September 16-October 6, 2015 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— Page 19AA
T
he Counselors of
Real Estate held its
spring national meet-
ing in Denver this year. The
theme of the meeting focused
on strategies and tactics for
building and maintaining a
vibrant community, regardless
of size, in the face of changing
economic conditions and ever-
present capital constraints.
Development of Denver’s
Central Platte Valley rail
yards and the redevelopment
of Denver Union Station into
a community gathering spot
were the focus of the confer-
ence.
Marilee Utter, CRE, and
Former Mayor of Denver, U.S.
Secretary of Transportation,
U.S. Secretary of Energy and
current Managing Director
and Principal of Vestar Capital
Federico Peña opened the first
general session of the day with
a conversation about the ele-
ments of a long-term strategy
that can lead to greatness for
any community and how it
worked in Denver. Utter was
the city of Denver’s director of
asset management, where she
oversaw the city’s real estate
holdings during Peña’s may-
oral term.
Before his service to the
country as a member of
President Bill Clinton’s cabi-
net, Peña was mayor of Denver
from 1983 until 1991. During
that time Denver was endur-
ing the stress of a dramatic
economic downturn related to
the cyclical energy industry.
Denver’s
economy
was overly
dependent
upon energy
production
and when it
went south, a
large portion
of Denver’s
employment
literally went
with it, mov-
ing back to
Texas and
Louisiana.
As a young, 36-year-old state
senator and forward-thinking
activist, Peña felt compelled
to envision a new and differ-
ent future for Denver and its
suburbs. He decided to run for
mayor just as the local econo-
my was moving from boom to
bust due to the energy market
downturn and related real
estate collapse. A wide variety
of challenges faced Denver, but
foremost was the geographic
reality that the city was in the
middle of “flyover country”
and was dominated by the
energy and real estate devel-
opment industries. How does
one, young politician begin to
address a cyclical economic cri-
sis in a geographically isolated
city?
With vision.
“Imagine a Great City” was
Peña campaign slogan, but it
was more than a slogan. He
spelled out 25 strategic initia-
tives in his campaign vision for
a brighter future. Among those
strategic initiatives were a
new airport, a new convention
center, historic designation and
protection for Denver’s origi-
nal old downtown (now Lower
Downtown) and the redevelop-
ment of the Union Pacific rail
yards adjacent to the historic
district.
The mayor’s perspective
has since been augmented by
his time in the Washington,
D.C., political cauldron and 25
years of experience, so he could
bring national politics into the
conversation as well. Utter’s
career in real estate develop-
ment and now with ULI added
to the conversation’s depth.
Peña pointed out that in
Denver, as a “strong mayor”
with veto power and true
management responsibility for
the city (no city manager), he
was deeply involved in every
key decision during his two
terms. He wryly noted that
his experience in Washington,
D.C., was very different. As a
member of Clinton’s cabinet
and as an appointed leader
of a large bureaucracy, the
level of control he was able to
exercise was very limited by
comparison to a strong mayor.
Accomplishing change in
Washington is extraordinarily
difficult, as many others have
also observed.
Not that accomplishing
change at the community level
is easy, but it is possible. Peña
and Utter pointed out three
key elements that make suc-
cess more likely:
Vision.
There must be a big,
long-term vision that inspires
community members and proj-
ect participants. Without such
a vision, you’re just managing
the present circumstances and
problems.
Alignment.
The leaders
must recognize early in the
process that including all the
stakeholders in developing and
refining the vision is the only
way to achieve anything in
the public arena. Peña talked
about the hundreds of com-
munity meetings he person-
ally attended during the early
phases of planning for the new
airport, leading up to a public
election to approve the annexa-
tion. As Utter said, alignment
is critical to effective execution,
the third element.
Execution.
Though it may
seem obvious, execution at
every phase is critical. A seri-
ous misstep, particularly in the
early going, can destroy confi-
dence in leadership and in the
vision.
A fourth element that Peña
and later participants in the
Developer’s Panel agreed is
critical is continuity. This
means commitment to a well-
articulated vision over multiple
administrations and changes of
leadership. Peña was very com-
plimentary toward the three
administrations that have
followed him in the mayor’s
office. To a large degree, they
have carried on the work and
sustained the vision estab-
lished in the 1980’s, while add-
ing new elements and putting
their own stamp on the details.
Continuity and long-term com-
mitment to the vision has been
key to Denver’s community
renaissance. Thirty years after
Federico Peña first challenged
voters to “Imagine a Great
City,” the fruits of the labor of
hundreds of committed people
are highly visible in downtown
Denver.
Ryan Toole, CRE
Principal, Alterra
Real Estate Advisors
LLC, Littleton
Former Mayor Federico Peña, left, and Marilee Utter, CRE
