Corporex looking for deals in Denver. The commercial-real-estate firm has moved an exec here, and he sees the metro area as "a growth market."
Commercial-real-estate developer Corporex is beefing up its presence in metro Denver and has moved a key executive here as it looks for new development deals and office properties to buy.
The Covington, Ky.-based company, which is developing Fitzsimons Village across from the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, hasn't determined how many people it will add here, said Mark Witkiewicz, a senior vice president who recently moved here to run the office.
The company, which has seven employees in its office at 188 In verness Drive West, has 900 employees nationwide.
"Denver is a growth market," Witkiewicz said. "We think there's an opportunity for Corporex to increase its market share."
The company entered the Denver market in 2004 with the purchase of a 250,000-square-foot building at 188 Inverness Drive West, where its offices are located.
It has since developed the Embassy Suites at Denver International Airport; Hyatt Summerfield Suites at East 71st Avenue and Tower Road; and the Museum Residences at West 12th Avenue and Broadway.
At Fitzsimons Village, the company's most recent project, the Children's Hospital Association and University Physicians Inc. on Tuesday moved into the 168,000-square-foot Fitzsimons 100 building that includes 16,000 square feet of retail space and a 715-vehicle parking structure.
A 153-room Springhill Suites Hotel by Marriott is expected to open May 10, and the company anticipates starting work on a bank building within the next six months.
Within the next year, Corporex expects to form a joint venture to start construction on the 32-acre site's multifamily residential component, which would total 700 units to be built in phases.
As soon as it has commitments from tenants to lease 70 percent of the space, Corporex plans to start work on another 200,000-square- foot office building.
"They're pretty industrious," said Wendy Mitchell, president and chief executive of the Aurora Economic Development Council. "We've got a couple of companies we're talking to about the building. What makes Corporex special and an asset is the fact that they can build the building and do a long-term lease."
Andrew Klein of Icon Development spent five years assembling the 32-acre Fitzsimons Village site. He teamed up with Denver hotel developers Charlie Beiderman and Steve Roitman of BWAB to develop the site. But when the economy tanked, the group switched gears and sold pieces of the assemblage to Corporex, which also has options to buy the remaining property.
Source: http://www.denverpost.com
