The stage is set for a Littleton redevelopment play following a $14 million deal.
Texas-based apartment developer Quarterra and New Jersey investor PGIM Real Estate purchased the 15-acre site of a former shopping center at 5151 S. Federal Blvd. in Littleton for $14.3 million at the end of February.
The two are planning to turn the onetime retail center, which became vacant over a decade ago and was demolished in 2018, into a seven-building apartment community with 373 units. Over 7,000 square feet of commercial space will be added as well.
Quarterra is a subsidiary of giant home building firm Lennar Corp. PGIM is a subsidiary of global insurance and financial services titan Prudential Financial. Neither firm responded to a request for comment.
Kairos Investment Management out of Southern California was the seller. The firm also did not respond to a request for comment. Kairos CEO Carl Chang and his family had owned the site for decades.
The site at the southwestern corner of Federal Boulevard and Belleview Avenue has long been targeted for redevelopment.
In 2016, Chang appeared in front of Littleton City Council, apologized for his property’s blighted condition and promised that plans to turn it into something better would come soon. Two years later, a proposal came in to turn the strip mall into hundreds of apartments. That plan never moved forward; city officials complained about struggling to communicate with Chang.
On Christmas Eve 2020, Quarterra entered the mix, sending a letter to the city that it was under contract to buy the site. BusinessDen first reported on the plans last year.
Littleton Senior Planner Teri Whitmore said the firm has submitted all its building permits, and the city expects to issue them in May.
The shopping center site will be one of several large redevelopment projects in Littleton. The former Lumen Tech site off Mineral Avenue is being converted into apartments, retail and a Costco.
Story via BusinessDen
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