Future of Denver's Northwest Corridor

Jeff is an Economist, and the Director of Development Finance – and currently oversees the Economic Vitality and Development Department at the City and County of Broomfield. He assists Broomfield’s leadership team in setting the direction and delivering community economic development programs and services in Broomfield. These efforts are specifically focused in business development, strategic and catalytic developments, attainable housing, and development finance. In addition, he provides information and analysis to support the City/County Manager and her leadership team to better understand the impacts of the economic factors and impacts on Broomfield. Recently, he assisted the City/County Manager in encouraging the redevelopment of the Flatiron Crossings area and establishing the Broomfield Housing authority, as well as resetting Broomfield’s attainable housing efforts. Prior to joining Broomfield in late 2019, Jeff was the Chief Economist and Strategic Advisor in the City and County of Denver, serving three Mayors and four OED Executive Directors, and supporting a number of the Mayor’s executive team. In these roles, he provided regular economic analysis and forecasts, and directed the business attraction and development, business lending, affordable and workforce housing, and neighborhood development program activities of the integrated community economic development program. Prior to joining Denver, Jeff was on the economic research faculty of the Leeds School of Business, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Chief Economist at the Maricopa Association of Governments (Phoenix metro) and the Denver Regional Council of Governments. He has taught graduate classes in micro- and macro-economics, economic development, urban market analysis and public policy..

As McWhinney’s Executive Vice President of Commercial and Mixed-Use Development, Krista Sprenger leans on more than two decades of diverse real estate experience, providing office, mixed-use and boutique hospitality development and execution for the company’s commercial and mixed-use divisions. She places a strong emphasis on placemaking and sustainable development practices to provide users with a vibrant mixed-use environment that offers long-term value to those working within the spaces and visiting these places. Krista is also responsible for guiding her teams through structuring, visioning, entitling, and delivering transformational mixed-use projects. Her role at McWhinney follows the culmination of more than 20 years of real estate development experience as an independent developer and corporate executive. Her career has focused on motivating matrixed, global real estate teams to deliver some of the industry’s most innovative and progressive workplace, corporate real estate, and sustainable development projects. Prior to joining McWhinney, Krista held several senior leadership positions at Lendlease in Denver, New York and Los Angeles. Ever passionate about cultivating places that foster community and stewarding environmental resources, Krista is inspired by McWhinney’s commitment to creating unprecedented value and a better world where communities and people can thrive. She aims to create a legacy and sustainable growth footprint through the development of great people and great projects.

As an Executive Vice President at FirstBank, John Ricotta embodies one of their core beliefs: Do what’s right for the customers, the communities, and the employees. By leveraging his 16 years of experience, John develops and maintains client relationships with genuine and authentic interactions centered on his unwavering commitment to customer service. His vast knowledge of FirstBank’s consumer and commercial services allows him to creatively problem solve each customer’s needs, finding the best solutions to help them realize their goals. Though he has a broad background in both consumer and commercial lending, John now spends the majority of his time working with customers who are focused on CRE, construction, and C&I lending. Exemplifying FirstBank’s “Banking for Good” motto, John devotes his time and attention to his customers, while also acting as a mentor to junior officers and branch staff by providing guidance, training, and support in order to further their career goals and help them become a outstanding examples of FirstBank in the community. John engages in the communities he serves by sitting on the Board of Directors for non-profits such as Intercambio, and he is currently Board Chair for the I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County. Born and raised in Colorado, John now lives in Lafayette with his wife and three children.

Jay draws upon his 20+ years of development experience to lead the entitlement and development efforts of BBCP’s 475-acre Redtail Ridge development. On a daily basis, he collaborates with various project stakeholders, including municipalities, design teams and various consultants to ensure the successful implementation of the project's business plan. Outside of Redtail Ridge, the firm regularly utilizes Jay’s experience in development, construction and metro district financing as a resource for other BBCP-owned assets and prospective opportunities. Throughout his career, Jay has worked extensively with university, private-sector, quasi-government, and public-sector parties. He has overseen the development and implementation of operations for various multifamily, hospitality, retail, office and industrial projects, and even a 375,000 square foot event center. Before joining Brue Baukol, he served as President of Brinkman, Vice President & General Manager at McWhinney, the first Director of The Ranch & Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Executive Director of the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority, and as Director of Marketing for Colorado State University Athletics. PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Jay is a former Chair of the Colorado Governor-appointed State Workforce Development Council (2011-2017) and he currently sits on the PVH/MCR Foundation Board and the BBVA Bank Northern Colorado Advisory Board. EDUCATION Jay holds a Bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and a Master’s degree from University of Northern Colorado. PERSONAL Jay was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado and comes from a family of 6 boys. In his downtime, he passionate about cycling (road and mountain biking) and spending time with his family including watching and participating with his kids in lacrosse, biking, soccer and motocross.

Since joining Element Properties in 2015 Catherine Bean, Principal, has managed development projects and helped to craft and execute the company’s strategy. She’s overseen a range of projects, including the conversion of more than 230 apartments from market rate to permanently affordable, the repositioning of a commercial building in Flatiron Park, and the development of for-sale townhomes in downtown Boulder. Catherine has also spearheaded Element’s growing permanent supportive housing portfolio by receiving competitive 9%, 4%, and Colorado state low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) for projects that will provide housing and supportive services to the most vulnerable in our community. Previously, she spent four years with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) where her responsibilities included managing FHA’s Breaking Ground Program and overseeing and analyzing HUD’s $13.6 billion share of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Prior to that, she worked for New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Catherine earned her B.A. in history from the University of Virginia and her MBA from Harvard Business School. She sits on the board of the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless and enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, twin boys, and dog, Huckleberry.

Mile High Development is a veteran of large scale mixed use projects including Colorado Center, a $100 million mixed use project at I-25/Colorado Blvd. in central Denver in conjunction with TIAA-CREF, the world’s largest private pension fund, which launched its first phase in 1986 and completed the second and third of the ultimate six phases in 1999. The project features a 9 screen United Artists Theatre with an IMAX Theatre, and 600,000 square feet of Class A office space in two 12 story towers, and 1600 structured parking spaces. Mile High Development was also the Developer of the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building in downtown Denver, a $200 million, 700,000 square foot Class AA office building developed for the City and County of Denver in 2001/2002. Mile High Development was the Co-Developer of the $100 million Co-Development Project in concert with the Denver Art Museum expansion project, which included the 980 space Cultural Center Garage; the 55 unit Museum Residences condominium/mixed use project that was completed in 2007, and the 165 room ART Hotel which opened in July 2015. Mile High Development was also Co-Developer, with Opus Northwest, of Lakewood City Commons, an $80 million mixed use retail, office/civic and community development, including a new City Hall for the City of Lakewood. Today, Mile High Development is focused on various mixed-use TOD opportunities, including affordable housing projects utilizing LIHTC at existing light rail stations along the southeast I-25 corridor, and the new R line/Aurora light rail corridor, including the Apartments at Yale Station, a 50 unit Senior 9% LIHTC affordable housing project at the Yale light rail station completed in 2011; University Station, a 60 unit Senior 9% affordable housing project located at the University of Denver light rail station completed in February 2014; the 66 unit 9% LIHTC affordable housing project, Garden Court Apartments at Yale Station, which will be completed in June 2016. Mile High Development and Koelbel and Company broke ground in April 2016 on the 112 unit Ash Street Apartments, a 4% LIHTC affordable family/workforce project adjacent to the 9 th and Colorado redevelopment project on the former University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. In partnership with Koelbel and Company, Mile High Development was selected by the City of Aurora and the Aurora Urban Renewal Authority in 2015 as the Master Developer of the Regatta Plaza Shopping Center at Nine Mile Station, a 22 acre site which will be redeveloped into a 700,000 sf TOD project beginning in the Fall 2016 and will include a new 80 sf King Soopers; 500 market and affordable rental housing units; an entertainment district featuring restaurants and entertainment retail, and a major office component, all connected by a PED bridge to Nine Mile Station. In 2011, Mr. Thorn was the co-recipient(with Mr. Buz Koelbel)of the inaugural Transit Alliance Leadership Award as Outstanding Leader in the Private Sector. In 2001, Mr. Thorn was named Honorary Dean of the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver, and is currently serving DU as Executive in Residence. Mr. Thorn received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona in 1967. He is a former Board member of NAIOP, and is a Full member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and a member of the ULI Executive Committee. He is a former Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) Commissioner, and was Chair of Downtown Denver, Inc., in 2002 &2003, and Chair of the Downtown Denver Partnership in 2004.

David Hart serves as an Executive Managing Director in the Newmark’s Denver office. David joined the company in August 2014, bringing 39 years of experience and multi- market expertise to the firm. With a reputation for successfully executing repositioning assignments as well as significant build-to-suit and speculative large project leasing, David has completed commercial real estate transactions encompassing more than 25 million square feet throughout his career. Highly adept at building new relationships and qualifying and closing transactions, he draws on personal experience that spans national corporate accounts, as well as local brokerage and consulting. Prior to joining Newmark, David was Director of Business Development at Hannay Realty Advisors. He was formerly a top-producing broker in Denver, San Francisco and Chicago, having worked at CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield in both the San Francisco and Denver markets, and before that, at Lincoln Property Company in San Francisco and Equitec in downtown Chicago. He also ran his own commercial real estate firm, Commercial Colorado.

Mike Hockett, LEED AP, is the Vice President of Client and Project Development for the Colorado region of W.E. O'Neil Construction, a 100% employee-owned, award-winning general contractor. Graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder, Mike obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Design and Architecture. With 20 years in the A/E/C industry and 18 years with W.E. O’Neil he has gained a plethora of experience on and off construction sites. Currently, Mike leads the preconstruction, estimating, business development, and marketing efforts at W.E. O’Neil. With his keen understanding of client and project challenges, Mike has built a reputation for creating smooth project executions from inception to completion. Mike is an ENR Mountain States Award Winner; Top 20 Under 40.

Daniel is responsible for the vision, design, entitlements and execution of new and existing real estate developments, and strategic positioning of all real estate assets. Previously, Daniel was the Senior Principal and Practice Leader for the Stantec Buildings and ViBE groups in Colorado, where he oversaw the vision, design and execution for multiple life sciences and healthcare facilities, mixed-use developments, sports and entertainment districts, arenas, urban districts, shopping experiences, nationally and in over 15 countries. He has over 20 years of experience in visioning, planning, urban design, architecture, interior design, branding and graphic design, environmental graphics and wayfinding, sustainable design, and placemaking. Daniel earned a Master of Architecture and Healthcare Design from Texas A&M University. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree in from the Instituto Superior de Arquitectura in Mexico City, and the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, Israel. He serves on the Colorado University LEEDS Real Estate Center International Advisory Board, the ULI’s RETL Council, and the Better Boulder Board of Directors. For Daniel, delivering captivating, relevant, sustainable, and exceptionally unique projects is the status quo. He designs and develops places where people elect to spend their time. He finds connections and meaning; creating beautiful design, focused on the experience.

Scott joined Lincoln Property in early 2001 as Senior Vice President. He is responsible for the overall management of the Denver operations. In addition to management duties, Scott is responsible for office and industrial property acquisitions, and new business development for property management and leasing services. Before joining Lincoln Property Company, Scott spent 9 years as a broker in the office services group of Grubb & Ellis in the Denver, CO office. During that time he was responsible for brokering several million square feet of office space on behalf of his clients. During his 28-year tenure in commercial real estate, Scott has experienced the development, property acquisition, property management, construction management and brokerage perspectives of commercial real estate. He received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Scott remains active in the Denver community, holding a board position with NAIOP, Transportation Solutions and supporting many local charities such as Children’s Hospital, Epilepsy Foundation, Craig Hospital and The First Tee.

Don Misner partners with Joe Heath as one of North Denver’s leading office brokerage teams. The team has one of the largest and most prestigious suburban portfolios in Northwest Denver and Boulder County comprised of approximately 3.5 million square feet. While specializing in office leasing, Don also has proven experience in tenant representation and investments sales with total transactions exceeding $100,000,000. His clients range from institutional owners to locally based companies, with building requirements ranging from 20,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet.

Elyse Blazevich leads CBSA’s work to create co-opportunity for Colorado’s life sciences community. Together with the CBSA Board of Directors, team, partners, sponsors, and members, she strategically advances CBSA’s efforts to build a collaborative environment for health innovation. Elyse brings deep knowledge of life sciences company needs, CBSA as an organization, and Colorado’s business community to offer continuity, connections, and a clear vision for the future of CBSA and the ecosystem it represents. Before joining CBSA, she co-founded Securisyn Medical and led the organization as COO and CFO, transitioning the company from a founder-led startup to a professionally led, commercial-stage medical device company. She remains a member of the Securisyn Medical Board of Directors.

Josh has more than 20 years of construction experience, with expertise in project and design development management. A practitioner of flexibility management, he is highly motivated and driven to meet the challenges unique to every project. Josh oversees Swinerton’s Special Projects Group, Aerospace, and Science & Technology Markets in all preconstruction, estimating, procurement, and construction services, as well as administration of the contract throughout the project duration. He conducts long-range planning and scheduling of construction resources, employee development, and client satisfaction. Josh completed his undergraduate civil engineering degree at Lafayette College and received his master’s degree in engineering management from Duke University.

Leading projects for the Visioning, Brands, and Experiences group (ViBE) in the Stantec Boulder office, Shannon is an Architect and project manager with a knack for delivering on a high caliber of projects. She began her career with Stantec in Chicago with the VOA acquisition. From there, she moved to the Orlando office which sparked her love for finding the intersection where design and storytelling meet. Working on several entertainment and themed projects, she was able to bring her technical building experience and thoughtful design approach to the Boulder office in 2017. Through listening, understanding, and a commitment to the user experience, she achieves the highest level of desired outcomes for her clients and team. Shannon’s project experience ranges from complex mixed-use entertainment districts to the highly technical building type of science & technology. Her creative problem solving allows her to solve any design solution from various angles. Her positive outlook and willingness to explore all possible scenarios makes working with her a pleasurable experience.