Investors Underscore Denver's Demand

DENVER–During a recent panel discussion at RealShare Greater Denver, regional industrial owners, developers, brokers and end users, Mark Bowen, senior vice president, DCT Industrial Trust; Peter Coakley, senior vice president and general manager, Opus Development Company LLC; Bob Kaplan, associate director, Marcus & Millichap; and Jason Thomas, principal, Avalon Realty Advisors Inc., led by moderator Jeremy Ballenger, vice president, CBRE, discussed the current construction pipeline, trends in sales and leasing, and what’s next for industrial real estate.

Underutilized Class B and C product is experiencing unprecedented absorption thanks to the marijuana industry, where users pay significantly above-market prices to lease or own space. Thomas indicated that the marijuana user looks for zoned light industrial, quite often class-C space in marijuana-friendly areas.