Tenant Conversions and Light Industrial in East Boulder

Turning an office floor into lab or light-production space is mostly a conversation about power, exhaust and floor loading, and only afterward about walls and finishes. We do that conversion work in east Boulder's business parks, where the building stock was designed for desks and the new tenants arrive with process equipment, cleanroom aspirations and a short runway to opening day.

Flatiron Park gives the area its character. A 2017 article on a portfolio purchase described it as a master-planned business park of about 200 acres with about 2.3 million rentable square feet and more than 100 companies. That is a lot of low-rise buildings with generous parking and good truck access, and it explains why we spend as much time on roof-top equipment, shafts and slab penetrations as on partitions. The trade partners for tenant improvement work in occupied buildings with live neighbors, which means coordinating shutdowns and noise windows with the property manager.

When the project is a ground-up building rather than a conversion, we build to the same logic: size the structure and the utilities for the heaviest likely occupant, not the first one.

Pricing the building before the tenant is final

Spec space in a research and light-industrial district often gets leased in pieces and fitted in stages. We help landlords build a base-building scope with the capacity that tenants will ask for: spare electrical service, a roof layout that leaves room for added exhaust, a floor slab that can take a heavy bench, and shafts that are sized for future ductwork. Each of those decisions costs a little at the beginning and saves a great deal when a tenant arrives.

On the tenant side, we price from a program rather than from drawings, using the equipment list, the utility demands and the schedule. A landlord and tenant can then decide in a single meeting what the landlord provides, what the tenant provides and who carries the long-lead items. Where an owner is deciding between conversion and new construction, we run both numbers through flex and light industrial construction pricing so the choice is not made on instinct.

The plan and the energy code both shape the work

In October 2022 Boulder City Council gave final approval to the East Boulder Subcommunity Plan, which guides the area over two decades as an employment center, keeps many industrial areas industrial, adds mixed-use neighborhoods in key locations and includes a station area plan at 55th and Arapahoe for future bus rapid transit. For an owner this reads as stability: employment use is the stated direction, so a lab or light-manufacturing investment is consistent with the plan, and the mixed-use language suggests that some parcels will have different rules than their neighbors. We check the zoning and subcommunity plan treatment of any parcel before design begins.

The city's commercial energy code is the other shaping force. It exempts large S-1 occupancies with constant vehicle traffic, labs and commercial cooking from the all-electric rule, but natural gas used under those exceptions must be offset by on-site renewables, except for commercial cooking, emergency generators and lab and industrial process loads. In practice that means a lab tenant can keep gas for process loads, while a warehouse-style tenant needs a clear explanation of which exception applies. We prepare that explanation with the design team so permit review does not stall on it.

Slabs, structure and roof work we manage closely

The heavy end of a tenant conversion is concrete and steel. We coordinate saw-cutting and trenching for new utilities, housekeeping pads for equipment and new slab sections that tie into existing floors. Where vibration matters, we use thicker or isolated pads and coordinate with the equipment vendor on tolerances. Our commercial concrete floors trade partners are used to hitting flatness numbers that sensitive equipment demands.

Roofs carry most of the mechanical load in this district, and curb, crane and structural reinforcement work is routine for us. We lay out new penetrations to avoid existing structure, reinforce framing for added units and coordinate crane time in the same window as the owner's roofer so warranties stay intact.

Who builds and leases here

Tenants in a business park like this commonly include research groups, hardware makers and food and beverage producers. We build production and tasting-room space for the food and beverage processing operator who needs floor drains, washdown surfaces and a cold room, and we bring inspectors and health authorities into the layout early.

Landlords and developers are the other half of the audience. Commercial real estate developers look to us for budget feedback during acquisition, and property management firms rely on us for stack-by-stack upgrades that keep tenants in place. We keep both groups informed with a single estimate format, so a number from one project can be compared with the next.

Schedules that start with lead times

Tenant conversions are won or lost on equipment lead time. Electrical gear, rooftop air handlers and exhaust fans can take months to arrive, so we release those orders early and plan interior work around their arrival. A four-week fit-out can stretch into six months if the switchgear is not on order.

Inspections add another variable. We schedule rough-in inspections with the building department's calendar in mind, and where a tenant has moving trucks booked, we agree a firm date for certificate of occupancy documentation before the final week. Our manufacturing facility construction experience helps us plan the phased start-up of production lines in new space.

East Boulder and the roads out of it

East Boulder sits near the routes tenants care about for freight and commuters, and many of our projects in the area also touch the U.S. 36 corridor or, for companies that need larger footprints, Longmont along Ken Pratt Boulevard. We help clients compare those alternatives on cost and schedule instead of treating each submarket as a separate world.

Because we staff by project rather than by geography, the same project manager can follow a company from a first fit-out in a park here to an expansion elsewhere in the metro, keeping the lessons learned and the subcontractor relationships intact.

Planning a conversion or new building in east Boulder?

Send us the equipment list, the lease schedule and the building you are considering. We will return a feasibility and cost memo with the utility and structural checks that matter, so you can negotiate the lease with real numbers.

Questions Owners Ask

Can an office building be converted to lab space economically?

Sometimes. The deciding factors are floor-to-floor height, structural capacity, roof area for exhaust and the electrical service available. We run a short feasibility study with a mechanical engineer before the lease is signed so the landlord and tenant understand the order of magnitude.

Does the all-electric requirement apply to a lab or a bakery?

The city energy code exempts labs, commercial cooking and certain large S-1 occupancies from the all-electric rule, with natural gas offset by on-site renewables except for cooking, emergency generators and lab and industrial process loads. Which exception applies to your building should be confirmed with the building department, and we help prepare that submission.

How should we think about the East Boulder plan if we own a parcel?

The plan adopted in 2022 treats the area as an employment center, keeps many industrial areas industrial and adds mixed-use neighborhoods in key locations. We review how it classifies your parcel before design so you know which uses and densities the city expects.

What is the usual cause of delay on a tenant improvement?

Long-lead electrical and mechanical equipment, followed by late design changes. Ordering switchgear and rooftop units early and freezing the equipment list before construction documents go out solves most delays.

Do you work in occupied buildings?

Yes. We write noise and shutdown windows into the work plan, protect common areas and communicate with neighboring tenants through the property manager.

Related

More Service Areas

Browse the rest of our service areas pages for Boulder and nearby Colorado communities, or contact us to talk through your project.