The 12^th largest apartment development in the Denver metro area was recently sold for $38.55 million, or $64,250/unit.  Known as Chelsea Park Village, the 600-unit property is located at 11850 East Maple Avenue in Aurora, and was exchanged between buyer Bridge Realty Capital and seller Hamilton Zanze via David Potarf, Dan Woodward and Jordan Robbins of CB Richard Ellis.

The 336-room Curtis hotel, which occupies the first 16 floors of the 30-story building at 1405 Curtis Street in downtown Denver, has been sold.  Exchanged between seller CPI-Sage ETH Denver LLC and the buyer, a group affiliated with New York-based Fundamental Advisers LP, the property was traded for $68.4 million, or $203,571/room.

The Holiday Inn Denver Central was recently sold on behalf of DM Hotels of Denver via CBRE Hotels agents Mark Darrington, Larry Kaplan, Lisa Hankamer and Bert Stevens.  Located northwest of the intersection of interstates 25 and 70, the property was purchased by Central Lodging LLC for $5.5 million, or $27,363/unit, and has since been rebranded as a Ramada Plaza hotel.

The 46,000 SF office building at 5200 DTC Parkway in the Denver Tech Center has been sold for an undisclosed amount.  The exchange occurred between seller DTC 5200 Investors LLC and buyer K2 Ventures LLC.

ProLogis recently sold a 55-acre site at ProLogis Park 70 via ProLogis representative Wayne Barrett and CB Richard Ellis agents Jim Bolt and Mike Camp.  Located at the juncture of I-70 and E-470 in Aurora, the property was purchased by US Foods Inc. for $5.13 million.

Quad City Tire Inc. has signed an industrial lease with landlord 4301 N. Broadway LLC for the address of 4301 North Broadway in Denver.  Negotiated on behalf of the landlord via Gruber Commercial Real Estate Services agent Jim Gruber, the leased space totals 29,277 SF.

Hi-Tec Plastics and Recycling Inc. has signed an industrial lease with landlord Aurora Smith Rd. Ventures LLC for the addresses of 11380 Smith Road and 3555 Moline Street.  Negotiated on behalf of the landlord via Gruber Commercial Real Estate Services agent Jim Gruber, the leased space totals 116,881 SF.

The tiny community of Lakeside is to be the home of the newest Wal-Mart in the Denver metro area in 2013.  To be located on a 13-acre site along West 44^th Avenue and just west of Sheridan Boulevard, the facility will total 147,806 SF and is expected to benefit the local economy by roughly 300 jobs.

Denver declined in November in the latest assessment of home appreciation by Standard and Poors and Case-Shiller.  Falling from October by 0.5% in the 20-city measure to place it 24.79% above the January 2000 benchmark, the period also marked the 17^th consecutive month of decline in the market for the measure and resulted in it posting a decline of 0.2% from November 2010.  Nationwide, the measure posted a 1.3% decline from October to bring the 20-city composite measure down 3.7% from the year-ago period.

The construction of a new Sunflower Farmers Market grocery store in Denver was advanced Monday night via the approval of the Denver City Council.  To be located in the City Park neighborhood on the north side of East Colfax Avenue between Monroe and Garfield streets, construction of the 26,000 SF store mandated rezoning of the site.

Alliance Residential has announced that it will construct two new apartment complexes in the Denver metro area.  The first, to begin construction this week and be located one block west of South Colorado Boulevard on the north side of Alameda between Harrison and Jackson streets, is to be known as the Broadstone Gardens at Cherry Creek and total 161 units.  The company is working developer Sembler Co. for the second site, which is to be at the former location of the University of Colorado hospital at east 9^th Avenue and Colorado.

Alliance Residential has announced that it will construct two new apartment complexes in the Denver metro area.  The first, to begin construction this week and be located one block west of South Colorado Boulevard on the north side of Alameda between Harrison and Jackson streets, is to be known as the Broadstone Gardens at Cherry Creek and total 161 units.  The company is working developer Sembler Co. for the second site, which is to be at the former location of the University of Colorado hospital at east 9^th Avenue and Colorado.

The future redevelopment of Marycrest High School gained traction this week with the approval of tax-increment financing for the site by the Denver City Council.  Located northeast of 52^nd Avenue and Federal Boulevard, the 20-acre site is proposed for redevelopment by Marycrest Land LLC into 360 market- and affordable-rate residential units and 50,000 SF of commercial development, leaving the Warren Village untouched.  Marycrest Land LLC was created by Urban Ventures LLC and Perry Rose Development Co.

Home prices declined in November, reports Standard and Poors and Case-Shiller in their most recent home price index.  According to their 20-city survey, the measure declined 1.3% from October to result in respective declines from the year-ago period and the 2006 peak of 3.7% and 32.0%.

The index of consumer confidence decreased 3.7-points from December to post 61.1 in January, reports the Conference Board, who conducts the survey. The measure is used to gauge consumer spending.

Proposed improvements to the U.S.-36 and McCaslin Boulevard interchange are to be the subject of a public meeting hosted by the towns of Louisville and Superior on February 2^nd.  The meeting is to occur at Superior Town Hall at 6:30 p.m.

The town of Littleton has been selected as the location for a new hospital by HealthSouth Corp.  To begin construction in 2012 at the address of 1001 West Mineral Avenue, the 49,000 SF facility is to be completed in the 3^rd quarter of 2013 and employ 90 full-time professionals.  As well, the construction of the facility is projected to benefit the economy by as many as 400 jobs.

The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association reports that 2011 posted an increase in new car sales from 2010.  According to the agency, the total measure increased by 16.1% for new cars and 15.1% for new truck and sport-utility vehicles from the year-ago measure.  However, the period posted a 2.8% decline in used-car registrations.

DaVita Inc. has been approved for incentives for the construction of a research facility in Lakewood.  Valued at $120,000, the new facility is to open in the 3^rd quarter of 2012 and is expected to benefit the local economy by at least 58 employees.

Colorado has the 16^th-friendliest tax system of all states for business, according to a recent ranking by the Tax Foundation.  As reported in its 2012 State Business Tax Climate Index, the ranking is a decline from previous years, when it placed as high as 10^th in 2008.  The measure reported Colorado as receiving its highest score in the component of property taxes, where it placed 9^th, and its lowest on sales taxes, where it placed 44^th.  The report ranked the states of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska and Florida as highest on the list.