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Page 38 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — February 18-March 3, 2015
Construction, Design & Engineering News
Calcon Constructors is well underway on the new Sky Ridge Medical
Office Building III in Lone Tree. The 130,000-square-foot facility will
include medical offices as well as a pediatric emergency department
and imaging suite. Construction is expected to be complete in the
fourth quarter.
Calcon Constructors underway on
new Sky Ridge Medical Office
Contractor Health Construc-
tion was selected to build the
initial phase of Estes Park’s new
$30 millionWellness Center.
Built adjacent to the Stanley
Hotel, the project is a public-
private partnership between
the Estes Park Medical Center
and the Grand Heritage Hotel
Group, which owns the Stanley
Hotel. The Wellness Center is
design to provide a high-profile
“wellness tourism” destination
and more than 70 year-round
jobs.
Heath’s leadership in local
construction and its long com-
mitment to Estes Park were
both key reasons for the com-
pany’s selection.
“Working with a local con-
tractor is very important to us,”
said JohnCullen, CEOofGrand
Heritage Hotel Group. “This
project is vitally important for
Estes Park, and we believe it
should be built by a construc-
tion partner who is as commit-
ted to Estes Park as we are.”
The initial phase of construc-
tion will include a hospital-
ity component of the Wellness
Center complex, a 33-room
boutique hotel. The first phase
of design and construction is
expected to be complete in late
2015, while the overall Well-
ness Center complex is slated to
open in 2016.
Architecture Plus is design-
ing the project.s
Haselden Construction
recently topped out the new
Limon K-12 school. The $22.5
million project will bring two
new stories of classrooms to the
school, as well as support and
administration spaces, provid-
ing room for growth with space
for 600 students.
Haselden and design-build
partner gkkworks celebrated
the topping out in January with
staff and students.
“This project is a great addi-
tion to our education communi-
ty and will provide the students
with a learning atmosphere
where they will thrive,” stated
Limon Town Manager David
Stone.
The 85,228-square-foot build-
ing addition will include new
classrooms, a library, cafeteria/
commons, kitchen and adminis-
tration area. Site improvements
will provide a bus loop, stu-
dent drop-off, parking areas,
hard and soft play areas, play-
grounds, landscaping, site light-
ing, signage and fencing.
The addition is expected to be
open this fall.s
Haselden and design-build partner gkkworks recently celebrated the top-
ping out of the new Limon K-12 school.
Recently, more than 175
architecture, engineering and
construction leaders gathered
for the Society for Market-
ing Professional Services
Colorado’s event focusing on
the built environment for the
legal recreational cannabis
industry. The panels focused
around the resources that are
required to develop cannabis
buildings.
A cultivation/grow facility
panel explored design con-
siderations, new technology
and energy savings oppor-
tunities, and was moderated
by James Lowe, president of
cultivation, MJardin Manage-
ment. “There is huge demand
for facility development and
an extremely high level of
hunger for new technol-
ogy for the cannabis indus-
try,” remarked panelist Todd
Whitaker of Surna.
Nathan Mendel, presi-
dent of Your Green Contrac-
tor, which builds cultivation
facilities and dispensaries,
noted he has seen a shift
toward greenhouses, since
warehouse spaces are simply
not available. The panel also
recognized an industry shift
from indoor grow operations
to the trend of developing
greenhouses, which harness a
great free energy source – the
sun – and use outside air to
cool and dehumidify space.
Panelists noted that this can
reduce overall operational
costs by 30 percent.
The dispensary panel was
moderated by Jaime Lewis,
owner of Mountain Medicine,
and reviewed what to know
about zoning and navigat-
ing city personnel. The panel
also examined how interior
design can lead to a more
inviting – and ultimately safe
and secure – experience.
“I’ve been working in the
cannabis industry in Colo-
rado for the past five years,
and I have seen the need for
ancillary businesses for our
companies to flourish – the
need for architects, design-
ers, retail marketing, con-
struction, engineering,” said
Lewis.
Panelist Brett Gilbert, prin-
cipal, Competitive Edge Engi-
neering, advised, “Pay atten-
tion to the changing regula-
tions; they’re changing all the
time. You’ve got to keep in
touch with your regulators
and figure out what’s hap-
pening next. That was defi-
nitely a big lesson on some of
the projects we were working
on this year. The legitimacy
of this industry over the last
12 months, and how it has
changed, the technology, the
professionalism, has been
amazing.”
“From the city of Denver’s
perspective, marijuana is like
any other business; we are
trying to implement the will
of the voters while ensuring
the safety and prosperity of
our neighborhoods,” said
Jill Jennings Golich, deputy
director, Community Plan-
ning & Development, city
and county of Denver.
“Zoning is your first stop
at the city because before you
can get licensed, you have
to get your zoning permits
in place. The biggest thing
I can say is have a consul-
tant in place who knows our
processes, knows the zoning
code, knows what you need
to look for, because it will
take longer if you don’t give
us the information we need
to make the right decisions.”
“Try not to reinvent the
wheel. I looked at casinos,
banks and pharmacies. It’s
very important to remain a
good neighbor. Instead of
putting up screens, we put up
boulders and rocks; beautify
the neighborhood. Neighbor-
hood associations can make
or break your business,”
added Lewis.
A legal, insurance and
finance panel was moderated
by Michael Gifford, president
and CEO, AGC Colorado,
with participating panelists
Chris Myklebust, commis-
sioner, Division of Financial
Services; James Thompson,
attorney, Berenbaum Wein-
shienk PC; and J.B. Woods,
Greenpoint Insurance Advi-
sors LLC. The panel covered
issues such as what design
and construction companies
should consider with finan-
cial transactions and chal-
lenges with insurance cover-
age.
The panel noted that the
cannabis industry faces enor-
mous hurdles when look-
ing for insurers, with many
functioning under ambiguity.
Thompson stressed that many
“cannabusinesses” aren’t
even certain if their policy will
cover them, since an exclusion
could leave them in the cold.
Additionally, the panel
walked through consider-
ations with financial trans-
actions and challenges with
insurance coverage. The
panelists noted that if you’re
working with a cannabusi-
ness, be transparent with your
bankers, and be prepared for
some banks to charge a fee
for accepting cash. Myklebust
reminded the attendees that
the fact is that cannabusiness-
es could potentially be shut
down under federal law, but
under current guidance, the
industry presently has a gray
area to function for the next
several years.
“While we hope the SMPS
Colorado event cleared up
some of the smoke around
the issue for attendees, as an
industry, cannabusinesses
and the ancillary businesses
that serve them must remain
diligent to provide transpar-
ent service and work with
state and community rep-
resentatives to ensure the
growth of this brand-new and
burgeoning sector,” noted
Red Thread Creative Group
President Stan Wagner. Red
Thread Creative Group pro-
duced the event on behalf of
SMPS Colorado.s
Rider Levett Bucknall recently
launched its North American
RLB Crane Index, a report that
measures construction activity in
major cities across the U.S. and
predicts the health of the country’s
construction industry.
The crane index tracks the num-
ber of fixed cranes on construction
sites in major cities across North
America. The biannual report sur-
veys activity in Boston, Chicago,
Denver, Honolulu, Los Angeles,
New York, Phoenix, San Francis-
co and Seattle. Additional cities,
including Washington, D.C., will
be added in future editions.
According to the first issue of
the index, the residential market
– specifically condominium and
apartment developments – con-
tinues to lead theU.S. construction
recovery. The commercial, health
care, hospitality and education
sectors also have started to see
increases in crane activity.
Within the Denver market, the
index shows approximately 92
percent of cranes are active on
residential andmixed-use residen-
tial projects.
The report noted that, “Denver
crane counts are up by one since
August’s count of 12 and the con-
struction market is being led by
the residential and mixed-use/
residential market. All but one of
the cranes in Denver are work-
ing on residential andmixed-use/
residential projects. Additionally,
all of the sites included in the Den-
ver crane count have been reuse
of developed space. Currently,
the city has about a 6.9 percent
vacancy rate for rental property
with slow-to-recover single-family
developments. The construction
of urban rental properties contin-
ues to rise.”
“Unlike other forms of data,
cranes are observable and recog-
nizable icons of major construc-
tion activity. Therefore, they are an
extremely useful measure of the
changing pace of the construction
industry,” stated Julian Anderson,
president of Rider Levett Bucknall
NorthAmerica.
Rider Levett Bucknall’s local
offices gather data and informa-
tion for the index via surveys and
other proprietary collection meth-
ods, including physically counting
all fixed cranes appearing on each
city’s skyline. This count is per-
formed twice yearly and provides
the baseline data for the index.
For the inaugural NorthAmerican
edition, crane countswere taken in
each city onAug. 1, 2014 (baseline
count), and again on Nov. 1, 2014.
“Our findings indicate that resi-
dential developments are driving
growth across the U.S.,” added
Anderson. “We expect that this
growth – which includes redevel-
opment, renovation and expan-
sion projects – will continue to
increase throughout 2015.” s
‘I’ve been working in
the cannabis industry
in Colorado for the
past five years, and I
have seen the need for
ancillary businesses
for our companies to
flourish – the need for
architects, designers,
retail marketing,
construction,
engineering.’
– Jaime Lewis,
Mountain Medicine