CREJ - Office Properties Quarterly

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Page 18 — Office Properties Quarterly — April 2015
L ike a coach evaluating the
depth of skill on his team up
and down the bench, I have
been struck lately by all the
strengths that Denver is bring-
ing to the game. If economic develop-
ment recruitment is a championship
tournament amid grueling competi-
tion, Denver has shown that it has the
stats, the gifts and the drive to go all
the way toward its ambitious goal of
being the next truly great world-class
city.
Denver’s lineup of assets includes the
following:
Our workforce. Denver’s labor pool is
deep and wide; we are second to none
in concentrated talent. Our workforce
strength is created when you start with
an exceptionally well-educated popula-
tion, and then overlay the fact that this
is a top-ranking place where people all
over the country would choose to live.
Our startup climate. Our state boasts
the fourth-highest concentration of
sole proprietors in the country, and
consistently ranks in the top five for
entrepreneurship. A 2014 report on
Colorado’s fertile climate for entre-
preneurs estimated that we’re seeing
one new startup company in the state
every 72 hours. Small wonder that
here in Denver, the percentage of small
business jobs as a subset of all employ-
ment is a robust 44 percent.
Our rankings. Virtually every com-
munity in the country has at least
one thing that they can point to that
propels them to the top of some real
or perceived hierarchy or competi-
tion.The factor that makes Denver’s
rankings enviably distinctive is that
we have so many right at the top of
anyone’s list of just about anything
that matters.Top place where people
want to live? Mag-
net destination for
emerging profes-
sionals aged 25-34?
High rate of college
graduates; low rate
of adult obesity;
high level of venture
capital; low rate of
corporate tax?Yeah,
we’ve got all that.
Some days the
aggregate strength
of all that Denver
brings to the field
makes it a little
hard to be humble.
We’ve posted some
very strong wins in recent months that
have confirmed that our game plan is
a tough one to beat.
A “Go-To” Destination
Our current winning streak started
whenWorldRemit, a London-based
financial services firm, announced in
December that it would be opening
its North American headquarters and
operations center in Denver in early
2015.We competed with several other
cities for this deal, which will grow rap-
idly to a staff of 100 this year and more
than double within a few years.
WorldRemit offers an online money
transfer service with a global reach of
more than 110 countries. In 2014, the
company added 15 Latin American
countries. In addition, Accel Partners
– an early backer of Facebook, Spotify
and Dropbox – invested $40 million in
WorldRemit.
“Denver offers the perfect combina-
tion of a highly skilled workforce, sup-
portive local authority and idyllic loca-
tion,” saidWorldRemit Founder and
CEO Ismail Ahmed. “The city is already
gaining a reputation as a go-to destina-
tion for the burgeoning financial tech
sector and stealing the thunder of New
York and SiliconValley.”
The firm is leasing 11,126 square
feet of downtown office space at 600
17th St.The Denver office had barely
opened its doors whenWorldRemit
landed a $100 million round of addi-
tional venture financing, which may
speed up the hiring in Denver.
The Colorado Office of Economic
Development & International Trade
approved incentives forWorldRemit
totaling up to $3.4 million. Our office
pledged more than $110,000 of incen-
tives, which includes support from the
city’s Business Incentive Fund, busi-
ness personal property tax credits and
workforce development support.
Riding the Rail
A second and significant win for
Denver arrived when Panasonic
announced that it would build a hub
for its fast-growing business solutions
operations adjacent to Denver Interna-
tional Airport.The campus will create
about 300 jobs, incorporating both the
new operations base and an assembly
facility, said Jim Doyle, president of
Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Co.
The project, which is expected to be
completed by mid-2016, will allow Pan-
asonic Enterprise Solutions to further
expand its rapidly growing large-scale
audiovisual and ecosolutions business.
Attracting Panasonic as the anchor
tenant for this new transit-oriented
development is one of the biggest eco-
nomic development wins for Denver
and the entire region in the past sev-
eral years. Also, it marks a giant step
forward for the “Corridor of Opportu-
nity” between downtown and DIA. It
reinforces that our culture of ingenu-
ity and incredibly talented workforce
continues to make Denver a magnet
for industries of tomorrow, delivering
new opportunities and connections to
further strengthen our economy for
decades to come.
Doyle said the firm intends to drive
global attention to the importance of
sustainable community development.
Denver’s deep commitment to sustain-
ability and quality of life makes the city
and the state of Colorado the perfect
place to do this, he said.
AMajor Downtown Decision
The economic development game
isn’t merely scored by flashy recruit-
ment wins, of course. Behind the
scenes and out of the headlines,
myriad factors and smaller deals are
playing out weekly as firms of all sizes
consider specific and often unique
factors that drive location and leasing
decisions.
Meanwhile, no less important than
firms that relocate here are the exist-
ing ones that Denver can keep happy
and thriving.These aren’t the thrilling
home runs exactly, but a steady run
of singles and doubles – maintaining
relationships, building trust, listening,
ensuring lines of communication, solv-
ing problems and reducing barriers.
We work hard not merely to retain
employers, but also to encourage them
to grow their operations and employ-
ment base.
Such was the case recently with the
announcement that Transamerica, one
Paul
Washington
Executive director,
Denver Office
of Economic
Development,
Denver
Market Drivers