Although the Tech Center and Meridian are large business parks in the metro area, they are small holdings for P&O, whose primary business is operating ports and ferries. Peter Culshaw, president of the Tech Center and Meridian, has yet to meet representatives for the new owners. The P&O purchase is the largest ever by a Persian Gulf country.

But Culshaw tells GlobeSt.com that he doesn't expect any significant changes. "They say they want to buy all of P&O's operating units and keep them as they are," Culshaw tells GlobeSt.com. "I have no reason to believe that is not the case."

A new owner flush with cash may prove beneficial, he tells GlobeSt.com. "It may turn out to be a positive," Culshaw says. "They may have more of an appetite for investment properties than P&O. One can only hope. P&O had been whittling down its real estate holdings recently to focus on its core business. But who knows what will happen?"

If the new owner decided to spin off its metro-area holdings, there would be a lot of interest. But Culshaw says there is nothing to indicate the company plans to sell the real estate.

Peter Savoie of Miller Global Properties, a major private real estate investment company headquartered in the Tech Center, says that the real estate holdings account for an almost insignificant part of P&O's holdings. He tells GlobeSt.com that it is possible that the new owners will continue to allow Culshaw to run the two business parks autonomously.

The late George Wallace founded the Denver Tech Center, at Interstates 25 and 225 in Denver and Greenwood Village, in 1962. It is home to more than 1,000 companies and has more than 14 million sf of development. It includes 9.4 million sf of office space, 3,070 multifamily units and 126 single-family homes. It also includes upscale and neighborhood retail center and several hotels.

Meridian, at I-25 and C-470, spans 1,692 acres in Douglas County. It includes an 18-hole golf course and relatively new buildings. A number of companies have corporate campuses there including First Data, Liberty Media and the engineering firm of Ch2M Hill. The Tech Center also owns the Hudson's Bay Centre in Downtown Denver, the Meridian One building in Meridian, and Ptarmigan Place in Cherry Creek.

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