AC Development has teamed up with real estate firm JLL as it continues work on transforming the site in Golden where CoorsTek operated its manufacturing plant for more than a century.
AC Development, started by the Coors Family to redevelop the site, said the Denver office of JLL will head leasing of the 12.5-acre project, to be called Clayworks. A 185,000-square-foot building will house the new headquarters for CoorsTek, owned by the Coors family, which started what grew into Coors Brewing Co. in Golden.
Plans include at least 730,000 square feet of other office space, a 150-room boutique hotel, roughly 250 rental units, restaurants and plazas and open space.
“‘We’re really aspiring and committed to building a one-of-a- kind, dynamic place that’s tailored to the unique qualities of being right there in downtown Golden,” said Dan Cohen, president of AC Development.
Where coal-fired kilns once produced ceramics, AC Development plans to power offices, retail outlets and lodging with all-electric power. On- and off-site solar power and geothermal energy will generate electricity. Water conservation, energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions are part of the project’s sustainability goals.
And AC Development will pursue certification for having net-zero buildings, ones that produce and save enough energy to meet their needs, and LEED, Leadership and Energy and Environmental Design, certification.
The project is expected to total approximately 1.25 million acres and take six to 10 years to complete. The first building will be CoorsTek headquarters with groundbreaking likely taking place in the first quarter of 2024.
“We’ll have one other major tenant in the building and then three retail food and beverage spaces,” Cohen said. “Hopefully in about two years we’ve delivered our first building.”
Before the first building is occupied, the plan is to start construction on the hotel and housing. Cohen said AC Development will develop the entire property, which will be owned by the Coors family.
“The family will be the lion’s share of the equity in this first building,” Cohen said.
Cohen didn’t disclose the building’s estimated cost. In a 2022 interview, Michael Coors, one of three family members who lead CoorsTek, said all the work will likely cost between $600 million and $900 million.
To get the site ready, crews tore down buildings and removed asbestos used during decades of construction. Cohen said AC Development has tested the soils and the buildings that will remain and has done “an extraordinary amount of additional design work.”
James Roupp, JLL managing director, said Clayworks will be in an attractive location for companies seeking a premier environment.
“Clayworks is situated in a highly sought-after submarket with very limited Class A office availability,” Roupp said in a statement.
The property is one block from Clear Creek, Cohen said. “You have views of North and South Table mountains. You can get on your mountain bike or go for a hike or go fly fishing rite outside your door.”
AC Development is looking for partners who share the company’s values, which include creating places that have a positive impact on the community, Cohen said.
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Holder Construction is the contractor on the project.
The name Clayworks plays homage to the former industrial site’s beginnings. Adolph Coors acquired Herold China and Pottery Co. in 1884. Cohen said the pottery plant was located in Golden because of the area’s high-quality clay.
The business was renamed the Coors Porcelain Co. and eventually rebranded CoorsTek. Through the years, the plant produced pottery, semiconductor parts, armor for soldiers and military vehicles and equipment for energy production. Other products were labware, spark plugs and ceramic and metal components for various industrial uses.
The CoorsTek Center for Advanced Materials opened in Golden in 2021, clearing the way for the older manufacturing plant to close. Portions of the site’s two oldest buildings, including the building where the company was founded, will be incorporated into the project.
CoorsTek employs about 1,200 people in Colorado.
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