Page 38 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— May 4-May 17, 2016
Donna Smith,
vice president
of business development at The
Neenan Co., was appointed to
the board of directors for
Transit
Alliance.
As a member of the board of
directors, Smith will assist Transit
Alliance in its mission to empow-
er citizens to lead the transforma-
tion of Colorado’s mobility future.
The public-advocacy organization
envisions a network of engaged
and informed private and public
stakeholders building a healthy,
sustainable and equitable society
through better mobility. Smith
also graduated from the organi-
zation’s Citizens’ Academy pro-
gram in 2015.
In addition to her experience at
The Neenan Co., Smith contrib-
utes nearly 20 years of accumu-
lated knowledge garnered from
working in economic develop-
ment for a number of Colorado
municipalities. Her other commu-
nity leadership positions include
serving on the board of directors
for the UnitedWay of Larimer
County and the Northern Colo-
rado Economic Development
Corp.
s
Elsy Studios
added two interior
designers to its team -
J Clancy
and
Rachel Grissop.
Both designers will be respon-
sible for project administration,
lease exhibits, space planning,
vendor collaboration and creat-
ing submissions for requests for
proposals.
Prior to joining the firm,
Clancy was an interior designer
for Corner-
stone Design
based out of
Boise, Idaho.
Her design
strengths
include
conceptual
solutions, cor-
porate design,
interior
architectural
elements and furniture. She also
spent time as a project manager
for furniture dealership Downs
andAssociates.
Previously, Grissop served as
president of
RLG Inc.,
where she
provided
project man-
agement and
consultation,
planning, pro-
posals, pro-
duction servic-
es and bids for
firms across
the United States. She lever-
ages this firsthand knowledge of
business ownership to inform her
client service and project manage-
ment approaches. She also spent
time as a project coordinator at
SSOE Group and as an interior
designer with Box Studios.
s
Jared Andersen
joined
Taylor
Kohrs
as project engineer.
His responsibilities include proj-
ect quantity
takeoffs, regu-
lar job walks
and project
documenta-
tion. Ander-
sen recently
received his
Bachelors of
Science degree
in construction
management
from Ferris State University. He
joins the firmwith experience in
commercial construction projects,
and oil and gas development.
s
Fifteen Colorado attorneys from
Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie
LLP
were recognized for pro bono
service during the law firm’s
annual John P. Frank Pro Bono
Awards luncheon.
The John P. Frank Pro Bono
Awards honor the late John P.
Frank of legacy firmLewis and
Roca, an attorney and constitu-
tional scholar best known for
his pro bono representation of
ErnestoMiranda before the U.S.
Supreme Court, which led to the
landmark ruling in 1966.
Denver attorneys receiving pro
bono service recognition include:
Nathaniel Barker, Fred Bau-
mann, Chad Caby, Dick Clark,
Mark Davidson, Charles Gold-
berg, John Michael Guevara,
Stephen Johnson, Hermine
Kallman, Brian Spano, Doug
Tumminello, James Walker
and
Amy Wills.
Colorado Springs attorneys
from the firm receiving pro bono
service recognition include
Nicho-
las Dyer
and
Eric Hall.
More than 6,700 hours of pro
bono legal service were pro-
vided firmwide by 52 Lewis Roca
Rothgerber Christie lawyers in
2015. Each individual recognized
during the luncheon provided a
minimum 50 hours of pro bono
service for the year.
s
Cuningham Group Architec-
ture Inc.
promoted several indi-
viduals in its Denver office.
Erik Okland, AIA, NCARB,
LEED AP BD+C,
was named asso-
ciate principal. He has more than
28 years of experience designing
andmanaging a wide range of
project types
from technical
laboratories
and health
care to large-
scale office
andmultifam-
ily projects.
Over the past
18 years, his
focus has been
on develop-
ing urban multifamily projects
within the Denver metro area.
He recently worked as the project
manager on the Northfield @ Sta-
pletonApartments, an affordable
multifamily residential complex
in Denver.
Morayma Salas, CSI, CCCA,
was named
associate. She
has more than
18 years of
experience in
architecture,
with over 10
years special-
izing in educa-
tional projects
with Cuning-
hamGroup.
She has experience frommany
K-12 school projects, including
her recent work on the facility
Who’s News
J Clancy
Rachel Grissop
Jared Andersen
Erik Okland
Morayma Salas
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Kevin Kelley and United
Properties hit a home run with
an industrial development at
Stapleton, but it was a retail deal
that first brought them together
on the field.
Kelley and United Proper-
ties teamed up over a decade
ago up to redevelop the Mar-
ketplace at Austin Bluffs. The
deal involved two major league
baseball ownership groups: the
Pohlads, who own United Prop-
erties and the Minnesota Twins,
and owners of the OaklandAth-
letics, who sold the property.
Kelley, United Properties
senior vice president and
regional director for Colorado,
remains fond of that deal, which
brought life to an outdatedmall
at a busy Colorado Springs loca-
tion.
“I would say of all the proper-
ties I’ve done, that’s been the
most fun. It was very reward-
ing, really well designed,” said
Kelley, who previously devel-
oped retail at Miller Weingarten
Realty in Denver and Faison
Associates in Charlotte, North
Carolina.
Kelley went on to develop a
handful of retail centers with
United Properties, but the
Springs center, unfortunately,
opened in the middle of the
recession. “Not withstanding
that, it’s an extremely success-
ful shopping center,” said Kel-
ley, noting United Properties
extended a significant lease and
sold the property in 2011.
Kelley’s expertise in retail,
which he considers the most
complex and challenging com-
mercial real estate product type,
laid the groundwork for future
developments, including the 2
million-square-foot Enterprise
Business Center at Stapleton.
While many developers still
were trying to recover from the
recession in 2012-2013, United
Properties made the decision
to grow its Denver presence,
and, “We happened to find an
incredible site,” said Kelley.
“We saw the (industrial) mar-
ket getting tighter and tighter
and tighter, with no inventory,
and no one that we could see
was going to build, except
maybe Majestic Realty, which
actually did start before us. We
were able to convince ourselves
and the Pohlad family to go
ahead and build spec, andwe
performed,” said Kelley, who
couldn’t have guessed the proj-
ect would lease faster than it
could be delivered.
He’s also developing Inova at
Dry Creek in Centennial, where
United Properties and partner
Principal Real Estate Investors
are close to a deal for their first,
221,675-sf office building, which
will be delivered by year-end.
Kelley, a Chicago area native,
migrated into commercial real
estate development via mort-
gage banking. Steve Bye, with
whomKelley worked before
graduate school inMadison,
Wisconsin, was opening what
now is NorthMarq Capital’s
Denver office and asked him to
come aboard.
With a brother and sister in
Colorado, and happymemo-
ries of vacationing here, he and
his wife, Lisa, made the move.
Kelley later moved to the local
office of Baird &Warner, a lead-
ing residential real estate firm
with a commercial division.
“In the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, it
was really tough in Denver. It
was really hard to do financing,
hard to do loans,” he said.
At a meeting of the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin Real Estate
Alumni Association, of which
he was president, Kelley ran
into a friendwho offered him
a partnership doing in-house
financing and raising capital in
Charlotte for FaisonAssociates,
which developedmore than
20 grocery-anchored shopping
centers over the following two
to three years. Having shifted
from a capital perspective to a
development perspective, Kel-
ley never looked back.
In 1997, Kelley took a buyout
and formed Renaissance Realty
Groupwith two partners. The
company provided asset man-
agement for retail centers in the
Southeast.
Within a few years, however,
Kelley’s best friendmoved to
Denver and a sister inArizona
was diagnosedwith breast
cancer.
“I kind of felt the pull to be
with family and get back to
familiar ground,” he said. “I
came back to Denver, talked to
some folks, and one of them
was SkipMiller” of Miller Wein-
garten.
“It was a great experience
…but I really felt the pull of
doingmy own thing again. I
spent nine months looking at
development opportunities, put
a property (the Marketplace at
Austin Bluffs) under contract in
Colorado Springs, andmy part-
ner was United Properties.”
Askedwhat it takes to suc-
ceed in commercial real estate
development, Kelley said, “I
think it takes someone with a
lot of experience who’s seen a
lot of things. I’ve been through
a number of recessions and
expansions. I think I kind of
have a unique ability to look
ahead and see how I can get
fromAto Z. Alot of that is
throughmy years in the busi-
ness. I’ve hadmy share of suc-
cesses, but I’ve had some things
that haven’t worked out as well.
That’s really honedmy experi-
ence,” he said.
“People are really important,”
he added. “You’ve got to have
the right team of people, obvi-
ously, but you also have to have
a company behind you and a
family that lets you do what
you do best,” said Kelley, add-
ing the fact that United Proper-
ties is so well capitalized posi-
tions it as a trusted performer.
Kelley likes the creative pro-
cess and seeing others take joy
in bringing projects to successful
completion. He also enjoys help-
ing younger people develop
their careers. “We’ve had great
success over the last two or
three years, and that’s been
very rewarding for me and for
everybody,” said Kelley, who
serves as president of NAIOP
Colorado.
In addition to his wife and
three children –Matt, Molly and
Erin – Kelley has six siblings,
including Frank Kelley of CBRE
Inc., a well-known Denver
broker. When Kevin Kelley
returned to the Denver market
several years ago, he’d drop
Frank’s name because, “He’s
got a great reputation in the
market. Everybody knows him.
It usually was an ice-breaker
because everybody has a Frank
Kelley story,” he laughed.
“We’re a close family and
we’re always there to help each
other. We have our share of fun
and laughter and yelling at each
other. We’re kind of a typical
Irish Catholic family.”
Traveling, camping and hik-
ing are among Kelley’s pas-
times. “I’ve gotten into road
biking in a big way the last two
years,” said 61-year-old Kelley,
who already has logged his first
Ride the Rockies.
While biking helps calm the
stress of commercial real estate
development, so do age and
experience.
“I’m a very competitive per-
son. I’mpretty hard charging,
but I have come to realize it
doesn’t do you any good. You
just have to take it one step at a
time, one day at a time. Tomor-
row’s another day.”
s
Profile
Kevin Kelley
