The Glass House Purchase
One of our clients was happy to share the details behind their recent investment purchase in the Glass House and we thought it might be a fun case study for the site.
The target acquisition was the Glass House in Riverfront Park. This particular client was very focused on this specific building. Factors included the great amenities, swimming pool, fitness center, views, but ultimately it was all about location. The new Union Station Neighborhood project and all the benefits of being adjacent to the hub of our Denver transportation network was one location benefit. The location became exponentially more valuable when front door access to three public parks (Commons Park, Cuernavaca Park, and Confluence Park), the Downtown (both LoDo and Union Station Neighborhood) restaurants, shops and amenities, the cool hip dining and fun spots of LoHi, and walking distance to all of Denver’s sporting arenas.
The location scored for this buyer on all these marks, and they like to look to the future for investments. It didn’t hurt that so many available parcels in Union Station and Riverfront Park have, over the past 3 years, gone the way of apartment development leaving fewer condos for ownership in this awesome location.
The target was a one bedroom which which they were able to close on for approximately $330,000.
Now let’s look at the Rental Market side.
Renting Market at Glass House
The rental market at Glass House is strong. It is a desirable location (for all the reasons above) and for many the idea of living in a condo building is much more appealing than living in an apartment. The property was put under lease for $1,850, but it did take a couple months to go under contract. There are a LOT of options for rentals in this area. The new Union Station, Riverfront Park, and LoHi are rolling out brand new apartment buildings fast and furious. So far this has not affected rental prices, in fact over the past few years they seem to still be rising.
These new buildings have great amenities too so we will see how the market bears the weight of all these new available properties on rental rates. The magic word in rental buildings seems to be amenities. If you have a pool, a fitness center you are in a pretty good spot to attract tenants.
After property management fees and some water/sewer and the HOA fees (which are higher in buildings such as the Glass House with all those amenities) it looks like the net income per month is about $1,100.
So a $330,000 investment is going to start off generating about $13,200 or about 4% per year. This particular owner is super happy with that.
The consider this a great start when looking at a long term investment horizon. This 4% is only the cash flow from the investment property itself, this does not factor in any appreciation toward the future sale.
The investor’s objective is to have and hold this property with a goal of seeing that monthly amount increase over the years (decades) as our Denver market continues to evolve.
It’s simply a matter of personal choice. Some are more comfortable weathering the stock market (rough time last week though) and others prefer real estate. For this particular buyer the target location made this their ideal long term choice.
If you could invest in any property, in any neighborhood, of any type (condo, home, land) what would you choose?
Contact anyone on the Denver Urban Team to talk about your Real Estate Goals today.
Valuable Links
- Neighborhood PSF Report
- Glass House
- Union Station Neighborhood
- Riverfront Park
- LoHi / Lower Highland
- LoDo
- Light Rail Friendly Homes
- Top Trending Neighborhoods
- Top Trending Buildings
