MAVD News: 2007

Northern Colorado Business Report

February 21, 2007

Pickle packers to put up tech park

By Staff

FORT COLLINS - Members of the Vlasic family that made pickles a popular U.S. staple are gearing up to make 105 vacant acres on Harmony Road a booming office and technology park.

MAVD West LLC, the Colorado subsidiary of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based MAVDevelopment Co., purchased the vacant land that surrounds the Intel building in south Fort Collins for $14 million, a price that works out to just over $3 per square foot. MAVDevelopment Co. is affiliated with Vlasic Investments, a private investment firm held by members of the Vlasic family.

MAVD plans to develop the Harmony Technology Park, until this sale owned by Hewlett Packard Co., as a "carefully planned, upscale business environment with park-like amenities," according to a company statement. The Harmony Technology Park will offer sites ranging from two to 30 acres for sale or build-to-suit, as well as Class A multi-tenant office and flex buildings totaling about 250,000 square feet.

"We believe this is one of the finest sites in Northern Colorado," MAVD President Rob Aldrich said. "Fort Collins' quality of life, skilled labor pool and home to CSU make this a great location for new and existing businesses."

Aldrich also commented on the cooperation his company had experienced so far with the city of Fort Collins. He said that the city's target industries of information technology, clean energy and biotech would fit perfectly into the new development.

MAVD has been developing land in and around Ann Arbor since its founding in 1989. It incorporated in Colorado in March 2006, and has been actively investing in Lower Downtown Denver, also known as LoDo.

"We looked at several markets across the county and determined that the Northern Front Range of Colorado, from Denver to Fort Collins, offers excellent long-term investment prospects," Aldrich said.

Realtec Commercial Real Estate Services broker Larry Stroud, who represented MAVD in the land transaction, said the choice was the result of a nationwide site selection process.

"Well over a year and a half ago, they went through a very methodical analysis of the United States, the metro and secondary service areas," Stroud said.

"They looked at their core strength, which is quality, campus-style office development. Their criteria were educational attainment, presence of a university, technology-based businesses, recreation and quality of life. They had it all, and it came down to Fort Collins, Boulder and Colorado Springs. This piece of ground fits their profile better than any other."

Realtec will also market the Harmony Technology Park properties as they develop. HP had listed the land with Denver-based Fuller Real Estate.

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