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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— March 16-April 5, 2016
Thursday, April 21, 2016 • 7:30 - 9:30 AM
Registration fee includes breakfast: $55 - members, $60 - nonmembers
Four Seasons Hotel Denver • 1111 14th Street, Denver, Colorado 80202
The 2016 Economic Forecast reviews the events of the past several years and examines emerging trends at the national level followed
by a highlight of the economy in Colorado and Metro Denver.
Anirban Basu will share his insight on how the economy has and will impact Colorado’s construction industry, including his forecast for the
remainder of 2016. This will be essential planning information for our industry’s decision makers - a
“must attend”
event that typically sells out.
Premier Sponsors
Brought to you by ABC and our event sponsors:
Major Sponsor
Supporting Sponsors
Media Sponsor
2267 West Yale Avenue • Englewood, CO 80110 • 303-832-5812
Please RSVP to Joanna Johnson a
2016 Construction
Forecast
Keynote Speaker: Anirban Basu,
ABC’s Chief Economist
Industry Co-Host
Presenting
Sponsor
Construction, Design & Engineering
“B
e quick, but don’t
hurry” are pro-
found words by
legendary University of Cali-
fornia Los Angeles basketball
coach John Wooden. Wood-
en has been identified as the
Coach of the (20th) Century
by ESPN for his ability to form
high-performing teams across
wide ranges of the social-
economic spectrum and love
them into national champion-
ships. Between 1964 and 1975,
Wooden’s UCLA Bruins won
10 national championships by
embracing and excelling at a
crucial business practice –
speed to market.
Wooden didn’t know that he
was preaching speed to market,
but many a business author has
made that connection. Wooden
taught discipline, predictability,
accountability, agility and class.
He brought in the best talent
he could find, gave players a
clear vision and treated them
– all of them – with kindness
and respect. Many of his play-
ers often referred to the love
that Wooden felt for his players
as their greatest motivation to
perform.
So what does coaching bas-
ketball have to do with the con-
struction industry?
Speed to market in construc-
tion is about pro formas, design
decisions, budget manage-
ment, fast-track procurement
and permit expediting. And it
doesn’t matter the project type
–apartments, office develop-
ments, schools and health care
facilities – all seem to have the
goal of “right away.” How does
one deliver at speed-to-market
pace? Much like coaching, it
takes quantifiable and man-
ageable tasks focused on tal-
ent, vision, discipline, agility,
accountability, kindness and
respect.
In today’s
e c o n o m y ,
p r a c t i c a l l y
every proj-
ect
being
planned for,
in
design
or
coming
out of the
ground has
some degree
of speed to
market. And
to
achieve
s p e e d - t o -
market suc-
cess, it takes talent, vision, dis-
cipline, agility, accountability,
kindness and respect.
For argument’s sake, let’s
separate these seven traits into
two categories: prerequisites
for success and differentiators
for success. Prerequisites are
just that and without them
there is failure. In the words
of Coach Wooden, “Failing to
prepare is preparing to fail.” In
the built industry, lacking the
prerequisites of talent, vision
and a respectful environment is
preparing to fail. When assem-
bling project teams, we look
for the most talented partners,
with the most candid and clear
vision, who respect the rest of
their teammates.
If talent, vision and respect are
prerequisites, then the degree
to which the remaining traits
of discipline, agility, account-
ability and kindness exist in a
team are directly proportional
to the ease and grace by which
the objective is achieved. Dis-
cipline and accountability are
traits of team members who
meet deadlines without excus-
es. Agility is the ability to adapt
and overcome the guaranteed
yet unexpected bumps in the
road. Kindness is doing this all
with a smile on your face.
While the construction mar-
ket is hot today, we can look
to the oil and gas industry in
Colorado as an example of a
soaring-to-plunging market.
The Dow can’t decide what it
wants to be when it grows up
and interest rates are finally
on the rise. Speed to market is
drawn on more now than ever
across all industries, and my
favorite Wooden quote seems
to sum up this current market
state: “There is never enough
time to be sure, and if you
are sure, then you’re probably
late.”
My advice: Follow the traits.
Assemble the best team. Give
them a clear vision and empow-
er themto act boldly in a respect-
ful manner. Be disciplined and
hold yourself accountable as a
leader by example. When the
things happen and you have to
change course, smile, be agile
and be thankful for the team
you have around you.
s
Aaron Townsend
Chief estimator,
Swinerton Builders,
Denver
“I wouldn’t say we have a tar-
get exactly, but I would say that
typically we like to own at least
1,000 units in a market,” Kirsh
said.
Other News
n
Denver-based
BMC Invest-
ments
recently paid $50.8 million
for the 434-unit Artisan Town-
homes and Apartments in Den-
ver.
BMC’s partner in the acquisi-
tion is Los Angeles-based
Oak
Coast Properties.
The seller was
Peak Capital
Partners,
based in Provo, Utah.
“The Artisan property is an
acquisition with significant
potential because of its strong
location and connectivity to a
number of destinations,” said
Matthew Joblon,
CEO of BMC
Investments.
“We, along with our partner,
plan to extensively improve the
property for the long term,” he
added.
BLDG Management,
the prop-
erty management company affili-
ated with BMC Investments, will
manage the property that is min-
utes from the Denver Tech Center
and the Interstate 225 light-rail
line.
This marks the second acquisi-
tion partnership for BMC Invest-
ments and Oak Coast Properties,
which is a California-based devel-
oper, owner andmanager of mul-
tifamily and hotel properties.
“The Artisan also grows our
Denver apartments portfolio to
over 1,500 units and provides
an opportunity for significant
upside potential through a reno-
vation plan that capitalizes on
rising rental rates, unit demand
and lack of new supply in this
in-demand region,” said
Phillip
Nahas,
a managing partner at
Oak Coast.
s
Starlight
