Our Specialities

Development Advisors’ principals (“Advisors”) have decades of experience managing a wide variety of development projects for others, including land development, start-to-finish building development, building renovations, property redevelopments and tenant finish projects. Advisors’ role typically begins as advisory or consultative. We serve as the Client’s development manager or project manager orchestrating the process from A to Z.

Acquisition Services

zoom-20383138-3The principals of Development Advisors (“Advisors”) have extensive experience in the acquisition of existing Retail, Office, Industrial, Multi-Family and Specialty properties as well as Land to develop these property types ground-up. Our Acquisition Services are provided to:

  • Business Users seeking to purchase or to lease;
  • Investors seeking to purchase income producing property; or
  • Developers seeking to purchase land or buildings for either build-to-suit or for speculative future lease-up.

Existing Building Acquisition. Advisors assist users seeking to Lease, Buy, or Build their new facilities. Advisors provides the leadership to evaluate alternative locations and approaches and to then execute the Client’s selected plan. Since the early 1980’s, the principals of Development Advisors have completed assignments assisting local, regional and national companies with their facility needs. Our mission is to recommend and execute the strategic plan that will best achieve each client’s specific objectives for a new facility.

zoom-5911572-3Land Acquisition for Ground-up Development. Advisors develops new buildings for its clients. Since development is more complex than acquiring an existing building, the decision to develop a new building must be carefully considered. Before deciding to build ground-up, every existing building alternative should be considered. Existing buildings can often have a better location, be less expensive to renovate and provide a new or replacement facility in a much shorter time frame than new development.

A partial list of Acquisition Services clients served by Advisors includes:

  • Mission Hills Church (20-acre land site in SouthPark)
  • Del Taco (multiple fast-food drive-thru land sites)
  • FirsTier Bank (multiple assignments)
  • Norwest Applied Hydrology (multiple assignments)
  • Heartland Bank (Cherry Creek building acquisition and renovation)

You may learn more about Advisors’ experience with Acquisition Services by viewing our Projects.

Land Development Services

Development Advisors’ principals (“Advisors”) have a wide range of experience acquiring, planning entitling, financing, marketing and developing land for Users, Investors, Developers and Lenders. We often start by providing high-value pre-closing services that include site due diligence, market analysis, feasibility analysis and a comprehensive risk analysis including an assessment of the remaining entitlement risks. Land issues are quite complex and Advisors understands the obstacles that must be overcome before any site can be developed or sold. Advisors’ experience covers a wide range of land parcel sizes and types including:

  • High-traffic retail corners;
  • Complex, urban mixed-use sites;
  • Large suburban business parks; and
  • Bulk acreage for residential master-planned communities.

zoom-24801027-3Our land development experience includes an extensive track record successfully obtaining governmental entitlements from zoning concept plans through final plats and building permits. Entitlement success drives the value and marketability of land and ultimately determines the profitability or functionality of land.

In Colorado, the ability to economically obtain utility services is often the second most important factor that has to be addressed to successfully develop land. Advisors has ample experience with these utility challenges as well.

Our land projects have provided the opportunity to work with many different land planners, civil engineers, landscape architects, traffic consultants and engineers, environmental and geotech firms, contractors and other key project team members including attorneys, marketing and PR firms, graphic designers, project accountants and lenders. This experience gives a firm foundation from which to make recommendations regarding the selection and management of project teams tailored for to the requirements of each project and each Client.

Advisors has worked for and in partnership with local, national and international investors, developers, users and financial institutions including:

  • MacKenzie House (multiple senior and multi-family housing projects in Colorado and Missouri);
  • Mission Hills Church (20 acre site in Littleton, Colorado);
  • Del Taco (multiple site acquisitions including development management throughout Metropolitan Denver);
  • FirsTier Bank (multiple site acquisitions);
  • MorningStar Senior Living (5.8 acre site in Lakewood, Colorado);

You may learn more about Advisors’ experience with Land Development Services by viewing ourProjects.

Commercial Property Development Services

zoom-20099166-3Advisors starts every project by clarifying and prioritizing the Client’s real estate related goals and objectives – in general and for the specific project. Advisors coordinates the selection and management of project teams, including architects, general contractors, engineers, environmental firms, specialized consultants, legal counsel and marketing personnel. With inputs from the these project team members, Advisors creates a framework of prioritized objectives to guide the Client’s evaluation of alternative solutions. Our coordination and communication skills equip our Clients to make the best real estate decisions possible.

Development Advisors’ areas of development and project management expertise include:

  • Land development, from planning and entitlements through infrastructure construction and marketing;
  • Start-to-finish vertical development of office, retail, multi-family residential, industrial and church properties; and
  • Build-to-suit projects for users and speculative projects for investors and developers.

Advisors has worked for a wide-variety of development management and project management Clients including:

  • Colorado Association of School Boards (Denver headquarters facility);
  • Del Taco (multiple projects in Metropolitan Denver);
  • Meadows Crossing (35,000 SF speculative office building in Castle Rock, Colorado);
  • Cherry Creek Country Club (luxury residential country club community in Denver, Colorado);
  • Voyager Express (13-acre acre truck terminal in Adams County, Colorado);
  • Sonlight Curriculum (49,000 SF office-warehouse headquarters in Littleton, Colorado);
  • Navidek (105,000 SF Class A office tenant finish in Greenwood Village, Colorado); and
  • Concordia on the Lake (195 unit Senior Housing community in Littleton, Colorado).

You may learn more about Advisors’ experience with Commercial Property Development Services by viewing our Projects.

Commercial Real Estate Asset Management

zoom-22944860-3Under the direction of Tim Yeager, the Commercial Real Estate Asset Management group at Development Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) offers comprehensive asset management services to clients with a wide variety of property types in locations throughout Colorado and other markets around the country. These activities can be handled direct or as a court-appointed receiver when appropriate. Following is a listing of some of the services offered:

  • Property management oversight;
  • Asset disposition including selection and management of 3rd party brokers;
  • Property preservation and protection;
  • Revenue and cost optimization;
  • Evaluation of strategic alternatives;
  • Court reports and documentation;
  • Property accounting;
  • Resolution of outstanding claims, disputes, and liens;
  • Market studies and analyses; and
  • Utility reviews and expense minimization.

The following is a partial list of Asset Management engagements:

  • 338 S Lafayette St – Condominium Development – Denver, CO
  • Boyd Lake Village – Medical Office Park/Land Development – Loveland, CO
  • La Casa Estates – Apartments – Elkhart, IN
  • La Casa Arlington – Apartments – Indianapolis, IN
  • Blue Jay Lodge & Café – Hotel – Telluride, CO
  • Barn Village – Single Family/ Land Development (62 sites) – Steamboat Springs, CO
  • River Valley Estates – Single Family/ Land Development (36 sites) – Durango, CO
  • Park View Apartments – Apartments – Gunnison, CO
  • 1270 South Lipan – Office/Industrial Building – Denver, CO
  • 3800 Arapahoe – Office Building – Boulder, CO
  • Cleveland Place II – Townhomes/Multifamily Rental – Carbondale, CO
  • Parachute Commercial – Industrial – Parachute, CO
  • Mountain House Lodge – Hotel – Aspen, CO
  • Castle Pines Town Center – Mixed Use Development – Castle Pines, CO
  • SLJL – Medical Office Building – Granby, CO
  • Q & T Convenience – Gas Station/Liquor Store – Montrose, CO
  • Midwest Materials – Landscape Materials Company – Longmont, CO
  • Blair Motel – Motel – Idaho Springs, CO
  • Tahosa – Gas Station/Convenience Store/Laundromat – Gunnison, CO
  • Vinko Partners – Commercial Office Park – Carbondale, CO
  • 7201 South Broadway – Office Building – Littleton, CO

You may learn more about Advisors’ experience with Commercial Real Estate Asset Management by viewing our Projects.

Strategic Dispositions

Development Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) believes that our Clients can achieve a substantially higher selling price for most commercial properties or land and a higher probability of timely closing if such assets are first investigated by Advisors as a potential development, redevelopment or renovation project. Our objective is to create value by defining the potential development or redevelopment scenarios available to potential buyers of our Client’s property. In other words, we create the upside “story” or investment opportunity for our Client’s property.

As opposed to a typical commoditized listing approach, Advisors’ Strategic Disposition approach keeps our Client in better control of their own property and puts them in the position of ultimately being able to select a buyer from among a pre-qualified audience of buyers who have been educated about the development or redevelopment potential of the subject property.

zoom-2424111-3Advisors approach usually results in a substantially higher purchase price, shortens the buyer’s due diligence and entitlement periods and positions our Client with one or more solid backup buyers in the event that the selected buyer does not perform or seeks to renegotiate aspects of its contract to purchase. Importantly, Advisors’ Strategic Disposition approach also ensures that our Client is not stuck with a tainted or de-valued property if a selected buyer fails to adequately perform its due diligence and entitlement responsibilities.

In the case of selling land, Advisors often advocates that our Clients go so far as to have us obtain at least some level of governmental approvals (entitlements) prior to selecting a buyer. Although this involves some time and expense, it avoids the typical listing approach where a seller puts all of its “eggs in one basket” by allowing one buyer to tie up a property for a long time while it seeks to obtain governmental approvals for its specific project. This typical listing approach generally transfers the negotiating leverage to a buyer and leaves the seller with significantly less negotiating leverage over time. In these situations, it is not unusual to see a seller held hostage by the delay of starting over again with a new buyer as the contract purchaser extracts eleventh-hour price reductions or protracted closing extensions.

zoom-17341477-3The traditional listing approach, as executed by brokerage firms, can only offer a “quick close” alternative in which the seller does not accept buyer entitlement contingencies but in turn provides a substantial price discount. In contrast, the Strategic Disposition approach leaves our Clients in control and usually results in higher prices rather than discounted prices. For a significant building or land parcel, this difference can amount to millions of dollars for our Clients.

The Strategic Disposition process advocated by Advisors includes the following key tasks:

  • Advisors start with a Highest and Best Use Study of the asset and a detailed market analysis of the trade area. We also analyze competitive properties in order to determine what uses and users might still be available in the market for a given property’s location and potential uses (especially key for retail and residential land).
  • We meet with key stakeholders including elected municipal officials, municipal planning staff, neighborhood leaders and others we identify in order to be able to predict the extent that various redevelopment and rezoning scenarios can ultimately be approved.
  • Utilizing its working relationships with architects, land planner and civil engineers, Advisors then conceptualizes a future new ground-up project or building redevelopment or renovation project including the preparation of a proforma cost model.
  • We analyze comparable sales and rents to determine the likely market values for a new or redeveloped building or zoned land parcel.
  • As part of creating a concept plan for the property, we actively seek out the input of potential end-users and buyers (prospective tenants, real estate agents and vertical developers) to affirm that the evolving concept plan maximizes the value of the property. This step often allows us to initiate conversations with buyers and developers who are not currently in the Client’s local market but who may be looking to expand there.
  • We “back into” the building or land acquisition value that the finished product can support and provide a market profit margin for the developer buyer. In other words, we estimate what a prospective buyer developer should be willing to pay for the existing property by determining the eventual selling price for the improvements.
  • Once a supportable value has been determined, Advisors initiates a tailored closed bid selling effort to a targeted group of qualified developer, investor and user candidates.
  • We create and release a detailed Investment Package to these selected purchaser candidates. Sometimes, the earlier steps in the process allow us to identify a small group of qualified buyers with whom we can enter into accelerated direct negotiations on behalf of a Client.
  • In many situations, a Client may elect to have Advisors obtain some or all of the necessary governmental approvals for a range of development or redevelopment scenarios, which further increases the value and marketability of any given asset. In today’s market where cities and counties generally favor mixed-use and flexible zoning, it is in fact possible to create a development plan and obtain the associated zoning that will allow for a wide range of uses and development scenarios.
  • Even where zoning or project entitlements are not formally pursued, Advisors often creates substantial value by initiating related conversations with public officials and planning staff. The feedback from these conversations is critical for the Client to be well-informed and equipped to select the best strategy.
  • A key part of the entitlement process, even where entitlements are only informally discussed with the staff and elected officials, is Advisors’ investigation of the potential public/private financing structures that may be available to boost the value of the property. These include urban renewal districts, tax-sharing agreements, special improvement districts, and various tax credits.
  • In some cases, these steps may also result in a Client’s opportunity to participate in the joint venture development or redevelopment of its property, thereby further increasing its profit potential and deferring its tax obligations.
  • During this process, our Client communications are ongoing and collaborative. As an advisor to our Clients, we generally try to define for them the costs/benefits of different alternatives and each subsequent step in the process.
  • Management of the Strategic Disposition process typically draws on Advisors’ skill sets in its other specialties, particularly the Land and Development areas.

A partial list of our Strategic Disposition clients includes:

  • Cherry Creek Community Church (church to high-end residential land sale;
  • Individual Investor (single family residential to Senior Housing); and
  • University Hills Baptist Church (church to Senior Housing).

You may learn more about Advisors’ experience with Strategic Dispositions by viewing our Projects.

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