Orange County claimed the headquarters of Chipotle Mexican Grill from Denver more than two years ago. Now metro Denver has pulled an Orange County company in its direction — one of the nation’s largest owners of health care properties.
Healthpeak Properties, a real estate investment trust based in Irvine, Calif., announced Tuesday in its third-quarter earnings report that it has chosen Denver over Nashville and Dallas for its new corporate headquarters. The relocation will start with 20 to 25 people moving next year and it will provide Colorado with a public company valued on the market at $15.3 billion
“We chose Denver as it provides a centralized location relative to our nationwide portfolio, equal travel time to our two offices in Irvine and Nashville, which will continue to house the majority of our talented employee base; and quicker travel and meeting with our analysts, investors and rating agencies around the country,” Thomas Herzog, the company’s chief executive officer said on an earnings call Wednesday.
Denver also provided a favorable location to attract and retain top talent, he said.
The Colorado Economic Development Commission voted last month to provide Healthpeak Properties with up to $5.3 million in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits in return for bringing 166 net new full-time jobs to the state. Those jobs are expected to be top tier executive positions, paying an average annual wage of $425,213 a year.
That average annual wage is the highest the state has successfully recruited using the tax credits, which the state legislature put in play after the Great Recession.
Healthpeak invests primarily in life science facilities, medical offices, and senior housing and owns an interest in 633 properties, with another $1 billion in development. Among its Colorado holdings are several HealthOne medical facilities.
Nareit, an industry trade group, lists seven real estate investment trusts based in Colorado, and estimates they employ 44,000 people. They include Aimco, Black Creek Diversified Property Fund Inc., Black Creek Industrial REIT IV Inc., CoreSite Realty Corporation, Farmland Partners Inc., National Storage Affiliates and UDR Inc.
ProLogis, an industrial REIT once based in Denver until it relocated to San Francisco in a 2011 acquisition, also maintains a large presence in the metro area.
