The Challenge
The elevator jack failed on this 18-month-old Lakewood building. The general contractor and elevator vendor quoted the building owner $24,000 to replace the jack, resting their argument on the expired one-year warranty. Knowing that elevators normally last 30 years, the owner asked Bartell & CO Real Estate to intercede.

The Solution
Through a combination of due diligence and hands-on construction experience, we recognized immediately that the contractor had not put a protective sleeve on the steel jack, and the steel had rotted. Following this discovery, we brought in a Bartell legal adviser with experience in elevator construction issues to initiate legal proceedings. This resulted in a negotiated settlement in which the cost of replacing the elevator jack was reduced to $17,000 (from the quoted $24,000) and the elevator vendor and contractor paid the entire cost of replacement. Our client got a new jack at no cost.

90 Madison, Denver

The Challenge
The U.S. Government Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) took over a Denver building that was occupied at just 20% and badly in need of renovation. (The PBGC is the FDIC of pension funds.) In agreeing to serve as leasing agent and asset manager, Bartell & CO Real Estate believed it could fully lease the building, but only if the PBGC committed to upgrades that would bring it to market standards. In addition the PBGC, like many building owners, was convinced that holding firm on lease rates was the best way to ensure the value of their investment.

The Solution
Our first step was developing a plan to immediately renovate the interior and front entry façade of the building. Our construction expertise ensured both the quality and cost effectiveness of the work.

Next, we educated our client on the concept of leasing for maximum value. We explained that roughly 75% of every rental dollar goes to the bottom line. A new tenant brings an increase of 25% in variable costs; the rest is fixed cost. This makes it more important to get tenants in quickly, effectively increasing cash flow by 75%, than to hold out for the last dollar from each tenant. Through cold calling to a “smart” database list of targeted, qualified prospective tenants, Bartell & Co. was able to raise and maintain occupancy on this building from 20% to between 90-100% over a four-year period. With increased value, the building was subsequently sold.

Throughout the four-year period, Bartell & CO Real Estate adhered to the strict reporting and financial return requirements for both client and realty advisor. Our knowledge in this area led to a continued relationship on other PBCG projects.

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2149 South Holly, Denver

The Challenge
The owner bought this property through a large brokerage firm and then retained them to manage the building. HealthOne was the anchor tenant and the building owner wanted to keep them as tenants. A few months later, frustrated by the brokerage’s poor communication, construction management, and cost containment, the building owner decided to move the account to Bartell & CO Real Estate. Our challenge was to build trust with this client and their anchor tenant HealthOne, as well as bring revenues up and costs down.

The Solution
We immediately started building trust by taking personal responsibility for the building’s performance. Looking through a building owner’s lens, we oversaw improvements, gaining efficiencies where possible. We replaced the HVAC system, bought the adjacent land and built a parking lot, and landscaped the entire complex. Because of these and other timely improvements and good communication, we were able to influence HealthOne to take the remaining space in the building. Within three years an appraisal showed that the improvements and full occupancy by a prime tenant had increased the building’s value 170%.

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Corporate Center 25, South of Greenwood Village

The Challenge
Describing the process by which this deal came about evokes the image of a circus juggler. This class A office building was in a Class B location with a Class D institutional build-out. Among many problem variables with this project were inherent building and design issues, like the labyrinth of offices and corridors in which we literally lost our prospect-guests many times during showings. Another was the fact that of 143,200 square feet, 12,500 was basement space with no windows. Our challenge was to alter the image of this building in the community and lease the space for the owner.

The Solution
The first thing we did was change the name from Cyprus Minerals Building to Corporate Center 25, hoping to attract high-end corporate tenants. We developed an extensive database of referral sources, including economic development agencies, in- and out-of-town commercial and residential brokers, and power and phone utilities.

We designed and built a luxurious lobby in the west building and cleaned up the top floor to reveal the impressive views. We then had dramatic brochures designed, with visual and informational appeal, to take the transformation to market. For added measure, we gave coffee mugs with the building logo to everyone, everywhere. These efforts succeeded in attracting the broker for AT&T who proposed that Corporate Center 25 be the headquarters of a new AT&T national installation, the country’s Merlin phone system service center. But – we needed to find a way to create an additional 190 parking spaces and still present a market competitive deal to make it all work.

Then came the “catch 22.” The building owner wouldn’t close on the adjacent ground for the parking lot until AT&T had signed a lease. And AT&T didn’t want to sign until it had evidence of adequate parking. Our job became one of developing and maintaining trust between all the parties, despite fragile egos, miscommunications, and institutional constraints. We maintained a delicate balance of tension and pressure until the deal was done, eight months later.

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7th & Kalamath, Denver

The Challenge
This diamond in the rough, formerly the Pallas Photography building, was on the market for some time before Bartell & CO Real Estate partnered with a client to purchase it. Our challenge was to turn it into an upscale office warehouse building and sell it at a profit.

The Solution
The combination of our experience in construction and brokerage provided the expertise to take on this extensive turnaround. We gutted the interior; replaced the spandrel panels above and below the exterior windows; designed an impressive aluminum and stainless steel perforated entrance canopy; and redid the parking lot and landscaping for best effect. Eight months later we sold the building to Teammates Office Furniture to use as their corporate headquarters. This is an example of many profitable partnerships in which Bartell & CO Real Estate contributes market insight and hands-on development experience to create successful deals with clients.

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Parker Road and Havana, Aurora

The Challenge
This was a convoluted situation. The 62,000 square foot building, formerly Best, had been vacant and on the market for close to five years. The property was owned separately from the land, and the landowner refused to sell regardless of profit. The building owner, Fingerhut’s Amigo Ventures, had no interest in funding capital improvements that would allow the building to be used as a call center, for which it was ideally suited. With all that, the bottom was falling out of the tech economy, putting substantial constraints on the potential market. Our challenge was to represent the Fingerhut family’s interests in leasing the property, while meeting the needs of prospective tenants.

The Solution
Bartell & CO Real Estate developed an idea with SS1 Ventures’ Colorado Ski & Golf to consolidate its retail operations and distributions into this single facility. The building offered both high visibility for its retail operation, with a nearly 50,000 cars-per-day traffic count, and convenient proximity to I-225 for its distribution center. Colorado Ski and Golf signed a long-term lease and renovated the building.

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4600 South Syracuse Street, Englewood

The Challenge
Wild Blue, a high-speed Satellite Internet company, sought 25,000 s.f. of space in this premier office building in the Denver Tech Center. The veritable start-up was exceptionally well financed by Liberty Media, Kleiner Perkins Venture Capital, and others, but had no track record. The Landlord was nervous about funding the high cost of infrastructure and build-out for an unproven company, complicated by the satellite Internet technology requirements and lab specifications necessary to conduct research and operations. Our challenge was to find a way to balance risk and cash flow guarantees that would satisfy the Landlord's needs and concerns. This meant devising a way to allow for Wild Blue’s growth, while not committing them to the entire facility for a period of time, and ensuring that contiguous space for expansion was available when they needed it.

The Solution
Bartell & CO Real Estate found common ground that resolved the financial and risk concerns of the Landlord as well as future growth issues for the tenant. Based on our real estate development, leasing, and construction expertise, we offered solutions to space planning architects, the Landlord, and the tenant that reduced the initial space requirements. At the same time, we maintained effective floor plan flow should future growth be realized. Our experience helped convince the Landlord that doing the deal was the right choice.

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