Dealmaker: Graham Street Realty Acquires Colorado Industrial Property for $16M

Graham Street Realty, San Francisco, acquired industrial property Commerce Square near Denver for $16 million.

The fully leased property is south of I-70 in Aurora, Colo. Seller First Industrial Realty Trust, Chicago, has owned the asset for more than 20 years.

The transaction, which closed on Dec. 3, represented Graham Street’s first industrial property purchase after more than 13 years of office-sector investments.

Graham Street Managing Principal David Messing said the firm liked Commerce Square’s functionality, infill location and long history of institutional ownership. “Denver’s light-industrial market has proven resilient in spite of the pandemic, and we believe it will continue to exceed expectations in the future,” he said.

Commerce Square has 144,464 rentable square feet of shallow-bay light-industrial space across two 1984-vintage Class B buildings. The single-story buildings provide smaller industrial tenants with above-standard loading capabilities, catering to a variety of tenants from client-facing businesses to traditional light industrial users. The property is less than a mile from the Regional Transportation District Peoria Station, which provides access to downtown Denver and Denver International Airport via light rail.

GSR affiliate Paramount Property Co., Oakland, Calif., assumed property management responsibilities upon acquisition. The Denver market has seen significant growth from e-commerce, construction/building materials and manufacturing companies. This and a growing population has resulted in expanding local, national and international company footprints throughout the region. The I-70 East submarket accounts for more than 40 percent of metro Denver’s industrial inventory.