Metro Denver Getting a Closer Look

Communities throughout the 2.5-million-person Metro Denver market are getting a closer look from corporate real estate executives. Denver suburbs like Greenwood Village, Henderson and other parts of Adams County are attracting new plants.
        At Greenwood Village, Pfizer announced that it will open a 74,000-sq.-ft. (6,875-sq.-m.) office in Peakview Tower. The deal makes the multinational drug manufacturer one of the largest new tenants to move into Metro Denver during the past 18 months.
        In nearby Henderson, California-based roof tile manufacturer MonierLifetile opened its new factory on Dec. 31. The $10-million facility had been under construction for the past year at its Dallas Street location. The plant also represents a corporate relocation of all customer service and shipping functions from Littleton.
        In Adams County, recent projects include a 15,000-sq.-ft. (1,394-sq.-m.) facility for Ischemia Technologies Inc., a high-tech medical diagnostic company; an $8.9-million investment by McCandless International Trucks of Colorado Inc., including a new 79,000-sq.-ft. (7,339-sq.-m.) plant for repairing and servicing large trucks; a $125-million, privately funded power generation project for Calpine Corp. in Aurora; and an 81,870-sq.-ft. (7,606-sq.-m.) back office center for T-Mobile in Thornton.
        The largest development opportunity in the entire Denver market, however, comes courtesy of the U.S. Armed Forces. It's called the Lowry Air Force Base, which once represented $295 million a year in economic impact and more than 10,000 jobs. Since the base closing, about 80 percent of the jobs have been replaced and more than $400 million in new development has been attracted to the former base site.
        "We will have completed more than $1.2 billion in redevelopment projects upon buildout," says Tom Markham, executive director of the Lowry Redevelopment Authority in the Denver-Aurora area.
        Also moving to Denver is the much-troubled Adelphia Communications. The nation's fifth-largest cable TV company announced in early February that it will relocate its corporate headquarters from Coudersport, Pa., to Denver, bringing about 150 executives to Colorado.
        "Moving our corporate headquarters to the Denver area is essential to the rebuilding of Adelphia into a successful and profitable cable company for a number of reasons," Adelphia CEO William T. Schleyer said. "Denver is a leading center of the cable industry, and the relocation will help Adelphia attract and retain the best management team in the cable industry from Denver's excellent pool of experienced cable executives, as well as from across the nation."