January 6-January 19, 2016 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— Page 39
Rocky Mtn. Real Estate Challenge
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CREJ – Colorado Real Estate
Journal
will host its Develop-
ment & Construction Forecast
Summit Jan. 21.
Held at the Inverness Hotel &
Conference Center, 200 Inverness
Drive West, Englewood, the
event will include retail, indus-
trial, office, medical office, mul-
tifamily and land forecast pan-
els in addition to an economic
update by Patty Silverstein of
Development Research Partners.
CREJ also will host its 13th
annual Property Management
Conference and Expo Feb. 18 at
the Inverness Hotel & Confer-
ence Center.
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NAIOP Colorado
will host
its annual Economic Forecast
Breakfast Jan. 13 at the Den-
ver Marriott City Center at 1701
California St.
NAIOP Colorado, with the
Colorado Apartment Associa-
tion and the International Coun-
cil of Shopping Centers, also is
hosting the Commercial Real
Estate and Multifamily Housing
Day at the Capitol Feb. 24.
Additionally, NAIOP Colora-
do will host its annual Awards
of Achievement Feb. 25 at the
Seawell Grand Ballroom at the
Denver Center for the Perform-
ing Arts.
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PLSC – Professional Land
Surveyors of Colorado
will
host its Rocky Mountain
Asphalt Conference & Equip-
ment Show Feb. 24 from 8 a.m.
to 7 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza
DIA at 15500 E. 40th Ave. in
Aurora.
PLSC also will host its sixth
annual Rocky Mountain Sur-
veyors Summit March 2-4 at
the Arvada Center. The event
combines all of the Front Range
conferences – Central Colorado
Professional Surveyors, North-
ern Chapter-PLSC and South-
ern Chapter Professional Land
Surveyors – into one event.
Land Title Guarantee Co. and
NAIOP Colorado, the Commer-
cial Real Estate Development
Association, will host the 14th
annual Rocky Mountain Real
Estate Challenge, culminating
with the largest real estate event
in Colorado Thursday, April 28.
The challenge is a premier real
estate event featuring students
from the University of Colorado
and the University of Denver, as
well as industry leaders in the
Colorado real estate community.
Building on the event’s 13-year
history, the featured project will
focus on Westminster Station in
Westminster. Student teams will
evaluate development opportuni-
ties on a 21-acre site adjacent to
the station, which features transit-
oriented development opportu-
nities at the center of the South
Westminster revitalization area.
As part of the FasTracks project,
the station and transit plaza will
be a central hub within the sur-
rounding 135-acre TOD area.
The challenge tasks more than
40 of the state’s best and brightest
graduate students from CU and
DU to evaluate and make recom-
mendations for the site, owned
by the city of Westminster. Stu-
dents will form teams that will
compete against one another for
scholarships, future employment
and the NAIOP Cup (awarded to
the winning school each year). In
January, student teams will begin
a four-month period of working
with industry professionals and
the city of Westminster to analyze
every aspect of the site.
Students will present their rec-
ommendations to the city and an
audience of more than 750 real
estate professionals during the
April 28 event at the Marriott City
Center in downtown Denver.
Tickets will go on sale in early
February.
Westminster Station is the first
stop from Denver Union Station
for the Regional Transportation
District B-Line, whichwill eventu-
ally go to Boulder. Just 11 minutes
from downtown Denver, the sta-
tion is located just west of Fed-
eral Boulevard near 69th Avenue,
between Interstate 70 and High-
way 36. The station and adjacent
900-space parking garage are slat-
ed to open this summer.
The subject site encompasses
unique challenges and opportu-
nities for the student teams on
how to transform a low-density
industrial site into a higher-densi-
ty, mixed-use TOD. Recently, the
Federal corridor was named one
of four "demonstration corridors"
in the country ripe for reinvention
as a healthy place with strong
connections to surrounding com-
munities.
The challenge site benefits from
the city’s investment in new infra-
structure as well as its dynamic
community with distinct neigh-
borhoods and a resilient local
economy that includes: a spec-
trum of jobs; diverse, integrated
housing; and shopping, cultural,
entertainment and restaurant
options.
“We are pleased to have a moti-
vated project sponsor who is
highly invested in the long-term
realization of the ideas present-
ed by the students through this
challenge. This is exactly the type
of project students would face
once they graduate. This year’s
challenge site represents a real-
world scenario for putting all of
the development pieces together
on a catalyst project for a major
metropolitan area,” said Kath-
ryn Spritzer, chairwoman of the
NAIOP organizing committee.
“To be successful in this year’s
competition, students will have to
balance the interests of multiple
stakeholders and address a broad
range of issues, from economic
development to active living and
affordable housing.”
“The city of Westminster antici-
pates that the station will be a
catalyst for private redevelop-
ment surrounding the station,”
said Mac Cummins, Westminster
planning manager. “We believe
that sponsoring the NAIOP Real
Estate Challenge in support of
the participating university stu-
dents and programs will not only
result in great ideas for the many
redevelopment options associ-
ated with this significant 21-acre
assemblage, but will shine a light
on the opportunities available to
development teams across the
state.”
The outcome of the NAIOP
challenge will help the city under-
stand the various development
options for the site and evaluate
the cost/benefits of different ideas
for this important real estate asset.
Student teams will be responding
to a request-for-proposals-format-
ted case statement that will weigh
the strategic vision, economic
realities and the environmental
constraints of the site. City officials
said they will be using this year’s
challenge to help create a better
understanding of the site develop-
ment potential and are optimistic
that elements of the outcome can
be a part of what is ultimately
built on the site.
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Kathryn Spritzer, left, chairwoman of this year’s real estate challenge organizing committee, discusses the event
with Westminster City Council.
American Council of Engineering
Companies/Colorado
American Institute of Architects Colorado
American Society of Interior Designers
American Society of Landscape Architects,
Colorado Chapter
American Subcontractors Association
Apartment Association of Metro Denver
Appraisal Institute
Associated Builders & Contractors
Associated General Contractors
Building Operators Association of Colorado
Building Owners & Managers Association, Denver
Building Owners & Managers Association, Pikes Peak
CCIM – Certified Commercial Investment Members,
Colorado/Wyoming Chapter
Colorado Bar Association
Colorado Brownfields Partnership
Colorado Hotel & Lodging Association
Colorado Society of CPAs
Commercial Brokers of Boulder
Commercial Real Estate Women - CREW
Community Associations Institute
CoreNet Colorado
Counselors of Real Estate
Denver Metro Commercial Association
of Realtors - DMCAR
Institute of Real Estate Management, Denver Chapter
Institute of Real Estate Management, Southern
Colorado Chapter
International Council of Shopping Centers, Rocky
Mountain Chapter
International Facilities Management Association,
Denver Chapter
International Facilities Management Association,
Pikes Peak Chapter
Investment Community of the Rockies
LeadingAge Colorado
Mile High Exchangors
NAIOP Colorado – The Commercial Real Estate
Development Association
Professional Land Surveyors of Colorado
Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute
Rocky Mountain Shopping Center Association
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Society of Industrial & Office Realtors
Southern Colorado Commercial Brokers
Urban Land Institute
U.S. Green Building Council, Colorado Chapter
WiD – Women in Design
