Deal on portion of Agilent Technologies campus should be finished in summer
December 20, 2007
A marketer for Old Vine Acquisition Corp. wants to create thousands of jobs and lease to multiple companies after the purchase of Agilent Technology’s Loveland campus.
“It’s not just a real estate transaction,” said Anne Rosen, president of Zing Development Strategies LLC, a partner in the transaction. “We really do care about being part of the community as a whole and working closely with the city government to do what’s really best for the city of Loveland and the surrounding area.”
Officials at Old Vine and Agilent plan to close the deal in the middle of 2008. It entails the acquisition of 800,000 square feet of office space on 300 acres at the northeast corner of Taft Avenue and Southwest 14th Street. They plan to lease the space after the purchase.
“It would certainly be fabulous if we found a single tenant occupant, but we are expecting it to be occupied by a number of different tenants,” Rosen said.
The property offers flexibility for tenants because it is suited to office purposes or light manufacturing and includes developable land, said Mike Masciola, vice president of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp.
“It’s a very unique property,” Masciola said. “It’s got tremendous capacity for water, electricity and telecommunications.”
Potential tenants from manufacturing and education sectors are showing interest in the office space, Rosen said. However, they are not in a position to sign leases at this time.
After the deal is finalized, a main goal of Old Vine of Denver is to “replace the 2,500 jobs that were lost,” Rosen said.
Although there is no way of knowing how many new positions the property will bring, several thousand are plausible, said Maury Dobbie, president and CEO of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp.
The acquisition has been under discussion for several months, Rosen said. The decision to purchase the property was driven by the community amenities of Loveland and the infrastructure of the buildings. The price of the deal has not been disclosed.
In early December, Hewlett-Packard Co. sold its west Greeley campus for $8.36 million to Westside Management LLC of Denver and Edgewood Cos. of Greeley. The transaction included 355,000 square feet of office space and 112 acres of surrounding commercial and residential land, according to media accounts.
The Agilent campus in Loveland is designated as an enterprise zone, which gives state tax credits to businesses moving in or developing it. That status will benefit future tenants by providing tax credits for adding employees, making capital improvements, buying equipment and offering employee benefits, Rosen said.
“The City Council and local folks should get kudos for helping make (the acquisition) happen, especially in regard to the enterprise zone,” said Jean Mooney, government and public affairs manager at Agilent Technologies. “The city was very instrumental in that. I believe they truly are working towards positive economic development in Loveland.”
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