Xcel Energy has acquired 10 acres at HighPoint Elevated, a 5-million-square-foot industrial park under construction in Aurora, for $2.7 million. Hyde Development and Mortenson, the project’s developers, will partner on the construction of a 40,000-square-foot build-to-suit facility for Xcel with approximately five acres of yard space.
“Delivering outstanding customer service is a top priority for our teams. The facility at HighPoint will provide easy access for Xcel Energy to better service our customers in the growing areas of Aurora and further east as well as Denver International Airport. The facility will allow for a faster response time to service calls and will have room to house the equipment needed to grow our operations,” said Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy – Colorado.
CBRE’s Daniel Close, Todd Witty, Tyler Carner, Jeremy Ballenger and Jessica Ostermick represented Hyde Development in the sale to Xcel Energy and are marketing HighPoint Elevated for lease and sale opportunities with build-to-suit and speculative construction options available.
Construction of the Xcel facility will begin in the first quarter of 2023. The land site located at the northwest corner of 66th Ave. and Denali St. will be the future home of an Xcel Energy service center/office and warehouse facility with outside storage.
Xcel Energy is the third tenant to commit to HighPoint this year. In August, Dollar General announced plans for a 919,000-square-foot build-to-suit facility at HighPoint. In the same month, construction was completed on Building 1, which delivered 37 percent pre-leased to Hawthorne Hydroponics.
“We are delighted to welcome another blue-chip company to HighPoint. The top users in the marketplace are recognizing the best-in-class industrial real estate we are developing at HighPoint,” said Paul Hyde, principal at Hyde Development. Hyde Development ranked as the top commercial real estate developer in Denver last year, developing nearly 1.1 million sq. ft. across the metro area in 2021.
HighPoint Elevated broke ground in 2021 and will include up to 5.5 million sq. ft. of industrial and logistics space at full build-out. Building 1 totals 542,000 sq. ft. with 340,588 sq. ft. remaining available. The building is divisible to 170,294 sq. ft. with 36-ft. clear heights, 50-by-54-ft. column spacing, an ESFR sprinkler system, dock-high and drive-in loading, and trailer parking. Additional buildings will range from 64,000 sq. ft. to 1 million sq. ft. with at least one building slated for cold storage. Outdoor storage is available at several sites throughout the park.
“With HighPoint, our goal has always been to leverage our develop-design-build capabilities to bring flexible, ideally located industrial space to the market as quickly and efficiently as possible. Mortenson is proud to be supporting the growing list of tenants choosing our HighPoint campus, and we look forward to helping Xcel Energy build out their new facility here,” said Brian Fitzpatrick, vice president and general manager at Mortenson.
Metro Denver’s industrial development pipeline increased slightly in the third quarter, according to CBRE Research. There is 8.9 million sq. ft. of industrial space currently underway, with the bulk of activity (5.3 million sq. ft.) concentrated in the Airport submarket.
HighPoint Elevated is located at the southeast corner of East 64th Ave. and E-470, six minutes from Denver International Airport. Retail space will run through the middle of HighPoint Elevated, along East 64th Avenue, providing walkable retail options for tenants and visitors with outdoor seating areas. Infrastructure improvements are underway to widen East 64th Avenue to four lanes at the park (six lanes west of E-470) and to add a full interchange at East 64th and E-470, giving tenants the option to bypass I-70 to reach the metro’s northern and southern suburbs.
HighPoint is a 20-minute drive from downtown Denver and is situated within three economic benefit zones: a federal opportunity zone, an Adams County Enterprise Zone and a Limon Foreign Trade Zone.