Denver-based ProLogis is developing a 625,000-square-foot warehouse for Furniture Row Cos. that will bring more than 80 new jobs to Aurora.
Furniture Row is based in Denver and will use the facility – among the largest built in the last 10 years – as a national distribution center for its Oak Express and Bedroom Expressions Co. stores.
Among the nation’s largest family-owned furniture retailers, Furniture Row operates 330 specialty stores in 31 states. In addition to Oak Express and Bedroom Expressions, the company’s stores include Sofa Mart and Denver Mattress Co., which leases 73,000 square feet of manufacturing space from ProLogis at Denver Business Center.
Furniture Row’s new building, expected to be completed by the third quarter, will be located at ProLogis Park 70, a 182-acre master-planned industrial park at Interstate 70 and E-470.
ProLogis also has started construction of a 360,000-square- foot speculative building in the park, which includes tenants such as General Motors, MasterCraft Cabinets and Schneider National.
“Our portfolio is 6.7 million square feet, and it’s 97 percent leased,” said Wayne Barrett, ProLogis vice president and Denver market officer. “We think there is pent-up demand for warehouse space right now.”
Denver’s industrial market is coming off one of its best years ever, with 5.5 million square feet of rentable space absorbed in 2006, said Richard Calhoun, senior managing director of CB Richard Ellis.
About 1.6 million square feet of industrial space was under construction during the fourth quarter in Denver, according to a CBRE analysis of the industrial market released last week. Vacancy dropped to 7 percent in the fourth quarter, the lowest level recorded since 2000.
“We should see new construction not explode but certainly increase to meet demand this year,” Calhoun said. “We’re basically at equilibrium right now, so we need new construction.”
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
By the numbers
5.5 MILLION
Square feet of new Denver industrial space that was rented in 2006, according to CB Richard Ellis real estate
1.6 MILLION
Square feet of industrial space under construction during the fourth quarter of 2006
625,000
Square feet in a warehouse that developer ProLogis is building for Furniture Row Cos.
73,000
Square feet of manufacturing space ProLogis leases to Furniture Row
7 percent
Industrial-space vacancy rate in the fourth quarter, the lowest since 2000
