Commercial Real Estate in Boulder – Quarter 1 2022
A recap from the Market Meets Podcast
Hosted by Rachel Rohrig and Heidi Schamber with a guest appearance from Nate Litsey
Despite the lingering effects of the pandemic, Boulder continues to be a behemoth of opportunity and determination, snow-balling through the first quarter of 2022 with a rush of new dreams, ideas, and deals.
Nate Litsey, a broker with Market Real Estate, elaborates on the recent rush of closed deals following a couple years of an often slow and uncertain market. While commenting on Pearl Street, Litsey estimates that about 10% of the retail properties during the pandemic there became vacant. He describes a very real and valid uncertainty among businesses and their employees concerning office space and in-person collaboration.
Questions such as, “Are they going back to the office? Are they going to work from home? Are they going to give up their space or downsize instead?” currently linger in the market. The atmosphere is dominantly promising, yet we are left with certain aspects of uncertainty.
Despite this, however, Litsey expounds on several newly completed projects and how they’ve helped prop up Market Real Estate during this year’s first quarter. Doug Day’s Diner successfully relocated to Basmar Shopping Center, while other businesses such as Efrain’s, a chic, Mexican restaurant, settled down into its new nest just north of McGuckin’s.
Pearl Street has especially revived, as Heidi Schamber further chronicles closed deals recent to the company itself. Properties such as 1102 Pearl Street will soon be starting construction to house Marine Layer and Cotopaxi, two businesses that prioritize sustainability in their products.
She also illustrates the happenings on 15th and Pearl, where Postino signed a lease, along with another location nearby and adjacent.
These fruitful endeavors follow an incredibly large-scale transaction in Boulder last quarter: a 1.1 million square foot portfolio sold to Boston-based Biomed, which specializes in life science. Biomed plans to convert half of the massive Flatiron Park portfolio into cutting edge lab space.
At a whopping $625M, Biomed essentially purchased this massive estate for about six-hundred dollars per square foot. This was a resounding accomplishment for the Boulder market, even as Nate Litsey admits that the market is “still pretty slow.”
Of course, recovery from COVID will be a long-term endeavor, with many cognizant of the real-estate impacts which arose from quarantine efforts – such as remote work. Despite these challenges, Heidi Schamber poignantly stated we are grateful to get back in the office, with our team, and collaborating on new deals together.
The market does indeed continue to present challenges in the face of COVID, yet Boulder powers on regardless, resolute in its goals and ideas which drive the growth of our market. Here’s to a joyful, productive second.
If you are looking into leasing – from retail, office, to warehouse – and aren’t sure where to start, do not hesitate to reach out to Market Real Estate. We are just a call away and love helping business owners begin a new chapter of their story.
