Denver State of the Market

Cities exist for people to exchange goods, services, and ideas. Larry works on the ideas. How to best serve a client’s needs or how to design a place—a master plan, a resort, a sports arena, an airport—where people can enjoy the time they spend there. To that end, Larry’s job is to present audacious concepts in a compelling fashion, winning new clients and inspiring existing clients to take exceptional action. Larry works at the intersection of design and developing new business, ensuring that his group has a steady flow of new, culturally relevant projects, but also maintaining his edge as an established senior architectural designer in his own right. He’s received many design awards from organizations around the US, and he has extensive national and international experience in architectural, interior, and environmental design. Larry focuses on fostering meaningful, memorable user experiences in the public realm by harmonizing his team’s design disciplines from architecture to interiors, landscape, and branding. For example, when Western Union wanted to update their global headquarters to improve retention and recruitment, Larry and his team tapped into Western Union’s history, global presence, and innovation. After using interior-design storytelling to connect the dots between an employee’s everyday work and a life-saving money transfer for a client, Larry and his team also improved office connectivity by working on collaboration and social zones within the headquarters. To secure the resiliency and longevity of his clients’ work, Larry looks to experiential design. He’s always asking how a space can improve a user’s interactions, experiences, and memories. “Humans are creatures of the edge,” says Larry. “We love the unexpected. We love discovery.”

Jenny is the Chief Investment Officer, leading all debt and equity transactions and directing asset management activities. Jenny originally joined Continuum’s finance department in 2005 where she has worked on sourcing debt and equity for a number of Continuum’s development projects to date as well as underwriting new project opportunities. In her current capacity, Jenny has overseen the debt and equity raises for Continuum’s $120M Block A project, Continuum’s $200M Market Station project and the $48M public finance component of Continuum’s 9th + Colorado project. Following a move to California and Nevada, Jenny returned to Continuum in 2014 in the role of Development Manager on the 9+CO and A Block teams where part of her role included working with the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise/Small Business Enterprise programs to encourage involvement in Continuum’s projects. In the spring of 2015, Jenny was appointed to Director of Capital Markets and Asset Management and again promoted in 2018 to her current role. Jenny currently sits on the board of a $130 million asset community bank and takes an active role with several real estate industry organizations. She is heavily involved with the University of Colorado Real Estate Center, ULI, the Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership program, and CREW, being twice nominated for the Woman of Influence award in 2015 and 2017. Mentoring young women entering the professional workforce is a passion of hers and she currently has two mentees through the Denver Urban Scholars program and the CU real estate center. Jenny began her career in real estate with Principal Financial Group, as a commercial mortgage underwriter. She graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in finance and accounting, and went on to complete a master’s degree in finance and real estate from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

A pioneering concert promoter and prolific artist manager, Chuck Morris stands as a pillar of Colorado’s music scene. Born in Brooklyn, Morris found his passion for music ignited by a Kingston Trio concert at New York’s Lake Chautauqua in 1957. Morris launched his 50-year career in concert promotion and artist management when he dropped out of a University of Colorado Ph.D. program in 1968 to manage The Sink, an iconic college hangout on Boulder’s University Hill, for friend and owner Herbie Kauvar. Morris started to book local bands — Flash Cadillac, Tommy Bolin, Magic Music — and the rest is history! In 1970, Morris and Kauvar acquired Tulagi, another Boulder venue that had built a national reputation. Morris booked a blend of up-and-comers, including the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, ZZ Top and Bonnie Raitt, plus a mix of blues, folk and country legends like Muddy Waters, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs and Leo Kottke. Morris moved beyond Boulder in the early 1970s when he began a long partnership with powerhouse Denver concert promoter Barry Fey. Morris, Fey and Fey’s wife, Cindy, launched Ebbets Field, an intimate club named after the fabled Brooklyn Dodgers stadium. Though Ebbets lasted just a few years, it was regularly filled beyond capacity as Morris snagged then-burgeoning music superstars like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Feat and Herbie Hancock, plus rising comedians like Richard Pryor and Steve Martin. Morris joined Feyline Presents as Senior VP of booking and promotion and helped facilitate the rise of the juggernaut concert company into one of the biggest in the country, as well as helped turn Red Rocks Amphitheatre into the most popular outdoor venue in the country. In the 1980s, Morris and Fey collaborated on the Rainbow Music Hall, a 1,458- seat space that allowed Morris to lure bigger bands and established performers like AC/DC, Bob Dylan and Metallica, plus new artists U2, Blondie and Pat Benatar. As the Front Range music scene grew, Morris turned his talents to artist management. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Leftover Salmon and Lyle Lovett are among those who benefited from his guidance. In the late 1980s, Morris began a long and fruitful friendship with entrepreneur Philip Anschutz when Anschutz approached Morris about having The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band perform at the opening of Anschutz’s Western Art collection exhibition in what was then the Soviet Union. Ready to strike out on his own, Morris left Feyline Presents (while remaining a consultant for several years) and allied his promotion expertise with the company founded by the legendary Bill Graham. In the late 1990s, they purchased and redeveloped Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium, which shares its name with the storied San Francisco venue that Graham helped make famous. Bill Graham Presents/Chuck Morris Presents was eventually acquired by SFX Entertainment and ultimately became Live Nation, which Morris continued to run. In 2007 Morris joined Anschutz’s AEG as President-CEO of AEG Presents Rocky Mountains, the largest concert promotion entity in the region. Morris led the renovation of Fiddler’s Green, an outdoor 17,000-seat amphitheatre in south Denver; the revitalization of 1stBank Center, a 6,500-seat facility in Broomfield; and the development of The Mission Ballroom, a 60,000-square-foot space in Denver’s hip RiNo Arts District scheduled to open in 2019. Outside of his music-industry interests, Morris has been recognized for his philanthropic work. He is a longtime supporter of the Denver Health Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Denver Dumb Friends League, American Transplant Foundation and University of Colorado Foundation, among many more organizations. In December of 2018, Chuck was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. As the founder of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, Morris has repeatedly recused himself from being inducted, but with the international impact he has had as a promoter and manager, it was only a matter of time. The induction of 97.3 KBCO and legendary concert promoter and artist manager Chuck Morris was accompanied by a cavalcade of musical appearances in which Chuck of course booked. The artists were Amos Lee, Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd), Isaac Slade and Ben Wysocki of The Fray, Bill Nershi and members of The String Cheese Incident, Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt from Leftover Salmon, Jeff Hanna and some members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Leo Kottke along with backing band Chris Daniels & The Kings.

Tribe was founded out of a desire to be and do better. Not being limited to real estate development, but as thought leaders, stewards of the built environment and as fellow tribe members. My native American roots have shown me that being part of a team, a Tribe, generates stronger results, better ideas and problem solving, and it is far more fun than trying to work alone. The foundation of my career was built in the design world as a landscape architect, focused on luxury resort projects. It is here that I learned from the best, about the importance of delivering positive and memorable customer experiences to stand out from the competition and drive loyalty. For over a decade now, I have been focused on exceeding customers’ expectations in commercial development, what we now refer to as experiential development. Though these projects were rewarding, both personally and financially, I was very aware of an underserved, yet powerful, stakeholder --- the employee-- the very people who can make a brand come alive for your customers. I started asking- How do we create exceptional experiences for not only customers or visitors, but also the employees, perhaps the most critical constituency? I believe that the brand of a company or project is not separate from the culture, and that brand should drive every decision from design and development to recruiting and onboarding. Employee engagement, recruiting and retention are issues for every business regardless of industry. Creating brand loyalty starts from within. If you have passionate, engaged and loyal Tribe members the likelihood of success on any real estate development project is exponentially greater. The mission for Tribe is to create compelling spaces not just for visitors, but for everyone the space touches. The goal is that everyone becomes a brand ambassador, or better yet, a member of the Tribe!

David Mayhan focuses his practice in commercial litigation, construction law, insurance, personal injury, and product liability defense. He previously served as a senior attorney for a Fortune 500 insurance company where his responsibilities included litigation and supervising outside counsel in litigation. David is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell ® , and his work has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America ® and Colorado Super Lawyers ® . He obtained his Juris Doctor, with honors, and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Iowa. He is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the American Bar Association, the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel.

Born in Denver in 1937, Mickey Zeppelin has seen the city grow from a western town dominated by streetcars and 75-foot high building limits to the modern city that we see now. As a young man, Zeppelin had a brief stint in the US Coast Guard and practiced law until 1972, when he entered into real estate development full time. In the 1980’s he founded Zeppelin Development with the primary purpose of developing strong and dynamic repurposed urban projects in Denver. With a keen eye for his surrounding environment and a vision for what his city could be, Zeppelin began transforming districts with limited potential into neighborhoods, workspaces, and active and engaging communities. Serving on various boards and steering committees, Zeppelin has had a hand in many urban renewal projects across the city, including TAXI and The Source in RiNo.

Chad McWhinney has been a visionary leader in the real estate industry for more than 25 years. As Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Chad is responsible for establishing the company’s purpose of creating great places for people and its promise of providing fabled experiences to its customers. Since 1991, McWHINNEY has developed and planned over 6,000 acres of land, and developed more than 10 million square feet of office, industrial, medical, retail, hospitality and residential properties, including more than 2,500 units of multifamily apartments. McWHINNEY currently has over $2.5B of assets under management. McWHINNEY is a fully integrated, diversified, real estate company that creates and owns, for the long-term, large-scale, multi-use projects, and develops, owns, and manages income-producing properties primarily for its own account. The company is evergreen, prospering in all phases of the real estate cycle and developing “win-win” business strategies. Chad has been named 9NEWS Leader of the Year by Colorado’s KUSA- TV, Bravo! Entrepreneur of the Year by Northern Colorado Business Report, Rising Business Star by Fort Collins’ Coloradoan and NAIOP Developer/ Owner of the Year. McWHINNEY and the Denver Union Station Alliance were honored with the prestigious 2015 Urban Land Institute Global Award for Excellence, and Chad also received a commendation from the Colorado House of Representatives for his work on Denver Union Station. He is a past chair of the Teach for America Regional Board of Directors, and previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for Downtown Denver, Inc., the Colorado State University System Board of Governors, the Board of Directors for the Poudre Valley Health System Foundation, National Association of Industrial & Office Properties (NAIOP) Colorado Chapter, Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation, Centennial Bank of the West, Guaranty Bank & Trust Company, was a member of the Urban Land Institute and Colorado Forum, and the Denver International Airport Management Advisory Council. Chad’s personal mission is “to create a better world”.

WALTER A. (BUZ) KOELBEL, JR. is president of Koelbel and Company, one of the longest continually-operating real estate companies in Colorado. The company’s efforts are focused on development of office parks, master-planned residential communities, urban in-fill homes, low-income tax-credit apartments, and real estate investments. Projects include: The Preserve at Greenwood Village, Pinehurst Country Club, The Breakers, Centennial Valley Business Park, and Rendezvous in Winter Park. New company platforms include Koelbel Urban Homes, LIHTC development, and Catalyst in RiNo. Koelbel is a native of Colorado and graduated from the University of Colorado in 1974 with a degree in finance. His professional memberships include the Urban Land Institute, Denver South Economic Development, Colorado Council on Economic Education, and Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Marshall Burton serves as president and chief executive officer of Confluent Development and, in partnership with the Board, is responsible for the success of the organization. Burton assures the accomplishment of Confluent Development’s mission and vision, its relevance to the community, and the accountability of the organization to its diverse constituents. Specifically, Burton ensures Confluent Development’s fiscal, operations, marketing, human resources, technology and programmatic strategies are effectively implemented across all segments of the organization. Marshall Burton has more than 20 years in development experience across all major product types throughout the United States. He co-founded Confluent Development with Celeste Tanner in 2014, with the organization providing ground-up development services on a build-to- suit and speculative basis. Prior to establishing Confluent Development, Marshall served as executive vice president for Opus Development Company, where he led the company’s operations in the western region and oversaw the growth of the company’s Denver office. While at Opus, he also oversaw the regional organization with offices in Washington, D.C., Boston and Philadelphia. Burton is a board member of Industrial Property Trust, a leading industrial REIT with more than 20 million square feet owned throughout the United States.  He also served as a board member of Industrial Income Trust, which successfully completed its sale to Global Logistic Properties in 2015.

The co-founder of Sage Hospitality, Walter Isenberg serves as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Denver-based Sage Hospitality specializes in the operations, development and capital transactions of hospitality real estate. Sage Hospitality owns and operates hotels and restaurants in 26 states. Isenberg directs all company operations, including property management, real estate transactions and brand development. Isenberg co-founded Sage Hospitality in 1984 with partner Zachary Neumeyer. The company’s history in hospitality includes ground-up development, historic-adaptive re-use, acquisitions and third-party management. Sage hotels include well -known brands such as JW Marriott, Starwood Collection, Westin and Hilton, as well as several independent hotels. In 2006, Sage formed the Sage Restaurant Group, which operates unique high-volume restaurants inside its urban hotels.

Lea Ann Fowler operates at the intersection of commercial real estate and finance, helping her clients effectively navigate and redefine today's complex real estate market. Clients turn to Lea Ann for practical, responsive, and strategic advice related to single and multi-tiered debt and equity financing structures, workouts and restructures of distressed assets, as well as the acquisition, construction, leasing, and sale of a wide range of real estate property types, including office, retail, industrial, mixed use condominium, multifamily, and hospitality. Combining her industry knowledge with a passion for complex commercial real estate finance transactions, Lea Ann proactively works with financial institutions, institutional investors, and borrowers on the full scope of their real estate issues. From prominent commercial lending institutions to real estate developers and private equity firms, Lea Ann's dexterity and hands-on approach benefit clients in the structuring and negotiation of a broad spectrum of mortgage loan and asset based transactions, involving senior, construction, permanent, and interim loans, multi-property financings, mezzanine financings, and preferred equity investments. With particular experience serving clients with hotel and resort, retail centers, medical offices, and mixed-use real estate assets, Lea Ann has the balanced local and global perspective to help you across the entire property lifecycle.

As a partner and executive vice president of Etkin Johnson’s Asset Management team, Cyndi Thomas oversees the management, financial performance and business strategy for the company’s extensive property portfolio. Leveraging her extensive experience in real estate acquisitions, financing, restructurings, and asset management, Cyndi helps drive a progressive approach to Etkin Johnson’s asset management that consistently results in income-producing properties with favorable appreciation. Outside of Etkin Johnson, Cyndi is an executive committee board member of the Urban Land Institute – Colorado Chapter and a member of the CU Real Estate Council Board of Directors.

Matt Joblon is a founding partner and serves as Chief Executive Officer for BMC Investments. Since 2010, BMC has acquired and managed over 8,000 multifamily units in metro Denver comprising an asset value just over $1 billion. Also in that time span BMC has developed or is in the process of developing over $500 million in projects, all in Cherry Creek. Some of the projects include market leaders such as the Steele Creek luxury apartment project and the new Halcyon Hotel. Through those projects, BMC has been instrumental in bringing world class retail and restaurant concepts to Cherry Creek including Matsuhisa, Quality Italian, Le Bilboquet, Soul Cycle, CB2 and Departure. BMC currently has over 200 employees and is growing at a fast pace. Lastly, BMC has another $500 million in development projects in the pipeline in Cherry Creek, Boulder and the Fitzsimmons Medical Campus, and is in the process of sourcing thousands of multifamily units outside of Denver. Mr. Joblon received a B.B.A. in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Finance from Babson College and is on the Board of the Blue Sky Fund.

As President and CEO of one of Colorado’s premiere real estate investment firms, Chris is responsible for driving the company’s investments, strategic planning and overall operations. He has successfully acquired, developed and overseen projects in excess of $1.5 billion in Land Development, Office, Retail and Industrial building. One of Chris’ greatest strengths is in finding and creating value in under-managed and ill-conceived properties. Along with his experienced team, he has created investment opportunities utilizing both traditional acquisitions, and forward-thinking financial structuring. Working closely with various state municipalities, urban renewal authorities, metropolitan districts and complex entitlement processes, Chris has been able to get the most complex of deals successfully structured. By proficiently and intelligently understanding the financial opportunities in the acquisition process, Chris has been able to create deal structures which make the investments valuable to all parties involved. With over 35 years in the commercial real estate business, Chris holds a long term and understands the importance of having focus on value creation and stability. Through his leadership, DPC has grown continuously through both good ties and down turns. Before his tenure at DPC, Chris worked for a local Denver developer where he was responsible for project management and leasing of the company’s office, industrial and retail portfolio, and in the banking industry handling OREO work outs. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Colorado State University with an emphasis on finance and economics.

Mr. Schmidt is a Managing Director with more than 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. He focuses on both retail and office investment advisory transactions in Denver and the Rocky Mountain region and co-leads HFF Denver’s office private client/middle market investment advisory team. Throughout his career, he has closed more than $1 billion in transactions for a variety of institutional investors, REITs and private buyers, including AEW, Blackstone, Evergreen Devco, Inc., Franklin Street, Piedmont Realty Trust, Weingarten Realty and Westwood Financial. Mr. Schmidt joined the firm in January 2019 from JLL’s Capital Markets Group, where he was an executive vice president responsible for the disposition of office, retail and industrial buildings in the region. He has a wide range of experience in the industry and has held positions at Signature Equities, Pace Properties, Cushman Wakefield and Cassidy Turley. Mr. Schmidt has been recognized as a “Heavy Hitter” by the Denver Business Journal and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Business Administration from Drake University as well as a Master of Real Estate and Construction Management from the University of Denver.

Don Broderick joined TCF Bank in 2016 and currently serves as senior vice president and mountain west market manager for the commercial real estate banking group. Don is a member of the commercial banking leadership team and focuses on developing new, strategic lending relationships in the Denver, Phoenix and Salt Lake City markets. Prior to his time at TCF Bank, Mr. Broderick worked in real estate banking at BBVA Compass, Citizens Financial Group and LaSalle Bank. He also worked in senior housing development with Classic Residence by Hyatt. Mr. Broderick holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Bucknell University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Drew Hyde is a Managing Director covering the Rocky Mountain Region for CIBC’s Commercial Real Estate business line. Drew has worked in commercial real estate finance for more than 18 years with experience on both the debt and equity side of commercial real estate transactions. Drew joined CIBC in November 2018 after a number of years as the Market Manager leading US Bank’s Colorado CRE platform. In this new role at CIBC, Drew leads a team of commercial real estate professionals dedicated to growing CIBC’s presence in the Rocky Mountain Region through strengthening existing relationships and adding new relationships. Drew’s team specifically focuses on serving the needs of Rocky Mountain based owners, operators and developers. He earned his MBA with an emphasis in finance from Denver University’s Daniels College of Business.