Recognition: Sun Empire’s Sale/Land Acquisition Wins 2025 CoStar Impact Award

In 2022, we purchased 316 acres in Denver suburb Aurora, CO, with the intent to build a multi-phase speculative development to meet growing demand in the greater Denver area for modern, accessible industrial space for manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.

With construction well underway on phase one of what we’ve named Sun Empire, we sold 147 acres to Philip Morris International’s (PMI) U.S.-based affiliate, Kairus, Inc. in 2024 in what was one of the largest direct and highest price-per-square-foot land sales in Aurora. By the time the facility opens later this year, it will have already generated an estimated $1 billion for Aurora and created nearly 5,000 jobs. Once operational, the facility is expected to have at least 500 full-time employees and generate $550 million annually for the state.

For these reasons, this transaction earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award for Sale/Acquisition of the Year. CoStar’s Impact Awards highlight the commercial real estate transactions and projects that have transformed their markets over the past year. The winners are chosen by independent panels of industry professionals who work in the markets they judge.

Congratulations Team Opus!

Read more about the Impact Award.

• More about Sun Empire