5085 List Drive is an 18,000-square-foot office building located on the west side of Colorado Springs, originally constructed in the mid-1980s. The property had long served as a headquarters for LearningRx, a national education company that was undergoing ownership restructuring and planning to downsize and relocate. The building presented a complex set of challenges: it was situated outside a core office corridor, surrounded primarily by industrial flex properties; its second and third floors were connected in a way that made multi-tenant leasing impractical; and it occupied a gray area in the market—not quite a cap rate-driven investment, yet not move-in ready for an owner-user.

Westward Properties was engaged in 2023 to lead the sale effort, initially navigating a difficult landscape with limited buyer profiles. In late 2023, we identified a unique opportunity: RMG, a prominent local engineering firm, had lost its headquarters to eminent domain and was urgently seeking a new home. The building owner did not wish to lease, and the tenant was not in a position to purchase—so we structured a creative solution. We partnered with a local investment group to acquire the property, negotiated a lease termination with LearningRx, and simultaneously secured a long-term lease with RMG. Within six months, we had repositioned the asset, brought in a strong new tenant, completed key finish upgrades, and sold the property to a 1031 exchange buyer seeking a stabilized investment.

This transaction exemplifies Westward Properties’ expertise in coordinating complex, multi-party deals and unlocking hidden value in challenging assets. Our deep experience in value-add office and retail repositioning was instrumental in aligning interests, solving logistical hurdles, and creating a profitable outcome for our investor partners.