10-acre office campus coming to Boulder
After breaking ground on an office project in November in Cherry Creek, Schnitzer West and Brue Baukol Capital Partners are looking at Boulder for their next project.
Seattle-based Schnitzer West is gearing up to build a campus called Terra Boulder, which will consist of two buildings for office or life science tenants on 10 acres located at 5675 Arapahoe Ave. in Boulder.
Kyle Flippen, investment director at Schnitzer West, said the firm has been eyeing the site for two years and finally closed on the property in April 2023. The site was appealing for its size and the ability to create a campus environment with outdoor amenities, as well as its accessibility and location.
“It’s a lot easier for people — and employees specifically — that are driving cars to and taking public transportation or biking to get to this area of east Boulder than it would be if they’re located downtown near the university, just from a traffic perspective,” Flippen said.
Schnitzer West plans to break ground at the end of the year and complete Terra Boulder during the second quarter of 2026. While the development firm considered one-building, two-building and three-building layouts for the site, it ultimately decided to go with two buildings.
“Two buildings seemed to be the most efficient and seemed to get the best response from tenants that we surveyed in the market,” he said.
Spanning 207,000 square feet, the two three-story buildings will have 10,000 square feet of amenities. The project also includes 147 surface parking spaces and 273 garage parking spaces.
Ideally, future tenants at Terra Boulder would be companies in technology or life sciences.
“We’re actively talking to tenants, and pre-leasing activity certainly helps just in terms of financing and continuing to move the pace of the project forward. We would like to be leased as soon as possible,” Flippen said.
Oz Architecture is the architect on the project, while Swinerton is the general contractor. Don Misner and Joe Heath with JLL are the leasing agents on the property. Brue Baukol Capital Partners is an equity partner on the project.
Schnitzer West has received approval from Boulder for its initial concept plan and is wrapping up site review approvals before moving on to permit submission later this summer, according to Flippen.
Schnitzer West plans to keep the mature trees and add more trees to contribute to the established campus feel of the site. Terra Boulder will have detention ponds, walking paths, outdoor meeting spaces and areas to hold fitness classes outdoors. Indoors, the development will include fitness and spa facilities, locker rooms with towel service and bike storage.
Flippen declined to share the estimated budget for Terra Boulder.
Elsewhere in the Denver metro area, Schnitzer West has been busy. The firm delivered the Current River North, an office building in the River North Art District, last summer. The firm broke ground on a new office building in Cherry Creek North called 201 Fillmore in November with Brue Baukol Capital Partners.
South of Denver, Schnitzer West is under construction on a multifamily project in Centennial that will be delivered in early 2025. The firm finished a lobby renovation and park installation outside the Palazzo Verdi office complex in Greenwood Village.
The firm plans to also break ground later this year on its Westray office tower adjacent to Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater later this year as well.
