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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— August 5-August 18, 2015
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Having spent time as an exec-
utive recruiter, Mark Bradley
knows about bringing parties
together for their mutual benefit
– and in commercial real estate,
it’s no different.
“You have a seller and a
buyer – both need to feel like it’s
beneficial to them to be engaged
in a transaction,” said Bradley,
co-founder andmanaging bro-
ker of Realtec-Greeley.
Bradley, who played a role in
some of Greeley’s largest and
most complex commercial real
estate deals, including the sale
of the former Hewlett-Packard
campus and Leprino Foods’
acquisition of the Western Sugar
Cooperative plant, worked in
several capacities before becom-
ing a broker. In addition to
being a “headhunter,” he served
as sales andmarketing manager
for National Technological Uni-
versity, which delivered grad-
uate-level engineering courses
to the workplace, was regional
director of theAmericanMan-
agement Association and was
involved in a couple of startup
companies.
All the while, his brother-
in-law, Realtec founder Steve
Stansfield, tried to convince him
to get into real estate.
“He had been telling me for
years that I needed to get into
real estate, and I ignored his
advice,” said Bradley, adding
his many other experiences
formed a good basis for a real
estate career.
In late 1999, Stansfield finally
persuaded Bradley to team
up with Bernie Blach to run
Realtec’s Greeley office. They
spent the first six months learn-
ing the properties, the players
and the market. Then they hit
the ground running.
“I like the fact that it’s project-
focused. There’s a beginning
and an end, and it’s constantly
changing,” he said of the indus-
try. “No transaction is the same,
so it’s not a repetitive business.
That’s enjoyable,” he said. “I
like the creativity that can go
into making a deal work.”
After working alongside
Bradley to build Realtec’s Gree-
ley business, Blach died of Lou
Gehrig’s disease in 2008. “That
was hard. He was an exception-
ally bright, insightful person
that had a lot of experience in
business and real estate. It was a
blow,” said Bradley.
Bradley and a core group of
brokers plugged away through
the recession and before long
found themselves in the midst
of an oil and gas boom. Given
today’s depressed oil prices, the
frenzy has “eased,” providing a
needed respite for the market,
Bradley said. “The phone is not
ringing off the hook with peo-
ple just screaming for space like
they were,” he said, But, “We’re
still getting a steady stream of
people looking for space.”
While Bradley’s business runs
the gamut with regard to prop-
erty type, he has a penchant for
land deals, although they can
be very time-consuming, and
industrial transactions. “(Indus-
trial) users tend to be pretty
enjoyable people to deal with,”
he said, adding the “techie” in
him also makes him curious
about the products and pro-
cesses in which industrial users
are involved.
Jordan Hungenberg of Gree-
ley-based Hungenberg Produce
said he and his father have
worked with Bradley on sales
and acquisitions for years and
appreciate his hard work, fair-
ness, ability to think outside of
the box and forthrightness. “He
lays everything out there for
you,” said Hungenberg. “We’ve
had a good relationship.”
Bradley, aWichita, Kansas,
native who came to Colorado
to earn his degree in finance
at Colorado State University,
enjoys being part of Northern
Colorado’s “close-knit” broker-
age community.
“I think Northern Colorado
brokers, for the most part, are
probably more cooperative with
each other andmore willing to
share information and help each
other than I’ve seen elsewhere
in the state or across the coun-
try,” he said.
Bradley and his wife, Jane,
office administrator for the Lar-
imer County District Attorney’s
Office, have two grown sons,
Sean and Lincoln. The couple
has been busy settling into a
new home in Fort Collins, and
Bradley, 60, a member of the
National Auto Sport Associa-
tion, also is looking for a new
car to race after selling his
BMW.
Aboardmember for the
Northern Colorado Commercial
Association of Realtors and
Northern Colorado Economic
Development Corp., Bradley
believes the Weld County and
NoCo commercial real estate
markets will continue to per-
formwell, barring national
or international economic
disturbances. He also believes
Realtec-Greeley, with an “expe-
rienced, knowledgeable staff,”
has a bright future as the city,
which just crossed the 100,000
population threshold, continues
to grow.
“Realtec in Greeley has a great
core of brokers. I think we’re
really positioned to do well,” he
said.
s
Profile
Mark Bradley
Michelle Cregut
joined
The
Highland Group
as a new princi-
pal and business partner.
Cregut initially will have
responsibility for managing all
of the opera-
tions of the
firm, which
offers strate-
gic research,
planning and
marketing
solutions for
senior hous-
ing and care
communities,
in addition to
working with
Elisabeth Borden on business
development and strategy.
She has 20 years of experi-
ence in the senior housing and
services field. Prior to moving to
Colorado in 2009, Cregut worked
in California for 15 years both
as corporate director of finance
for Episcopal Senior Communi-
ties and as director of financial
operations for Ocadian Care
Centers. In Colorado, she worked
as vice president of finance and
development for InnovAge until
2011, during which time she was
responsible for development and
construction of its new corporate
office building in Lowry, as well
as construction of a new PACE
center and the initial develop-
ment work for InnovAge’s tax
credit-funded senior apartment
community in Thornton.
s
Jenny Starkey
was named
director of marketing and com-
munity relations for the 16-block
Cherry Creek North Business
Improvement District.
Previously, Starkey led Down-
town Denver Partnership’s
marketing, outreach and com-
munication
programs.
In addition
to her work
with Down-
town Denver
Partnership,
Starkey man-
aged the com-
munication
departments
at Project
C.U.R.E.,
Engineers without Borders and
the Lassy Project, a Techstars
startup.
s
Gov. John Hickenlooper
appointed
Irving “Irv” Halter Jr.
and
Julie Brewen
as newmem-
bers of
Colorado Housing and
Finance Authority’s
board of
directors.
CHFA’s 11-member board
serves as the governing body of
the organization and establishes
policies to further its mission of
affordable housing and small-
business finance.
Halter is executive director
of the Colorado Department
of Local Affairs and Brewen is
CEO/executive director of the
Fort Collins HousingAuthority.
s
Akerman LLP
grew its Denver
law firmwith the addition of
partner and transactional lawyer
Howard Gelt.
With the addition of Gelt, the
firm expands the national foot-
print of its real estate practice
group. Previously, he was with
Polsinelli, where he was a senior
partner.
Gelt has experience as an
adviser to business owners and
developers in legal and business
matters. He regularly repre-
sents clients in commercial and
residential real
estate devel-
opment and
transactions,
handling sales
and acquisi-
tions, zoning
and land use
issues, public
and private
financing,
construc-
tion matters and operations. He
has served as lead counsel for a
number of high-profile, master-
planned multifamily and mixed-
use projects in Colorado and
across the United States.
Gelt also represents a range
of clients from general counsel
to entrepreneurs in corporate
matters, including mergers and
acquisitions, debt and finance
transactions. He draws from his
experience as a former president
and CEO of a $40 million-per-
year retail company.
Gelt also has an extensive back-
ground in economic develop-
ment and transportation issues,
assisting clients with regulatory,
legislative, and litigation matters
related to infrastructure develop-
ment and financing opportuni-
ties.
In addition to his legal prac-
tice, economic development and
civic duties, Gelt has been active
in a variety of political activities
throughout his career; currently
he is a member of the finance
committee for U.S. Sen. Michael
Bennet.
s
The
Investment Community
of the Rockies
recently present-
ed
Charles Roberts, James Orr,
Who’s News
High Fives!
Haselden Construction has
stepped up as a 2015 A Pre-
cious Child “Fill a Backpack”
Partner and is hosting a back-
pack and school supply col-
lection drive through Friday,
Aug. 7.
Individuals are encour-
aged to drop off new back-
packs and school supplies at
Haselden’s Centennial office,
6950 S. Potomac St., to help
APrecious Child, a local non-
profit, reach its goal of send-
ing 7,750 disadvantaged Col-
orado children back to school
prepared and ready for suc-
cess. “This is a fabulous idea
and a great opportunity for all
of us to participate in,” stated
Haselden CEO Ed Haselden.
The “Fill a Backpack” pro-
gram, one of eight programs
offered through A Precious
Child, distributes backpacks
to children in need through
The CoreNet Colorado
Chapter is planning a Bocce
Bash and back-to-school sup-
plies drive to benefit The
Bridge Project, which pro-
vides educational opportu-
nities for children living in
Denver public housing neigh-
borhoods.
The fourth annual Bocce
Bash will take place from 2 to
6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park,
6000 Victory Way, Commerce
City. The cost is $150 per team
of two to four players, $25
for single nonplayer members
and $50 for single players/
nonplayer nonmembers. For
information, contact John
Inmon at john_inmon@her
manmiller.com.
CoreNet Colorado also is
collecting school materials for
The Bridge Project through
Aug. 20. Supplies and dona-
tions may be dropped off at
the Catalyst Planning Group
office in Washington Park,
669 S. Pearl St., Denver, and
other locations throughout the
metro area. For information,
contact Leah Palermo, leah@
catalystplanninggroup.com.
The Bridge Project supports
youths in graduating from
high school so they can attend
college or learn a trade.
s
High Fives! recognizes good deeds and accomplishments
by companies and individuals in the Colorado commercial
real estate industry. Please share your good news
and photos with us by emailin
Submissions should be 200 words or less.
Michelle Cregut
Jenny Starkey
Howard Gelt
