The San Juan Co., the managing agent for a 1,300-acre commercial development called Porteos near Denver International Airport, is under contract to acquire another 528 acres of undeveloped land in the area to build the next major industrial park — King Ranch.
“Our experience at Porteos and the deals that we were not able to compete for because we didn’t have enough land led me to pursue other alternatives in the area,” said Bill Wichterman, president of the San Juan Co.
“This one was right across the street, so it made all kinds of sense in the world.”
Porteos, a 1,287-acre commercial mixed-use site 2 miles south of DIA’s main terminal, was once given little notice when it was first introduced but has since garnered attention from major companies such as Amazon and Costco.
The site has a little over 200 acres still available. However, only about 65 of those acres are contiguous, limiting its appeal to large-scale users like Philip Morris International or Microsoft, Wichterman said.
As a result, Wichterman said they have chosen to pursue the King Ranch site as demand for land near the airport continues to grow.
Aurora public records show that talks surrounding King Ranch have been ongoing for more than two decades, ever since the land was annexed into the city in the late 1980s.
Since then, the area has been dormant and untouched, allowing itself to be open for the opportunity to be customizable, according to Steven Mulhern, owner and president of Mulhern and Co.
“To have 500 acres that’s contiguous this close to the airport is one of the primary features that I think sets this project apart,” said Mulhern, who is representing the seller, Monaghan Properties LLC, and the buyer, the San Juan Co.
“We’ve seen a number of users come in wanting 150 to 300 acres to 500 acres, and for various reasons — many of the users today want to own their own site. They want to control their own destiny.”
King Ranch will be south of Porteos at the corner of 56th Avenue and Monaghan Road. The land is designated for industrial use, including manufacturing, technology, distribution and data centers.
Documents outlining the King Ranch master plan show the area will feature pedestrian trails, public art and open spaces. The development will also embrace a design theme that highlights the site’s industrial and commercial character, incorporating materials such as board-form concrete, stone veneer and gabion structures.
“King Ranch is the next piece for large industrial developments. It’s perfectly situated for it,” Wichterman said.
“The time is now and I’m just excited to have something else to work on out there that could accommodate these kinds of users.”
Porteos is home to users such as Kroger and its 300,000-square-foot customer fulfillment center, Kärcher’s North American headquarters featuring a 280,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and 100,000 square feet of office space, the DIA Logistics Park and JAG Logistics Center at DEN.
A few other companies on the site include FedEx, Ryder, Costco, Amazon and Walmart, which has yet to build its e-commerce distribution center on the 169 acres of land it acquired for $13.5 million in 2016.
The price at which the San Juan Co. is acquiring the land has not been disclosed. Mulhern said they expect to close the deal in late summer or early fall of this year.
After that, Wichterman’s team will begin the next phase of installing and building out the infrastructure on the site for a user to come in. This includes water, sewer and street systems.
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