Case Study: Brighton Learning & Resource Campus
an award-winning adaptive re-use development in central Brighton, Colorado.
- Awards: 3
- Clients: Multiple
- Project Type: Adaptive Re-use
A Model Adaptive Re-Use Project
The Brighton Learning & Resource Campus is an award-winning adaptive re-use development in central Brighton, Colorado. Bringing together the resources and commitment of government, educational and non-profit agencies, the City of Brighton and Community Reach Center partnered to turn a vacant hospital complex into a much-needed lifelong-learning hub and health services center.
Awards
2009 1st Place Excellence in Construction Awards, National and Colorado Chapter
Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc., Colorado, recognizing outstanding construction projects in the nation.
2008 NAIOP Achievement Award, Special Development
Recognizing the “best of the best” in development and brokerage in Metro Denver.
2008 Project of the Year Award, Special Project
Chosen by experts in the Colorado Commercial real estate, design, and construction industries – awarded by the Burns School of Construction and Design Management at the University of Denver Daniels College of Business and the Denver Metro Commercial Association of Realtors.
The Campus includes the former 75,000 square foot (“SF”) Hospital Building, and an adjacent 22,000 SF Medical Office Building purchased separately by Salud Family Health Centers. The two buildings, located on a site of 7.637 acres, house organizations providing much-needed health and education resources to the community in a centralized location, including:
Participants
Front Range Community College
Colorado State University
School District 27J Project Lead the Way
School District 27J Preschool
Adams County Head Start
Community Reach Center
Salud Family Health Center
Front Range Community College

In your many roles representing the building’s buyer and as the project construction manager, you also took very good care of our needs as a tenant – hearing our concerns and finding the most workable, cost-effective solutions.
Brighton Urban Renewal Authority

Thank you for the skill and diligence you demonstrated in your variety of roles, not only on behalf of your client, but for the interests of all of us involved. I truly valued your professional brokerage and construction management contributions to this project…
Quick Timeline
This multi-faceted project involved redeveloping a 75,000 SF former hospital into the Brighton Learning and Resource Campus – in less than twelve months, the facility was reborn through a $7.0 million effort that included an extensive redesign and a complete remodel.
The development’s swift transformation belies a complex process that included:
A Complex Process
Securing five subtenants
Complete construction design and remodeling
Utilizing LEED-like practices to reduce energy consumption and construction waste
Obtaining funding from six sources:
- The State of Colorado
- City of Brighton
- Adams County
- Brighton School District 27J
- Community Reach Center Foundation
- Front Range Community College
A Model of Collaborative Effort
Complex Brokerage and Project Management
As the Buyer’s Agent for Community Reach Center, Guidance Corporate Realty Advisors additionally acted as Project Consultant and Construction Project Manager to meld the diverse needs of the owners and subtenants of both the Brighton Learning and Resource Campus and the Medical Office Building. With the project having gained some initial traction from the City of Brighton’s vision to create a lifelong learning center, lead broker, Norm DeHart, likened the full-on start of the redevelopment to parachuting onto a moving freight train.
Our Role
Guidance Corporate Realty Advisors was called on to perform numerous key roles in the project as real estate consultant, Owner’s Representative and Project Manager. We developed creative solutions and helped put together a team that brought this fast-track project in under-budget and on-time.
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