Colorado Real Estate Journal -
Their differences make them a better team, but Jeff Caldwell and Blake Holcomb wouldn’t be a team if it weren’t for what they have in common. “We’re both real outdoorsy. We spend a lot of time in the mountains. We climb fourteeners. We hike and bike and ski, so our love for Colorado was what brought us together,” said Caldwell. Caldwell and Holcomb teamed up at Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors late last year, expanding the burgeoning office group at the firm known largely for apartment deals. It was a careful, considered decision for the former Grubb & Ellis brokers and one facilitated by Eric Shaw, who already had left Grubb for Pinnacle. “We felt like Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors was the best fit for us,” said Caldwell. “Pinnacle is a local company – very entrepreneurial, and very enthusiastic and energetic. We felt very good about the opportunity to be part of something that was grassroots and growing.” “The culture here is very unique,” added Holcomb, who enjoys the collaborative environment. “When you walked in the door, it felt like home,” he said. “When Jeff and Blake researched what company they wanted to be at, it was exhilarating to discover our passion and outlook on the business are very similar,” said Pinnacle Real Estate principal Matt Ritter. “It made them such an obvious and great fit for our organization.” Commercial real estate is second nature to Caldwell, the son of Bob Caldwell, who ran the former Coldwell Banker Commercial and Grubb & Ellis offices in Denver, as well as the Schuck Commercial Brokerage in Colorado Springs. Jeff Caldwell’s brother, Scott, heads up Lincoln Property Co. “Real estate is ingrained in our family,” Caldwell said. But Caldwell didn’t immediately fall into his father’s footsteps. He spent a couple of years making a living as a drummer in a rock band. Watching friends who were starting their careers, “I just had the notion that I was potentially going to be left behind,” he said. So he joined Palmer McAllister, where he’d interned in college, and set the stage for his career as an office leasing broker. Holcomb, on the other hand, had aspirations of becoming a financial adviser after interning with Morgan Stanley in college. A Chicago-area native, he studied business at the University of Colorado and returned home to discover, “That business was not for me.” Friends who were in the real estate business thought his skill set and personality made him a good fit for commercial real estate, and cold calling led him to a position at CBIZ Gibraltar Real Estate Services, where he worked as an office tenant rep broker. “I was always driven to understand the unique aspects of buildings and the ownership structures – everything encompassing the real estate world,” said Holcomb. Although he took to the business, “I started to really miss Colorado and everything it had to offer – the skiing and fishing and beautiful weather.” In 2007, Holcomb moved back and joined Grubb & Ellis as a tenant rep broker. His background paired well with that of Caldwell, who’d focused mostly on landlord representation. Together, they do about half tenant rep and half landlord rep, as well as office-user sale transactions. With each deal, they strive to listen carefully to clearly understand clients’ objectives so they can help them achieve their goals, they said.
They handle leasing for Schnitzer West at 44 Cook and 55 Madison in Cherry Creek, where they’ve done 30 lease transactions, including renewals, for 150,000 square feet since 2010. Caldwell also worked with Shea Properties in leasing 225,000 sf in Cherry Creek, which led to the leasing assignment for Village Center Station in Greenwood Village, which is fully leased. Caldwell and Holcomb recently won the office leasing assignment with Integral Real Estate Development for the Glendale Riverwalk, a proposed 42-acre entertainment-focused development along Cherry Creek. Holcomb considers commercial real estate a “fascinating business because there are so many moving parts and things are constantly changing.” “There are always challenges and obstacles to overcome for your clients to get to the end result.” “I like the entrepreneurial nature of this business,” added Caldwell. “I get to learn about a lot of different businesses and how they prosper. I really am relationship-centric. I like to get to know and get close to the people I do business with. We really value solid relationships with our clients.” Ritter said Caldwell and Holcomb bring “a level of sophistication and professionalism to our team that allows us to continue to grow in the office sector, which is a primary strategic focus for our organization.” Caldwell, 42, and 30-year old Holcomb both live in Denver; both are members of NAIOP, the University of Colorado Real Estate Council and the Cherry Creek Chamber of Commerce; and both are die-hard CU sports fans. While Caldwell takes off to surf in California every couple of months, Holcomb is trying to hone his golf skills and can be found rooting for any team with the name Chicago in it. “If the Cubs ever go to the World Series, I’ll be on a plane back to Chicago,” he said.