SKB buys former pharmaceutical production site near Denver

ScanlanKemperBard, a Portland, Oregon-based real estate investment and development firm, is expanding its Denver-area holdings with the acquisition of a 40,000-square-foot former pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Broomfield, Colorado. The facility is intended to attract a broad range of tenants in the advanced manufacturing sector.

SKB acquired the 22.68-acre site, at 2555 W. Midway Blvd., for $17 million from Mile High Labs, a CBD producer and cannabinoid product manufacturer, Todd Gooding, SKB president & principal, said. Commercial real estate manager The company plans to spend $27 million to improve, demolish and renovate the two existing buildings on the site.

“We have enough land to add about 100,000 square feet,” Gooding said. “We haven’t made that decision at this time.”

Gooding said the buildings are currently vacant, but noted that the property could be used by multiple tenants or a single tenant. The property has nearly 12,000 amps of power, making it a prime location to serve businesses with significant power requirements, including those with advanced manufacturing operations. The buildings currently have clear heights ranging from 18 feet to 38 feet and include existing labs and clean rooms. The property has 609 parking spaces. There is also ample outdoor storage space for potential tenants.

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The location, between Denver and Boulder, Colo., provides access to the region’s highly skilled workforce and advanced infrastructure, Gooding said. Broomfield is the Denver metropolitan market’s primary aerospace and advanced manufacturing center. Nearby industry leaders include Honeywell Aerospace, Sierra Nevada Corp., Ball Aerospace and Lockheed Martin.

The industrial property was developed in 1974. Mile High Labs bought the facility in June 2019 for $18.8 million from Novartis, which was no longer using the site due to declining generic drug sales, according to Fierce Pharma. The deal included the land, labs, buildings and all drug manufacturing equipment. The international company, founded in 2016, is now based in Loveland, Colorado. In 2019, the company opened a distribution center in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

SKB Colorado is moving

Founded in 1993, SKB focuses on major West Coast markets including Portland, Seattle, the Bay Area, Phoenix and Denver. The firm has generated more than $5.3 billion in portfolio activity and its diverse assets total more than 34 million square feet of commercial real estate.

Gooding said SKB began investing in the Denver market in 2004. The company acquired York Street Yards, a flexible, mixed-use industrial campus in Denver, in January 2020. Tenants include electric vehicle maker Rivian, which has a showroom at York Street Yards.

Earlier this month, SKB and Landrock announced the acquisition of Walnut Business Center, a 16-acre urban industrial and retail complex in Boulder, Colorado. The partners plan to invest heavily in the property to modernize it and create a state-of-the-art, mixed-use urban district that will accommodate a variety of tenants similar to York Street Yards, Gooding said. Planned improvements include roof, parking and mechanical system upgrades, as well as significant aesthetic enhancements. The property, located between Walnut Street and Pearl Parkway, will have a new name.