top of page
Search

Front Range Industrial & Flex Brief — week of October 26, 2026

Writer: Stuart Dobson
Stuart Dobson
7 days ago
4 min read

The week in one paragraph

Two large closings set the tone. EastGroup Properties bought the fully leased 25 Commerce Park in Thornton for about $94.5M, and BAE Systems paid $30M as an owner-user for a 130,000 SF plant in Weld County. In small-bay, FlexEtc announced a second Colorado co-warehousing site in Broomfield with units as small as 290 SF. Meanwhile, more central-Denver industrial land and buildings are being turned into housing and hospitality, including the old RK Industries campus and a Lincoln Park site. Data-center moratoriums are spreading across Northern Colorado, which is changing what owners of large-power industrial sites can do with them.

Small-Bay / Flex / Owner-User

  • FlexEtc co-warehouse coming to Broomfield (Broomfield). FlexEtc will open a 67,180 SF building at 601 Alter St. with 70 private warehouse units from 290 to 2,900 SF, plus 11 offices, loading docks and shared amenities. It's targeted for January 2027 and will be the company's second Colorado site after 5180 Fox St. in Denver. These units give very small contractors and e-commerce users a step below a traditional small-bay lease. [6]

  • Contractor leaves Denver, citing housing rules (Central Park → Aurora). RK Industries says Denver's 2022 rule requiring 10% income-restricted units in new apartments pushed it to sell most of its Central Park property and move its headquarters to 3301 Lewiston St. in Aurora. That's a 155,000 SF campus, according to Mile High CRE's earlier report. The buyer is building 329 apartments on the site. This is another case of contractor/owner-user space in central Denver turning into housing. [8]

  • Lincoln Park industrial site becoming a food hall and coworking space (Central Denver). Thrive Development is turning 1701 W. 13th Ave. (14,700 SF) and 1350 Shoshone St. (14,900 SF) into "Lincoln Station." The project includes a food hall, a bar and a coworking building, and the old loading dock becomes a patio. That's roughly 30,000 SF of infill industrial near I-25 and Burnham Yards leaving the industrial supply. [7]

Sales & Investment

  • EastGroup buys 25 Commerce Park for ~$94.5M (Thornton / North I-25). Rockefeller Group sold the three-building, 453,550 SF campus, which was built in 2025 and is 100% leased. That works out to about $208/SF; no cap rate was reported. Tenants include TTI, Izzio Bakery and Brown Note Productions. County records cite $94.45M, and the buyer entity's name ("EGP 25CP 1031 Owner LLC") points to a 1031 exchange. CBRE represented the seller. [1][2]

  • BAE Systems buys the former Danfoss plant for $30M (unincorporated Weld County). BAE bought the 130,000 SF facility on about 13 acres at 4120 Specialty Place as an owner-user, at about $231/SF. It plans to retrofit the plant for space hardware and sensor production, with output starting in early 2028 and up to roughly 600 jobs at full capacity. The state approved up to about $11.2M in job-growth tax credits for the project. [3][4][5]

Development & Pipeline

  • Loveland begins its data-center review (Loveland / Northern Colorado). City council holds the first of two study sessions this week on data-center rules, and the second, on utility impacts, is set for Dec. 8. Records show a prospective buyer of the former Woodward site at 3800 N. Wilson Ave. was talking with data-center developers into late August. Loveland's 12-month moratorium covers facilities using 10+ MW. Fort Collins takes a final vote Nov. 3 on a six-month moratorium. Brighton, Berthoud, Mead, Broomfield and Larimer County already have pauses in place, and Longmont has banned hyperscale data centers. [9]

No new market reports, notable leases, or Colorado Springs industrial deals were published within the past 7 days.

What it means for CREB's clients

  • Tenants/occupiers: Central-Denver small-bay and contractor space keeps getting converted to housing and other uses. Users who need infill locations should lock in renewals early, and users who can move should look at Aurora or north I-25. FlexEtc-style units are a new option for the very smallest users.

  • Owners/sellers: Institutional buyers are paying about $208/SF for new, fully leased product, and owner-users are paying more than $230/SF for specialized plants. Well-located, leased buildings are selling. Owners of large-power sites in Northern Colorado should expect data-center use to be on hold for 6–18 months.

  • Owner-user buyers & investors: The BAE purchase shows owner-users will pay up for buildings they can retrofit, so small-bay owner-user buyers should expect competition. EastGroup's apparent 1031 purchase shows exchange money is going to newer, leased product. 1031 buyers may get better yield in smaller multi-tenant flex.

Sources

Comments

bottom of page