Comunale Inks Northern Colorado’s Largest Industrial Lease of 2023 at Mulberry Connection
Four tenants quickly lease up the first Class A industrial project to deliver in Fort Collins in 20 years
Commercial real estate investor and developer Comunale Properties (“Comunale”) has completed Northern Colorado’s largest industrial lease of the year, securing a full-building commitment for Building 2 that now fully leases Mulberry Connection – the first Class A speculative industrial project to deliver in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 20 years.
The 93,000-square-foot lease was completed by a manufacturing user that provides prefabrication, construction, analytics and automation services to industrial manufacturing and processing operations across the globe. Prior to the Building 2 lease, ASCH, which designs, builds and installs custom cabinets and countertops for multifamily homes across the U.S., expanded into the final speculative suite at Mulberry Connection’s Building 1.
Comunale also signed pre-leases at Building 1 earlier this year to two tenants: Gustave A. Larson, a leading regional distributor of HVACR equipment, and Winlectric, a national full-service electrical wholesaler. With these leases, Building 1 at Mulberry Connection is now fully occupied and operational. Building 2 is undergoing significant tenant improvements for a planned tenant move-in by mid-2024.
“In addition to being a developer, we are an investor-operator with a long-term-hold strategy and a commitment to creating the market’s highest quality industrial assets for our portfolio,” said John Comunale, President of Comunale Properties. “Mulberry Connection’s success is owed to a singular focus on execution and a lot of hard work in activating a great site with tremendous highway visibility, in a market where development is very difficult. We’re proud and excited to have these buildings filled with excellent tenants who needed Class A space and quick access to the growing Fort Collins labor pool and consumer base. It is a great validation of our investment thesis.”
Located on 13 acres fronting Interstate 25 at 3874 and 4036 Redman Dr., the 164,200-square-foot, two-building Mulberry Connection provides prime highway visibility and unparalleled access to all major Northern Colorado cities. The project features 28’ to 32’ clear heights, 22 dock-high and 8 drive-in doors, modern ESFR systems, generous power, and interstate-fronting signage opportunities. It also offers extensive trailer parking and 0.58 acres of additional yard space, both increasingly critical components of light industrial tenant operations.
Sprink Construction has completed all existing tenant spaces at Mulberry Connection Building 1 and is now managing the office, manufacturing and warehouse buildout at Building 2.
The project’s core and shell general contractor was Alcorn Construction and the project architect was Grey Wolf Architecture. Travis Ackerman and Kylie Pazzaglini with Cushman & Wakefield are the exclusive leasing brokers.
“Hats off to the Comunale team and the city of Fort Collins for all of the work they put into this development,” said Ackerman. “The quality of Mulberry Connection is reflected in how quickly it leased and the great mix of tenants that are here now.”
Based in Colorado, Comunale specializes in Class A infill industrial development and the acquisition and repositioning of light industrial buildings. Comunale’s industrial portfolio consists of ±1.4 million square feet across 40 properties and is currently over 99% leased. Today, Comunale is primarily focused on its Private Capital CoreTM long-duration income strategy, which targets functional infill, small-bay, last-mile industrial properties, particularly in markets across the Southwest and Southeast experiencing outsized population growth and lasting tenant demand drivers.
As part of that strategy, Comunale has acquired three properties in the past year and has one more under contract that is expected to close next month. All of these properties are fully leased and in high-demand submarkets, underscoring Comunale’s focus on modern infill product.
Comunale is actively seeking investments in growth markets, including value-add opportunities that allow the company to apply its industrial redevelopment and repositioning expertise.
