Colorado Apartment Sales Bringing Record Prices

An Austin investment company has set a record price of $116,988 per sf for an apartment complex in Broomfield,CO, a bedroom community between Denver and Boulder.

CWS Town Centre Holdings L.P. paid $33.1 million for the Jefferson at Town Centre near W. 120th Ave. at 1001 E. First Ave., Broomfield, minutes away from the Interlocken Business Park in Broomfield. No other apartment project in the metro area – other than ones that were bought to be converted into condominiums – have ever sold for such a lofty price, says Jeff Hawks, who sold the project on behalf of JPI, with fellow Grubb & Ellis Co. broker Doug Andrews.

“Jefferson Town Centre is the highest-quality apartment community to have sold in the metro Denver area,” said Hawks, an apartment specialist with Grubb & Ellis.

“The location of Jefferson at Town Centre was as good as it gets,” says Andrews. “Any property near the Boulder Turnpike corridor or Interlocken is benefiting from increased job growth, demand for apartments and limited sites to build new properties.”

The project is 99% leased, and commands rents of about $1.23 per sf, Hawks says, making it one of the most expensive suburban apartment complexes in the metro area although downtown Denver projects are even more expensive.

Hawks believes deals later this year will eclipse this sale.”This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he says. “We expect several apartment sales this year over $120,000 per units. These high prices are due to both the lack of supply and increasing rents. Also, the quality of new apartments has risen to a new level.”

Earlier this week, GlobeSt.com reported Hawks and Andrews had sold an apartment complex in Colorado Springs for a record price. They sold the 140-unit Autumn Heights Townhomes at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain in southwest Colorado Springs for $13.7 million, or $97,857 per unit. That is 11% above the previous record, according to Hawks.