Toll Brothers buying lots in Anthem Ranch

N & J Fan’s Real Estate LLC is building a 7,000-square-foot building on 1.24 acres at 1345 Dry Creek Drive in the Longmont Business Center. The building will house China Gourmet No. 2 in 4,114 square feet of the building, and the remaining space will house a nail and hair salon, both owned by Nora Fan. The restaurant is expected to open in September. Fan also owns the China Gourmet restaurant at 3970 Broadway in North Boulder. Doug Storum

Michael Davidson
BROOMFIELD — Toll Brothers Inc., a national builder of luxury homes, paid about $4.7 million for 40 lots in the Anthem Ranch development in Broomfield, according to a special warranty deed filed with the Broomfield Recorder's Office.

The 40 lots mark the first phase of its work in the north Broomfield residential development. The company announced March 7 it has committed to purchase 387 lots in Anthem Ranch, an “active-adult” residential development.

The initial takedown of finished and unfinished lots will be the first of several Toll Brothers makes as it builds out its portion of the development, according to Jeff Handlin, founder and manager of Oread Capital & Development. Oread Capital and Wheelock Street Capital owned the property.

Handlin declined to discuss specifics of the deal, but said the land includes finished and unfinished lots and land in Anthem's Filing 22 that has yet to be platted.

Based in Horsham, Pennsylvania, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) has created 50 active-adult communities in 10 states since 1999, a release from the company said.

Wheelock Street Capital and Oread Capital & Development acquired the Anthem Colorado property in December 2011 from Pulte Homes for a reported $28 million.

Oread Capital & Development is a Denver-based private real estate development and management company. Wheelock Street Capital is based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Boston.

Oread and Wheelock already have sold off subdivisions to homebuilders including Richmond American, Ryland Homes and Standard Pacific. Handlin said the developers likely will sell off parts of the Anthem development to builders during the next seven to nine years, depending on market conditions.

Toll Brothers' neighborhoods will be branded “Anthem Ranch by Toll Brothers,” and homes will range from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet with base home prices from the low $300,000s to the upper $400,000s. Toll Brothers expects to begin sales in May, with the opening of its model home park scheduled for January.

Pulte planned and started the 1,777-acre community near the intersection of Lowell Boulevard and Colorado Highway 7 in 2006. As many as 3,500 homes can be built in Anthem Ranch and Anthem Highlands, an adjoining community that is not age restricted. Nearly 1,400 homes have been built so far, and the development is expected to be built out within six to 10 years, according to the release.


BLOW DRIED: Aerodry Systems LLC, a Broomfield-based company that makes giant blow dryers used at car washes, has received approval to build a 9,600-square-foot industrial building at 7705 W. 120th Ave. The company currently is located at 165 Alter St.

Aerodry was founded in 2002 by Darryl and Cheryl Dobie, who in the late 1980s owned and ran car washes in Texas, according to a company history on its website. Aerodry’s selling point is that it manufactures high-performing “touchless” dryers that are designed to be quieter than other systems.


BOULDER

RETAIL ROULETTE: Trendy European clothing retailer H&M plans to open an 18,400-square-foot location at the Twenty Ninth Street shopping area this fall, one of several new store announcements and moves in the business district.

Sweden-based Hennes & Mauritz AB is expected to move into space on the west side of the shopping area in the former MontBell and Lucy stores as well as in the shuttered Gymboree and The Territory Ahead stores, said Kate Honea, senior marketing manager at Twenty Ninth Street. No specific date was set for the H&M opening.

The Boulder H&M store would be its fourth in Colorado.

The women’s activewear store Lucy will move into a temporary space near Macy’s on the north end of the shopping district, Honea said. Later in the year, Lucy will relocate to 2,570 square feet of space in what is now the Coldwater Creek clothing store on the east side of Twenty Ninth Street, Honea said.

At the same time, Coldwater Creek is closing, Honea said. Madewell, a concept store of the J. Crew catalog, plans to move into a separate 3,187-square-foot store in the former, remodeled Coldwater Creek space once that work is complete, Honea said. No tenant has been announced yet for a third 1,499-square-foot space coming out of the remodeled Coldwater Creek space.

A Charming Charlie women’s accessories store will take 5,900 square feet at the former AI Sushi location at Canyon Boulevard and 29th Street later in the year. A Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant will open in 2,785 square feet in the former Islands Burger location at 1855 29th St., Suite 1152, Honea said without giving timing details.

“We’re definitely moving forward. There’s great activity here, and it will be a good year for us,” Honea said.

In addition, a new 14,000-square-foot Trader Joe’s grocery store is slated to open nearby in October at 1906 28th St., the site of the former Applebee’s restaurant, Honea said.


LOUISVILLE

CBRE LISTS CONOCO SITE: International commercial real estate firm CBRE Inc. has the listing to sell the 432-acre property in Louisville that, until last year, was going to become a training and research center for ConocoPhillips.

The property formerly was owned by Storage Technology Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. before being sold to ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) in 2008 for $55.6 million. ConocoPhillips subsequently spun off Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) into an independent company, which inherited the project. In 2012, Phillips 66 paid Conoco $38.1 million as part of the split of assets, according to Boulder County property records.

CBRE’s team on the project includes senior vice president Frank Kelley, who has extensive industrial and office listings in the U.S. Highway 36 corridor. First vice presidents Martin Roth and Eric Roth, who focus on land sales, also are on the team. The three brokers are based in CBRE’s office in Greenwood Village.

Sanford Criner, executive vice president for global corporate services, also is on the team, according to a release sent by CBRE. Criner works out of CBRE’s Houston office, according to its website. Houston is the home of Phillips 66’s headquarters.

CBRE (NYSE: CBG) is headquartered in Los Angeles.


NIWOT

TRIPLE CROWN: A Denver-based investor has spent $4.1 million for 18 properties in the Triple Crown Meadows subdivision off the Diagonal Highway in Niwot.

Triple Niwot LLC acquired the lots on Secretariat Drive and Citation and Whirlaway lanes from First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co. The streets are named for winners of thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown: the annual Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Triple Niwot is led by Apex Real Estate Solutions, a Denver-based firm. Austin Peterson, an Apex principal, said the acquisition includes nine lots that are “vertical ready” and nine completed semi-custom homes.

Work on the subdivision started several years ago, and existing houses in the neighborhood were built around 2005 and 2006, but financial difficulties halted development. First-Citizens has owned the lots since 2012, when it acquired them for $3.85 million in a bankruptcy sale. They were owned by Raintree Custom Homes Inc.

Peterson said his company is looking for builders and is likely to build out the nine lots within 12 to 14 months.

Beth Potter contributed to this report.