Janus employees began moving into the 160,360-sf, seven-story building in mid-December. Janus signed a 15-year lease for the building.
It is a true trophy asset, Sullivan tells GlobeSt.com, commanding the highest office leases in the area. Nichols Development developed the building on the parking lot of the Sears Roebuck & Co., across the street from the Taubman-owned Cherry Creek shopping center. Randy Nichols is principal of Nichols Development and Clayton Lane Development.
Chris Crosby, a partner at Nichols Development responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Clayton Land mixed-use project, says they won't sell the building unless it commands a problem. Sullivan notes that there already has been interest from large, institutional investors in the US, Europe and Asia. Indeed, she recently toured the building with an investment group from Germany.
The Cherry Creek submarket is the strongest in the metro area, with an 8.2% vacancy rate, Sullivan says. Also, Janus Capital has an S&P investment grade investment credit rating of BBB+, she notes. Janus has $149.2 billion in investor's dollars under management.
"A lease is a perishable commodity," Crosby tells GlobeSt.com. Investors like the idea that they will know their cash flow for the next 15 years. And as a single-tenant building it is unusual in that it can easily be converted into a multi-tenant building, Sullivan tells GlobeSt.com, even though she doesn't see that happening.
The building was designed by Denver architect David Owens Tryba. It is connected to the recently opened JW Marriott, the first one in the state. It also is across the street from new retail and expensive condominiums under construction. The development has been structured so that the Janus building can easily be "extracted" and sold, Crosby tells GlobeSt.com.
The 26,000-sf of retail space on the ground floor of the Janus building will continue to be owned by Clayton Lane Development. Sullivan is working with CB Richard Ellis senior vice president Lori Larson on the deal. Locally, Sullivan's team also includes veteran brokers Tim Swan and Ron Urgitus.
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