Vail

Vail Resorts is the premier owner and operator of mountain resorts in the world with a wide-ranging portfolio of luxurious, destination-based travel locations. Vail moved their headquarters office from a small mountain town in western Colorado to a more traditional office park in Northwest Denver in 2006 and grew their staff from 100 to almost 800 over an 11-year period. During that time, they expanded their office footprint as they grew, taking space in the building as it became available. By 2017, Vail had approximately 40,000 square feet of space that expired in early 2019 and about 90,000 square feet expiring in early 2023. With a need for an additional 30-40,000 square feet of expansion space, Vail wanted to take this opportunity to engage Cushman & Wakefield to renegotiate favorable terms with their existing landlord on one brand new lease document with a single coterminous expiration date for all of their space.

Unfortunately, the market in Northwest Denver for 150,000 square foot blocks of office space was extremely tight at the time Vail was beginning the real estate evaluation process. Out of the 11 million square feet of office space that comprises the Northwest Denver/Boulder corridor, there was not a single contiguous vacancy over 150,000 square feet. This left Vail with two options - either extend their lease and expand in their current building, or commit to a costly built-to-suit that would take a minimum of two years to execute and construct.

Cushman & Wakefield's key strategic challenge in this situation was to create the leverage necessary to negotiate favorable lease terms with their existing landlord, who believed that Vail's only real option was to stay and expand within their building. After discussions with numerous developers and land owners along the I-36 corridor, Cushman & Wakefield was able to identify one developer who was willing to propose terms on a build-to-suit that were aggressive enough to entice Vail to strongly consider a relocation.

With the threat of their anchor tenant's relocation a real possibility, Vail's existing landlord was willing to negotiate deal terms that were favorable to Vail from both a cost and image standpoint. Vail was able to construct a full-service cafeteria in their new 2nd floor expansion space, install Vail Resorts signage and branding in the lobby, and have the landlord install and staff a security kiosk in the lobby with additional cameras. The transaction ultimately checked all of Vail's boxes providing an ideal real estate solution for one of Colorado's premier companies.