Page 40 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— April 20-May 3, 2016
Byron Haselden
was named
CEO of
Haselden Construc-
tion.
Haselden takes over for his
brother, Ed Haselden.
As CEO, president and a
member of
Haselden's
board of
directors,
Byron
Haselden
manages all
day-to-day
operation
activities of
the company,
as well as
guiding the company's strate-
gic direction.
Ed Haselden serves as chair-
man of the board and will
now concentrate his time on
the real estate development
business of the company. Mike
Haselden serves as vice chair-
man of the board.
s
Cushman & Wakefield
promoted
Todd M. Wheeler
and
Steven J. Billigmeier
vice
chairman
and execu-
tive director,
respectively.
Wheeler
brings more
than 20 years
of real estate
experience
to his client
work and
was named
NAIOP’s top individual office
broker for 2015. He also is
one of the most active tenant
representation brokers in the
U.S. and has handled many of
the largest lease negotiations,
build-to-suits, dispositions and
acquisitions
in the Den-
ver market.
Billigmeier
specializes in
lease admin-
istration,
disposition,
acquisition,
portfolio
management
and strategic
advisory services.
s
Stephanie Gerakos-Rooker,
PE, LEED AP,
joined
MKK
Consulting Engineers Inc.
as
a mechanical engineer in its
Greenwood Village office.
She joins the firm with more
than 10 years’ experience in
HVAC systems design, net-
zero solu-
tions, and
project and
client man-
agement
experience.
She also will
advance the
firm’s mis-
sion of high
performance
by combin-
ing her
sustainability experience with
deliberate, energy-saving solu-
tions.
Gerakos-Rooker was the
lead designer on Locust Trace
Agriscience Farm, the nation’s
third Net Zero Energy School
and has worked on many hos-
pital systems throughout the
southeast, including the Mayo
Clinic, to retrofit existing sys-
tems.
She has a Bachelor of Arts
degree in mechanical engi-
neering from the University of
Kentucky and a certification in
geothermal design.
s
Coan, Payton & Payne LLC
announced that well-known
real estate attorneys
Willis V.
Carpenter
and
Andrew S.
Klatskin
have become of coun-
sel to the firm.
Both practice in all areas of
real estate and commercial
transactions and will work in
the firm’s Denver office.
Carpenter has authored
numerous real estate law pub-
lications, including Volumes
I and II of
the Colorado
Real Estate
Practice, CLE
in Colorado
Inc. He has
testified as
an expert
witness
related to
real estate
matters in
more than 75 trials and arbi-
trations in Colorado state and
federal courts. He graduated
from Princeton University in
1951 and Harvard Law School
in 1954.
Klatskin has a long-term
focus on real estate law and
also has authored numer-
ous real estate articles for
real estate practitioners. He
received his bachelor’s degree
from Ohio State University in
1969, his Master of Business
Administra-
tion from
Long Island
University
in 1971 and
his Juris Doc-
tor from the
University of
Mississippi
in 1971.
He and
Carpenter
also founded the law firm of
Carpenter & Klatskin PC in
1978.
s
Matt Chaiken
was pro-
moted to principal of
Ware
Malcomb’s
Denver office.
In this position, Chaiken is
responsible for client develop-
ment, staff
management
and project
oversight for
the Denver
office.
Chaiken
joined the
firm’s Den-
ver office
as project
manager in
the Commercial Architecture
Studio in 2004. He was pro-
moted to studio manager in
2006 and, later that year, to
regional director leading the
office’s growth and operations.
Since then, Chaiken has suc-
cessfully grown and expanded
the firm’s Denver operations
with new clients, services and
project types.
A licensed architect in 12
states, Chaiken has experience
in all facets of architecture and
has worked on a wide variety
of industrial, office, distribu-
tion, technology and retail
projects. His depth of experi-
ence includes architectural
master planning, site planning,
project management, design
development, contract docu-
ments, contract administra-
tion, city entitlement process-
ing and code research.
Chaiken is NCARB certified
and a LEED Accredited Profes-
sional. He holds a Bachelor of
Architecture degree from the
University of Kansas.
s
JVA Inc.
recently added two
individuals to the firm.
Joe Urnise, PE,
is a project
manager in its Glenwood
Springs
structural
department.
He gradu-
ated with
bachelor’s
and master’s
degrees in
civil engi-
neering with
structural
emphasis
from the University of Mis-
souri-Kansas City. Urnise has
10 years of structural design
experience in Kansas City,
Seattle and the Roaring Fork
Valley. He also has extensive
Who’s News
Byron Haselden
Todd M. Wheeler
Steven J. Billigmeier
Willis V. Carpenter
Matt Chaiken
Joe Urnise
Andrew S. Klatskin
Stephanie Gerakos-
Rooker
by Jennifer Hayes
A one-hour interview isn’t
near enough time to cover a
lifetime of work.
However, it is enough time
to offer a glimpse into the
career of Lou Jahde, founder
and chairman of the board of
Palace Construction, who at
86 years old still comes into
the office two to three times
a week.
“I don’t really do anything,
though,” Jahde jokes of his
visits, always with Gigi, his
cavalier King Charles span-
iel, in tow.
And while he may not
think he does much during
his visits, Rick Carter, presi-
dent and chief executive offi-
cer of Palace, disagrees.
“He still contributes,” said
Carter, emphasizing Jahde’s
visits with the employees
reinforces the motto and
legacy of the company – do
the right thing. “When you
walk around the office, you
often hear people ask, ‘What
would Lou do?’”
It is this foundation that
spurred the success of Palace
Construction, which started
in 1963 as an insurance
repair company.
But Jahde also gives a little
credit to Sears.
After attending Northern
State University in South
Dakota for a year, Iowa-
born Jahde joined the South
Dakota National Guard and
served until 1952, when he
returned to school to finish
his business degree.
It was during his time in
the guard that Jahde was
stationed at Camp Carson
(now Fort Carson) and came
to love Colorado. He moved
here shortly after graduat-
ing and got started in the
real estate industry. It was a
short-lived career for Jahde,
who went to work in the
management program at
Sears Roebuck.
“Sears’ motto was ‘satis-
faction guaranteed.’ I really
liked it and I carried it over
to Palace Construction,”
added Jahde, who also held
management posts with
Machine Mart and Mountain
States Bank before co-found-
ing Palace Construction with
Marlin Walters.
He and his partner started
out doing insurance repairs –
before the days of insurance
deductibles, Jahde noted
– and never needed a con-
tract; work was completed
by a handshake. Everything
from kitchen fires to fixing
screen doors was tackled
by the “company” then –
with Jahde its only full-time
employee for the first nine
months.
The company grew to add
commercial projects, some
of the first being fast-food
restaurants and tenant finish
work. And as the company
grew, so did its locations,
commented Jahde, noting
the firm started out at 294 S.
Franklin St., where rent was
$60 a month, to a house on
Lipan Street, to two Quonset
huts to 70 S. Galapago St. to
today’s location a 7 S. Gala-
pago St. in Denver.
Today, Palace Construction
has commercial, restora-
tion and emergency services
divisions to assist clients in
all areas of commercial and
residential construction and
employs around 90 individu-
als.
It is the employees of Pal-
ace Construction of whom
Jahde is most proud.
“I think what I like the
most about our company is
the employees,” said Jahde.
“We have the best quality
group of people we’ve ever
had. A company’s greatest
asset is its employees.”
Relationships with clients
also are something Jahde
takes pride in and has
emphasized as key to the
success of Palace Construc-
tion past, present and future.
“You have to treat oth-
ers the way you want to be
treated yourself, to do right
by them. I grew up on a
farm with a good work ethic,
as someone you could trust,”
said Jahde, adding when
starting out in the insurance
repair world, being an ethi-
cal company in an industry
where some were not estab-
lished a framework of hones-
ty and integrity the company
lives by today.
Over his career, Jahde and
the firm completed a number
of projects – big and small –
including the St. Andrew’s
Village, a senior-living com-
munity offering assisted liv-
ing, Medicare rehabilitation,
outpatient care, companion
care, nursing and in-home
care in Aurora; CityScape
at Belmar, a mixed-income
senior community in Lake-
wood; and the Aria Apart-
ments, an affordable housing
community that meets both
Enterprise Green and LEED
Platinum standards.
While he may not be as
active on a day-to-day basis
with Palace Construction’s
projects, Jahde has been
active with the Denver
Southeast Rotary, Arapahoe
House, Denver Serra Club
and the Archdiocese of Den-
ver.
He also still enjoys golf,
and he used to enjoy skiing
and tennis, he laughs. He
spends time with his daugh-
ter, Michelle, Carter, his son-
in-law, and two granddaugh-
ters, both of whom attend
the University of Denver.
And Jahde sees no end in
sight of his and Gigi’s trips
to the office.
“I think the company is
very family oriented; it is
like a family,” said Jahde. “I
love it here.”
s
Profile
Lou Jahde
