Need some advice for the Denver area

[OrganicOzarks]

So here goes. I am putting my house up for sale in the next month or so. Regardless of if it sells fast or not we are going to be moving to the Denver area in December sometime. We are needing a warehouse for our business, and I am looking for some input. We only need about 1,000-1,500 sq ft.. We need a showroom up front, a couple of offices, and warehouse in the back with a 10'-14' shop door. You know the standard layout.

When you get on craigslist you see tons of stuff in commerce city. Now I have heard not so great comments about commerce city so that is all I have in my head about it.

Is Commerce City worth a look? If not are there other places that would be better suited? We don't want to go over $1,000/month for rent. We also would not like the NNN(where you have to pay a cut of the taxes and shit). I have not ever seen this until I looked at space up there. It actually blew my mind a bit. We want to just pay the fucking rent.

Now we have that handled we can look at housing. We would like to rent a condo/townhome 2 bed/2 bath for 6 months to a year to get the lay of the land before we buy a house. We want to get a feel for the area before we make such an important purchase.

We would like to have warehouse space no more than 10 minutes form where we live, if possible. We would like to not go over $900 a month for the condo, but if we need to go higher we can.

SO I have not addressed the obvious. I would like to be able to grow some personal while in this transitional phase of our lives. So I would need to be able to either have a small tent at our condo, or at our warehouse. Either one is fine. If the warehouse was a "keeper" then building a room there would be cool as well. However I see a lot of land lords are not into renting to people growing. Which is understandable.

If anyone has any other questions for me let me know. I appreciate any feed back at all.

 

[satva]

hey OrganicOzarks, I've been living organic vegetable gardening in Arvada for 21 years. 10 -15 to downtown. Arvada, and WheatRidge are kinda organic. In Wheatridge, for $900 a month you should be able to find a small house with a yard and basement. Arvada a bit more, and probably higher warehouse rent too.

Another area where i would live within 10 minutes of warehouse space is unincorporated Jefferson county. go west from Wheatridge towards Golden. North of Morrison, south of Golden, and west of Wheatridge, there are some mixed use zoning. with housing close to

There is a warehouse district north of downtown Denver along the north south corridors starting at Federal Blvd, Pecos, and Broadway. As far North as you want to go and ending at the north end of downtown. Westminster and Thorton are northern bedroom communities 30 minutes north of Denver. Not much culture or sense of community.

The north end of downtown is in the process of converting warehouse space into upscale condos,lofts and condos. Similar to the restoration and renovation of the lower downtown warehouse district, called Lodo. This upscale area borders some pretty funky warehouse districts. Its ethnic and close to downtown Denver.

Now Lodo now is all art galleries, bars, upscale restaurants and $500,000 condos / lofts. A different kind of wasteland than Commerce city.

Wheatridge is most funky and the most farm-ish community near Denver. Lots of mixed use zoning in Wheatridge and lots of green space.

Commerce city is a polluted wasteland, large scale industrial usage, semi-access not a pretty place. I wouldn't want to live anywhere within 20 minutes of Commerce City.

South of Denver, around Broadway is the MMJ trendy area, on every corner there are at least four MMJ dispensaries. This is where the young and trendy live. Most of the warehouses were converted into retail, probably very expensive both warhouse and housing.

If you go into south Denver, south of the Broadway area, it starts to resemble Dallas or Los Angeles, lots of cars, status, big new houses. I never go south.

Westminster, Thorton, Wheatridge, unincorporated Jefferson country, and Arvada listed from most affordable to least affordable suburbs around Denver.

I'm not the one to ask about warehouse rents or locations. The Denver area is a very livable area and has something for everyone, except maybe surfers. Other than surfers and sailors - Colorado is heaven for people that enjoy the great outdoors. From unincorporated Jefferson County you can be in the mountains in 15-25 minutes.

 

[OrganicOzarks]

So that is pretty much what I have heard about Commerce City, but it is good to get another opinion. What about Lakewood? There are not many warehouses, but there is decent housing. It is not that far from Denver, and a bunch of warehouses.

 

[satva]

Lakewood is a nice suburb, with good housing. The eastern part of Lakewood is very close to the city, and the western part borders the foothills / mesas. Lakewood is an older more established suburb than the ones I mentioned.

 

[Jhhnn]

Lots of warehouse space as you describe in south central Denver, from sixth avenue south, on both sides of the Platte river & Santa Fe Drive as far south as West Hampden avenue in Englewood.

Google map "Overland Golf Course Denver Co" & zoom out to get a picture of the area. You can see how the warehouse district stretches out all along there.

In general, the neighborhoods are better on the east side of that, (a matter of opinion) with an enormous variety of housing available within 15 minutes of any location along there. Rents are a little higher in the central area, but the convenience is worth it.

I live right near Alameda & Broadway, a great location if you like to live in the City.

After what Holder said today, I suspect that everybody & their dog will be growing around here, so if you're colorado legal, many landlords shouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[OrganicOzarks]

Anyone have any other resources for warehouse rentals other than craigslist? There is limited inventory on craigslist, and without driving around in Denver it makes it hard to find a "good" selection of inventory.

 

[Eighths-n-Aces]

lakewood would be a good location for you. the cops have always been pretty much MMJ friendly/neutral and it's close to the mountains. rents are a little higher around here than they are in places that have already been mentioned like wheatridge. $900 for the house with a yard in wheatriddge and $900 for an apartment in lakewood. there are plenty of warehouse spaces in lakewood but my guess is that they are going to be pricey compared to commerce shitty (thats not a typo)

one place i would avoid is aroura ........ it's not a bad place but the city council can never really seem to decide WTF they want to do about the whole weed thing. it would suck to have a warehouse in a weed friendly state and still not be allowed to grow in it

 

[OrganicOzarks]

Great info! I would like to clarify that I am not getting the warehouse to grow in specifically. It will be for our legitimate businesses. However like I said if I could have a room there it would be great.

 

[Jhhnn]

Anyone have any other resources for warehouse rentals other than craigslist? There is limited inventory on craigslist, and without driving around in Denver it makes it hard to find a "good" selection of inventory.

I really don't know, have no experience, but I'd start here-

https://www.google.com/search?q=den...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Putting landlords & tenants together is what they do.

 

[barnyard]

I like this location because of easy highway and mountain access:

http://www.showcase.com/property/400-Corporate-Circle/Golden/Colorado/398526

It also gets you on the West side of town which is a little nicer area (and more expensive). I worked there years ago but have no association with it now. It's more square feet than you're looking for but at least it gives you something to compare.

Commerce City is really across the board. The City has developed in recent years and the South side is industrial but the new North area is really nice. So the generalizations no longer fit.

Keep in mind its not a Cannabis free for all here. In fact legalization has had a polarizing affect and some people are more against our lovely Mary Jane than ever before so be careful.

Best of luck!

 

[wantaknow]

hey satva whats the work situation there i would be interested in wheatland area myself ,is there work that pays decent there?

 

[OrganicOzarks]

So what's the Wadsworth, and Colfax area like? From Google maps it looks multicultural. I saw a thai restaurant, chinese, sudaniese, etc... Some people have told me that it is "ghetto", but I have lived in a place that all of my family considered "ghetto", and it had less crime then their all white sterile suburb.

 

[monsoon]

Wadsworth/Colfax area is like mid town KC. Mixed races, older houses, traffic. The city, basically.

Sounds like you need a visit

 

[OrganicOzarks]

Wadsworth/Colfax area is like mid town KC. Mixed races, older houses, traffic. The city, basically.

Sounds like you need a visit

I don't have the option of a visit before I move. I have been there multiple times, but honestly I don't remember the areas I was in much.

Sounds like where I lived before I moved to small town America. it appeared to be similar on Google maps as well.

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

If you buy a house and lease a warehouse, growing in the warehouse will help protect your home from forfeiture if things somehow go really bad. If it's small and personal you can buy a cargo trailer to grow in that is parked within the warehouse. This makes landlord visits a lot simpler to deal with.

 

[OrganicOzarks]

Do people grow in their rented houses, apartments, condos, townhomes, etc..? I have grown in a rented house years ago, and it was stressful. However this was in a non-med State. We are moving to relieve some stress, not make more.

 

[Eighths-n-Aces]

Do people grow in their rented houses, apartments, condos, townhomes, etc..? I have grown in a rented house years ago, and it was stressful. However this was in a non-med State. We are moving to relieve some stress, not make more.

some landlords have things in their leases that make growing in a rental impossible. someone in the colorado growers thread posted some of the crap that their landlord was trying to get them to sign ........ fuckin crazy stuff.

probably going to be hit and miss on that. some landlords are dicks and some are not

 

[Jhhnn]

some landlords have things in their leases that make growing in a rental impossible. someone in the colorado growers thread posted some of the crap that their landlord was trying to get them to sign ........ fuckin crazy stuff.

probably going to be hit and miss on that. some landlords are dicks and some are not

Some landlords never show up except to rent the place & cleanup when tenants vacate, some have never even seen the properties they rent thru agents. Look for a standard lease form & a landlord who just wants to be paid. Keep the place nice & tidy, so that if they do show up they're favorably impressed, not eager to look past the living room or the kitchen when you offer them refreshment. Pay on time (early is even better), take care of little stuff yourself.

Hell- just put an ad on Craigslist- "Mature MMJ home grower couple relocating to Colorado, seeking rental" or similar, see what happens.

Sounds crazy, huh? It would be, if growing you own weren't legal in Colorado. Nobody's gonna bust you if the plant counts are legal.

 

[satva]

Wadsworth & Colfax connects into the west side of the city. Colfax is a major east west corridor, one of the most historic streets / boulevards in Denver. North and west of the intersection of Wadsworth and Colfax there are nice housing neighborhoods. Traveling east on colfax into Denver the neighborhoods get ethnic, mostly Latino. Calfax takes you into the center of Denver near the State capital. South of Wadsworth and 15th street is Lakewood.

wantaknow - Denver has a good job market. There are the full range of employment opportunities in the Denver area. Denver is a growing metropolitan area. The work situation in Wheatridge would be decent, with access to the city from a close north suburb. Close enough to Denver to use public transportation to commute around the city.

 

[SooperSmurph]

If you buy a house and lease a warehouse, growing in the warehouse will help protect your home from forfeiture if things somehow go really bad. If it's small and personal you can buy a cargo trailer to grow in that is parked within the warehouse. This makes landlord visits a lot simpler to deal with.

When was the last time we had a federal seizure in Denver that was covered by medical paperwork?

I don't think Jane Medicals counts though

On the OO side, Denver is full of landlords who expect to be paid too much for little to no reason without having to put time or effort into the property, when looking at properties, study the landlord / manager and pick yourself one who leans towards lazy and casual, they love renting to growers and they don't even know it, we're the kind of tenants who fix everything ourselves and pay on time in cash.