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86 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / June 2019 / Looking Glass: Financial House is Cherry Creek North’s 1st All-Glass Building / of ways, setting a new standard for excellence,” he adds. “That’s something BMC has been doing with a lot of its projects in Cherry Creek,” most notably the St. Paul Col- lection and the Moxy hotel. “Each one is really trying to change the marketplace. Financial House takes it to an- other level for the office market.” Architect 4240 worked with BMC on the St. Paul Collec- tion, the luxury apartment project three blocks east, and recently worked on a residential project at the base vil- lage at Snowmass with Haselden. This comfortable working dynamic helped keep the project on track on a constrained site in a busy area. The above-grade steel frame is one example. “We had to fig- ure out ways to get it on site very quickly so we weren’t disrupting traffic,” says Cecere, commending Haselden Superintendent Andy Murray for “an incredible job” coor- dinating with the Cherry Creek North Business Improve- ment District and other stakeholders. (Cecere notes that the Haselden approach runs counter to the Cherry Creek’s see and be seen culture. “Instead, they seek ways to minimize disruptions in this bustling district.”) “Logistics was a large challenge,” says Zach Belsey, proj- ect manager with Haselden. “There’s a major encum- brance for this building.” He notes that the two-level, below-grade parking garage juts out under the sidewalk. “We had a parking lane to work with while underground.” Matt Joblon, CEO, BMC Investments Financial House is the latest in a string of ambitious BMC projects in Cherry Creek North. “First and foremost, location is so important,” says Joblon. “It’s a very special location on the hard corner of Second and Detroit. It’s dead center in Cherry Creek North.” But it’s not about location and location alone, he adds. “Everything we do is all about the customer. What does the customer want?” Joblon says the philosophy dictated the 10,000-square-foot floor plate (“the sweet spot for the market”), the curtain wall (“a huge differentiator”) and the hospitality-inspired interiors. On the last of the three, he says AvroKO’s interior de- sign work marked the firm’s first office project. “They mainly do hotels and restaurants,” says Joblon. “We wanted a boutique hotel lobby instead of a lobby like an office.” Both BMC and Bow River Capital, an investor in the building, have also signed on as Financial House ten- ants, along with WeWork, Oceanside Ten Holdings and UBS Financial Services. “We took a floor of it, so we put ourselves in the customer’s shoes,” says Joblon. That perspective forced BMC’s team to look at ten- ants’ needs “not just today, but looking forward 15 to 20 years,” he continues. And that perspective aligned nicely with market de- mand. “We leased the building 100 percent without a broker,” says Joblon. “There’s just massive demand for office space in Cherry Creek.” While he’s quick to point out he doesn’t have a crystal ball, he sees a few “high-end principles” en- trenched in Cherry Creek: “It’s going to be the No. 1 high-end neighborhood in Denver, it’s going to be the safest neighborhood in Denver, it’s going to be the ex- periential anchor in Denver ... then you’ve got the Cher- ry Creek mall.” With this in mind, he adds, “We wanted to set a new bar for the market, and we did it.” Joblon says the collaboration with 4240 and Haselden was critical, noting, “If you don’t have a great team or great people specifically, you can’t execute on that vision.” BMC is set to start a comprehensive renovation of the Inn at Cherry Creek at 233 Clayton St. as another phase at the St Paul Collection is on the drawing board. “We’re buying some more land here and going all-in,” says Joblon, describing a “live/work/play/stay” vision. “We kind of look at Cherry Creek as our own big master plan.”