CASE STUDY:
Paradigm Health Club

This challenging project, which changed directions several times over its two-year course, serves as a good example of our ability to achieve a difficult real estate development objective.

Client: Paradigm Health Club
Project Type: Development Consulting

Challenging Requirements

We were initially engaged by the principals of The Paradigm Health Club to help them locate and lease a facility for their planned athletic club and pool to be located in Louisville, Colorado. Our clients had correctly identified that this fast growing community, located in east Boulder County, Colorado, needed a high-quality athletic club to supplement the overcrowded municipal recreation centers.

The facility requirements were challenging. The Paradigm needed a special-use building with large amounts of parking, high ceilings, heavy HVAC and specialized interior build-out, and the potential club location was critical because visibility and accessibility were key issues.

Your strategies were effective, your advice was sound and your expertise lent credibility to our project. Your reputation and professional approach gave us access to top-notch architects (and) general contractors.

Mia and Bob Jasper

Principals, The Paradigm Health Club

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Options We Explored

Option #1: Retail Space

A retail space seemed the best option, but an exhaustive search over six months of both available and pending options produced no satisfactory buildings that met all the criteria for location, cost and functionality.

Option #2: Redevelopment

We turned our focus to locating an existing building that could be purchased and redeveloped to meet The Paradigm’s special requirements. Our client could then either own this building as part of the athletic club operation, or form a separate LLC, perhaps with other investors, to own the real estate. Again, our exhaustive search of the very tight market failed to produce a suitable option for purchase and redevelopment.

Option #3: A New Facility

Ultimately, after exhausting all other options, we concluded that building a new facility was the most viable solution.

Build New: The Process

Our client was discouraged, but even more convinced of the market’s need for their athletic club. Refusing to accept defeat, and believing in the project and our client, we next focused on assisting them to develop a new building.

Select Architect

As a key part of this process, we managed a process that allowed our client to select, interview and rank eight potential architectural firms. Our client ultimately selected Denver-based Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative to design the project. Ohlson Lavoie had extensive experience with designing athletic clubs both in the U. S. and internationally and they were excited to participate in such a challenging project in their own backyard.

Site Selection

We exhaustively surveyed the market for potential building sites that met the criteria for size, location, zoning and budget. We ultimately identified the ideal site, located just south of the new upscale FlatIrons Crossing Mall in Broomfield, Colorado. This site had been taken off the market for several months during negotiations with a potential buyer. However, purchase negotiations had stalled and we were able to move quickly to place the 6.75-acre site under contract for The Paradigm.

Select General Contractor

Simultaneously, we managed a process that allowed our client to identify and select a highly qualified general contractor from a field of ten candidates. The complexity of the project, which included highly expansive bentonite soils, indoor and outdoor pools, extensive HVAC, high-end finishes, a gymnasium and more, mandated a comprehensive contractor selection process. The selected general contractor was brought on board early to provide preliminary project budget pricing and to assist the architect and client in value engineering the project.

Secure Governmental Approvals

The land purchase contract mandated an extremely tight development timeline, including an aggressive schedule to achieve the required Architectural Control Committee and City of Broomfield approvals. Olson Lavoie produced conceptual and schematic designs, allowing the general contractor to provide pricing estimates to ensure compliance with the project budget. Simultaneously, we worked closely with the architect and land seller to complete the multi-step Architectural Control Committee and City of Broomfield site development approvals that were necessary for the project to move forward.

Financing and Legal Assistance

From the beginning, we worked closely with our client to locate the additional equity investment and bank financing required for the project. This was not an easy task due to the special-use nature of the building. Along the way, we referred our clients to competent attorneys who were experienced in complex real estate transactions.

“Ultimately, we assisted our client to negotiate a favorable transaction with Chicago-based Lakeshore Athletic Clubs. The Paradigm assigned its land purchase contract, architectural work product and City of Broomfield approvals to Lakeshore. The principals of The Paradigm Athletic Club and Lakeshore were pleased with the outcome of this lengthy and complex transaction and the building has now been constructed and is in full operation.”

Norman S. DeHart –
Principal and Managing Broker