LONGMONT - In the midst of a turbulent residential real estate market, one Boulder-based homebuilder has found a way to grow its business.

It's taking over where others left off.

Boulder Creek Builders recently closed on a deal to acquire the Kingsbridge town home development in Longmont - a 134-home neighborhood left unfinished by Capital Pacific Homes.

Capital Pacific built and sold 22 homes at Kingsbridge, but because of broader companywide finance issues, it decided to sell the remaining 109 lots and three model homes to Boulder Creek for $1,787,000.

The project, located southwest of Clover Basin Drive and Airport Road, is a great opportunity for Boulder Creek, said co-owner David Sinkey.

"Not only is it located in an area we like, but it also matched the type of homes we like to build," Sinkey said.

With the models built, the homes designed and the infrastructure in place on the remaining lots, the new builder doesn't have to change much. That saves a lot of money.

One thing Boulder Creek will change is quality of construction - adding green and sustainable building practices, as it does with its other homes. This includes building the exterior walls with two-by-six boards instead of two-by-fours, using more energy-efficient windows and blowing in better insulation.

Boulder Creek plans to start construction on the new townhomes at Kingsbridge later in December, and the first units are expected to be available in May 2010. The two- and three-bedroom homes with two-car garages will be priced in the $200,000 to $250,000 range, with some initial promotional pre-sales under $200,000. A build-out schedule will follow demand.

Boulder Creek is looking for similar projects to take over, Sinkey said. The financing isn't available for land development, but for vertical construction the money exists, he said.

But that's not saying it's easy to get. It took months for Boulder Creek to put together the financing for the Kingsbridge acquisition. The homebuilder had to piecemeal funding from an array of sources, including private investment groups and Loveland-based Advantage Bank.

The persistence is paying off - Boulder Creek is growing as many of its peers shrink. The company now employs 15 people, allowing it to expand its in-house services and save money.

"There are not only opportunities in acquiring property in this market, but also in acquiring talent," Sinkey said.

Beyond its newest ventures, Boulder Creek is building and selling homes at Erie Village and Vista Ridge in Erie, Blue Vista and Shadow Grass Park in Longmont, and Calmante in Superior.

COMPANY EXPANDS:   A chemical-sensor engineering company is doubling its space in Longmont.

Synkera Technologies Inc. signed a lease for 20,000 square feet space at 2605 Trade Center Ave., part of The Campus at Longmont, owned by Circle Capital Partners.

The company expects to move from its current 10,000-square-foot location at 2021 Miller Drive during the first quarter 2010.

The move will accommodate growth and expansion of the business, said Ken Voss of Voss Real estate, who represented the tenant and helped broker the real estate deal with Hunter Barto of Dean Callan & Co.

Synkera grew from 12 to 17 employees in 2009, and company officials anticipate future growth from both private and government contracts.

The company, founded in 2003, specializes in advanced materials engineering and the application of its materials to novel devices for chemical sensing, analytical chemistry, gas/liquid separations, renewable energy and other fields.

GUNBARREL

RENT FOR EQUITY: Private-equity and venture-capital groups invest dollars into startups, but Hal Segal is looking to invest some real estate with young businesses.

The local landlord with 5,300 square feet of office space at 6680 Gunpark Drive has come up with a creative pitch where he'll exchange free rent at his office building in the Boulder neighborhood of Gunbarrel in exchange for an equity position in the tenant's company.

While a company has yet to take Segal up on his offer, the pitch has generated interest to his property. And he's been able to sign six tenants with another more traditional deal of deferred rent, where the first few months of the lease are free.

Segal said he has two office spaces left in the building, which can be furnished or unfurnished. All the spaces include utilities, a shared conference room, reception area, and common areas.

BOULDER COUNTY

HOME PRICES FALL: Home prices in Boulder County depreciated annually for the first time in 21 years, according to the latest figures from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The agency, which tracks conforming loans and refinances across the nation's metropolitan statistical areas, said home prices decreased 0.56 percent year-over-year in Boulder County during the third quarter.

The home-price drop was the first since a 1.03 percent annual decline during the second quarter of 1988, and only the seventh quarterly annual drop in Boulder County history since the figures were first tracked in 1979. In the past five years, Boulder County home prices are up 11.67 percent, according to the agency.

Nationwide, home prices fell 2.4 percent on an annual basis in the third quarter.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency figures represent average house-price changes in repeat sales or refinancings of the same single-family properties. The database includes more than 38 million repeat transactions obtained from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which form the nation's largest database of conventional, conforming mortgage transactions.

The conforming loan limit for mortgages purchased since January 2006 has been $417,000, with limits as high as $729,750 in some areas since the latter half of 2007.

BOULDER

SOLD ON THE HILL: A former women's fraternity house on The Hill has sold for $1.63 million.

Alpha Phi Building Association of Colorado sold the three-story, 13,581-square-foot building to AIM House LLC, which has been leasing the building. AIM House provides residential mentoring for young adults transitioning from residential treatment centers, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, wilderness programs and therapeutic boarding schools.

Alpha Phi earlier moved to its new location on The Hill at 1015 15th St., after purchasing the former Alpha Omicron Pi 15,885-square-foot building there for $3,305,000 in May 2008.

BOULDER LEASES: Goodwill Industries of Denver, signed a lease for 13,989 square feet of retail space at 2486-2490 Baseline Road to open a new location. Chris Boston and Stacey Hutton with Gibbons-White Inc. and Rich Otterstetter with Crosbie Real Estate helped broker the deal.

• University Parent, a Boulder-based publication company, signed a lease for 3,150 square feet of office space at 3800 Arapahoe Ave., Suites 205 and 210. The company with 15 employees is moving from 929 Pearl St. Angela Topel with Gibbons-White Inc. helped broker the deal.

• Nomad Bead Merchants Inc., a bead retailer, signed a lease for 1,557 square feet of retail space at 1909 9th St., Unit 100. Lynda Gibbons, Annie Lund, and Angela Topel and Ron Smaron with Re/Max Alliance Boulder helped broker the deal.

• Blue Moon Body Art LLC, a Boulder-based full service tattoo and body art studio, leased a 1,500-square-foot retail space at 5360 Arapahoe Ave., Suite A-2. Scott Leakas with Acquire Inc. helped broker the deal.

• Pedersen Development Co., a Boulder-based real estate development firm, signed a lease for 1,250 square feet of space at 4949 N. Broadway. The company moved from 1035 Pearl St. Dan Ferrick and Michael-Ryan McCarty with Gibbons-White Inc. and Dan Marks with Emerald Management helped broker the deal.

Contact David Clucas at 303-440-4950 or dclucas@bcbr.com.