Denver, CO – Avison Young announced today it has completed the sale of 1695 W. Sheri Lane, a 7,792 square-foot office/warehouse building located at 1695 W Sheri Lane in Littleton, CO.

Vice President Jaimee Keene, who is based out of Avison Young’s Denver office, represented the seller/user, Varela Lane, LLC, an entity of Sara Gabriel, a company specializing in handmade wedding veils and accessories. The buyer will use the space for its light manufacturing company, and was represented by Michael DeSantis and Brett McDougall of Unique Properties.

“This was an opportunistic time to sell this asset, as the industrial market remains strong with limited properties available for sale especially in the smaller size range which are highly attractive to owner/users,” said Keene.

Keene added, “Impacted by the wedding and bridal industry upheaval due to COVID, Sara Gabriel decided to sell this asset after acquiring it just before the pandemic hit. This sale will enable the company to reduce operating costs and start recovery as the wedding industry gets back on its feet.” The company has already relocated to a slightly smaller studio in Denver’s popular Highlands neighborhood.

“Jaimee Keene guided us during our initial purchase of the building in February of last year, and she was familiar with the property and the market. She was a natural choice to help us sell it,” said Sara Gabriel’s Owner and President, Sara Varela. “Although we had made an additional investment on improvements to the building, we were able to sell the building at full asking price.”

Designer Sara Varela started her namesake company, Sara Gabriel, in July of 2000 in her Denver apartment. While the business has rapidly expanded to supplying various boutiques nationwide, every Sara Gabriel item remains hand crafted, hand checked, and hand packaged. Her designer items are sold online at https://saragabriel.com and in various boutiques and at trunk shows.

Small-scale industrial properties are popular for owner/users.

The current low interest rate environment coupled with rising rental rates has many small business owners searching for ways to control their occupancy costs. For many, building ownership offers protection from rising rental rates, which have increased by 27 percent since 2016 in the Littleton submarket, according to Keene.

“Launching a new listing during the pandemic at an asking price 9.3 percent higher than the recent purchase just six months earlier made sense given the limited number of properties available on the market, coupled with the low interest rate environment. The property was ideally suited for an owner/user and we were confident there would be significant buyer interest.” noted Keene. Her confidence in the market was proven, as the seller received multiple offers on the property and secured a contract at full asking price within five months of initial marketing. The property sold for $154 per square foot.

Avison Young’s recent industrial report for 2020 showed that the greater Denver market is maintaining its dynamic demand in the industrial sector. As industrial rental rates continue to climb in the Denver market, small-box industrial properties (buildings under 10,000-square-foot size) are increasingly becoming popular with owner-users. As such, quality on market selections are currently limited.