and fewer of these campus operations," Markham says. "I think as a numbers game, it may be harder to find one group to take the 35 acres. But that fits perfectly within our game plan. We have the flexibility to sell it to several groups or to one user."

Instant Insights /

Janus Pulls Plug on Massive Lowry Corporate Campus

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