The mixed-use development includes 441,325 sf in two office towers and 121,133 sf of retail--a United Artists Theatre with an IMAX screen and a Dave & Buster's restaurant. There also is enough room on the site for another million sf of development on the property. Colorado Center was sold by TIAA-CREF and developed by George Thorn, principal of Mile High Properties. Thorn tells GlobeSt.com that he was part of a team that put a competing bid into TIAA-CREF."I almost made Colorado Center a lifetime of work," Thorn tells GlobeSt.com. "I wish Lincoln well. They bought a great project." Thorn says that TIAA-CREF periodically reviews all of its holdings and decided now was a good time to sell.

"I think George Thorn built a great project," Scott Caldwell, a senior vice president at Lincoln Property tells GlobeSt.com. "It's a high-quality, mixed-use project in a wonderful submarket. We think it has a lot of potential down the road."

One thing that sets it apart is that a light-rail station is being built there as part of the T-Rex widening of Interstate 25. T-Rex opens this year. "With light rail opening here, we're pretty excited," Caldwell tells GlobeSt.com. "We're pretty excited about the traffic counts. We hear more than 5,500 trips a day will be logged at this light-rail site. In addition, there is a bus stop here."

Caldwell says there is no doubt the company paid far below replacement cost for the office building. "To build class A office buildings of this quality, it would cost north of $200 per sf," he tells GlobeSt.com.

More difficult to value is the land, he tells GlobeSt.com. "We don't know yet what we will do with it," Caldwell says. "Our plan would be to own it long-term and develop the site. But that would not happen until we meet with neighbors and the city and see what the neighborhood wants to happen."

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