22
/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / SEPTEMBER 2015
by
Joy Spatz, AIA
John Beeble,
chairman of Saunders Construction, has a 30-
year history building in Colorado and offers his perspective on
Denver’s future.
Chris Waggett
is a founding principal and CEO of D4 Urban.
He has over 30 years’ experience in development and funds
management internationally, including nine years in Den-
ver. He provides insight on the criticality of the real estate
ladder and the metro Denver’ region’s continued economic
prosperity.
JS: You’ve been a part of building Denver and had a hand
in paving the road to the future. From your vantage point,
what elements of our current vibrancy do you think will
have the most impact on our future?
JB:
Denver and the metro area have so much going for
them. Mayor Hancock’s vision for downtown and the airport
culminated by the airport cities and growth in the metro area
have created what many call nodes linked by transportation.
Nodes such as downtown Denver, the Denver Tech Center, Au-
roraMedical Center, Arvada and points beyond now linked by
significant transportation including light rail and the new In-
terstate 70 redevelopment just getting started. The collabora-
tion between multiple city leaders has set the stage for smart
growth that will keep it pleasurable to live here. I’ve lived in
Arvada for nearly 30 years and the possibility of having my
morning coffee in Old Town and hopping on the light rail to
downtown is fantastic!
One of our opportunities is to resolve the congestion to the
access of our biggest asset as a region – the mountain areas
and, specifically, the west-bound I-70 access thereto.
Let’s face it, beyond our strong and diversified business cli-
mate, it’s our recreation resources that give us a big advan-
tage and reason people want to live here. We have to solve the
transportation challenges there.
JS: Colorado and the Front Range, in particular, have seen
tremendous growth and new construction in the past
few years. Coming out of the recession, what is the state
of the construction industry and can you speak to the
construction cost increases you are seeing in the market?
JB:
Construction costs increases are a factor of supply and
demand and I think it will be a short-term issue.
During the recession, we saw a great loss of labor and talent
in the trades due to a drop off in construction activity. The
protracted duration of the recession resulted in those work-
ers leaving this profession to seek other job opportunities. I
don’t think we’ll ever get them back. So now, we have an op-
portunity to train new workers for a variety of construction
trades. The benefit to the current construction growth is that
the industry has good jobs to offer both new and seasoned
workers, which builds industry expertise and headcount. Un-
til the building cycle tapers and/or labor resources meet the
demand, we’ll see construction pricing on an upward path.
JS: Looking to the future, what do you see as our greatest
challenge?
JB:
Denver seems to be at the epicenter of the national
scene. We have seen and continue to see a large increase in
people moving to Colorado. The
good news is that we have a lot to
offer from jobs to recreation and a
diverse business climate. Our chal-
lenge is to create a climate of growth
for the long term for all our workers
and businesses.
Part of the equation that has to be
looked at is the housing ladder. The ur-
ban centers have built, some say over-
built, apartment stock to fit the growth
demand, but what happens when those
renters want to buy their first house?
The crazy residential real estate market
we are seeing currently is just not realistic
for themillennials who aremaybe three to
five years into their careers and finding real estate prices out
of reach. We are missing affordable housing options that are
between rental and single-family home prices – we’re miss-
ing housing product in the $200K to $250K range, for instance.
One of the answers is condos and owned affordable prod-
uct. In the last 10 years, we really haven’t seen any new condo
development. This leaves a huge gap in the housing options
ladder.
We have to solve the legal framework that increases condo
construction risk andmakes it too expensive to embark upon.
Developers won’t develop condos. Contractors won’t build
them and architects won’t design them.
Affordable housing is key to the sustainability of growth
in Denver. We are at our strongest when we have conditions
that help young people grow up, get educated, have robust job
opportunities, and can live and own real estate in the urban
corridors. We have all of the above except the latter. This is a
critical challenge for our future.
It is the housing ladder topic that spawned a conversation
with Chris Waggett, CEO of D4 Urban and chairman of Tran-
sit Alliance.
JS: Pertaining to the housing stock, specifically at affordable
price range, what do you see as implications from the lack
of entry-level ownership options?
CW:
Imovedherenine years ago, so I’mone of themanywho
migrated to Denver. We love the lifestyle, the opportunity, the
business climate, openness to newcomers and the prosperity
of Denver’s growthwe’ve witnessed
in the last nine years. It’s been fas-
cinating to watch the pendulum
swing from employees in 2006 to
employer in the downturn, and now
back to the employee. Talent is criti-
cal to our future and the good news
is that we have lots of talent here and
new talent moving here. Talent moves
to where it wants to be and employers
follow that educated talent. The symbi-
osis of talent and employers is import-
ant to Colorado’s economic engine.
Right now we have lots of rental op-
tions for youngworkers and thennothing
John Beeble
Chairman,
Saunders
Construction
Chris Waggett
Founding
Principal & CEO,
D4 Urban
Leading the Way
