Colorado Real Estate Journal - November 4, 2015
Beth Van Vurst joined Fairfield and Woods PC as of counsel in the law firm’s water and real estate department. Van Vurst has specialized in water rights law for the last 10 years. As part of her practice, Van Vurst also advises clients on associated water quality, environmental, real estate and tax law matters. She earned her law degree from the University of Colorado Law School, and also attended CU for her undergraduate degree in geology. Van Vurst received her Master of Law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in tax as well. Prior to joining Fairfield and Woods, she worked in private practice on the Western Slope. Doug Westfall joined the Denver regional office of NorthMarq Capital as senior vice president and producer. At the commercial real estate financial intermediary, Westfall will focus on commercial mortgage-backed securities, life insurance company, retirement fund, FNMA/ FHLMC and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development commercial and multifamily mortgage originations and servicing. Westfall was a director at Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital from 2007 to 2015, where he was responsible for originating affordable housing permanent debt products, including Wells Fargo balance sheet permanent debt products, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD. Prior experience includes two years as senior vice president at Bulls Capital Partners; two years as senior vice president at GMAC Commercial Mortgage Affordable Housing; national director-affordable housing and national directorpublic finance at Freddie Mac; regional director-multifamily affordable housing products at Fannie Mae; and two years as a loan officer at SunTrust Income Property Group. Nicole R. Ament, a shareholder with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, will serve as chairwoman of the firm’s Hospitality, Resort and Recreation Group. Ament’s leadership also signals a name change from hospitality group to Hospitality, Resort and Recreation Group. As part of the law firm’s real estate department, the Hospitality, Resort and Recreation Group focuses on providing a wide range of legal services to hotels, resorts, casinos and other clients operating in the hospitality sector – including some of the biggest names in this industry. Ament has played a key role in expanding the group’s focus on hospitality to include golf course, club and ski resort clients, including ClubCorp, KSL Capital and Vail Resorts. As a shareholder in the Denver office, Ament focuses her practice on guiding high-profile real estate clients through large-scale transactions. Ament’s notable successes include negotiating the interconnection between Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts, ClubCorp's acquisition of Sequoia Golf and Brue Capital Partners' acquisition of the 2,655-acre Adam's Rib country club, as well as providing strategic advice on urban renewal and financing options to the developers of Fitzsimons Village. Additionally, she managed the negotiations with the city of Denver, the city of Aurora, Denver International Airport and four separate school districts for the initial entitlement required for High Point. Ashley Hergenreder joined Chrisland Real Estate Cos. as a licensed transaction and marketing coordinator. Her primary responsibilities will be to assist the commercial real estate services and development firm’s clients and provide support with transactions and marketing efforts. Hergenreder brings to the firm more than 10 years of real estate experience, including working in escrow and title, residential and commercial real estate. Most recently, she spent eight years as a transaction manager for a local commercial brokerage firm with administrative support responsibilities. Currently she is pursuing her degree at Colorado State University with a concentration in real estate finance. Jamie Baker Roskie of Coan, Payton & Payne LLC received a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating, an objective indicator of a lawyer’s ethical standards and professional ability generated from evaluation of lawyers by other members of the bar and judiciary in the U.S. Baker Roskie’s legal practice focuses on all aspects of commercial real estate and land use planning law, including land development, planning, zoning, contract review, local government law, and environmental and conservation issues.