COLORADO SPRINGS — Crescent Real Estate LLC (Crescent), a real estate operating company and investment advisor, has acquired the Patriot Portfolio, a 1.02 million-square-foot office portfolio in Colorado Springs that consists of 13 Class A office buildings in two submarkets. Five buildings are in the North I-25 submarket and eight buildings are in the Airport submarket. The Patriot Portfolio represents 13 percent of the approximately 8 million-square-foot class A office market in Colorado Springs.
According to Steve Eaton, senior vice president of Crescent, a key factor in making the investment is that the Colorado Springs economy has diversified during the past decade with information technology, healthcare, engineering, and consumer services joining the military defense contractor presence in the Colorado Springs office market. Population growth in Colorado Springs from 2010 to 2017 was 10.6 percent, doubling the national average of 5 percent.
“Crescent is excited about Colorado’s growth, and we continue to invest in commercial real estate throughout the state,” said Conrad Suszynski, Co-CEO of Crescent who is based in Centennial, Colorado. “Crescent had a unique opportunity to acquire the portfolio in an off -market transaction, and we feel strongly that this is the right time to establish such a significant presence in the Colorado Springs market.”
Ten of the 13 buildings were built after 2001, with eight of the buildings developed between 2006-2009. The five N I-25 submarket buildings are located in the Interquest Business Park, and feature attractive architecture and quality construction, as well as offer mountain views of Pikes Peak and the Front Range. The eight Airport submarket buildings include five in Patriot Park, adjacent to Peterson Air Force Base, two in Aerotech Commerce Park, just south of Patriot Park, and one building in Peak Innovation Park adjacent to the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport.
“These assets are generally regarded as the nicest, newest and highest quality buildings within the Colorado Springs metro area,” said Michael Bannon, vice president of Crescent. “Crescent is thrilled to establish a large footprint in The Springs and build off the momentum that both the North I-25 and Airport markets have been experiencing.”
Jim Curtin of HFF represented Crescent in sourcing debt on the deal, and Aaron Johnson and Jon Hendrickson of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.
Crescent previously owned the Briargate Office Center, a Class A 155,000-square-foot office building in the North I-25 submarket. Crescent also owns other Colorado properties, such as the legendary Brown Palace hotel complex, the Platte Fifteen development, Tuscany Plaza in Denver and Flatiron Park in Boulder.
