Land Title Guarantee Company and NAIOP Colorado, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, will host the 12th Annual Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge. The challenge is a premier real estate event featuring students from the University of Colorado and the University of Denver, as well as industry leaders in the Colorado real estate community. Building on the Challenge’s 11-year history, the featured project will focus on a parcel of land in Parker, Colorado, which is located on the southern end of the Denver Metro area. Student teams will evaluate the development opportunity on East Mainstreet in Old Town Parker, which is anticipated to serve as both an anchor for downtown Parker, as well as a gateway onto East Mainstreet.
In its 12th year, the Challenge tasks more than 50 of the state’s best and brightest graduate students from the University of Colorado and the University of Denver to evaluate and make recommendations for this key civic gateway, owned by the Town of Parker. The students will form teams which will compete against one another for scholarships, future employment and the NAIOP Cup (awarded to the winning school each year). Beginning in January 2014, student teams will begin a four-month period of working with industry professionals and the Town of Parker to analyze every aspect of the site.
The Challenge culminates with a banquet event on May 7, 2014, where students will present their findings to Town officials and an audience of over 600 real estate professionals. Tickets for the event, which will be held at the Marriot City Center in downtown Denver, will go on sale in early February.
To add to the complexity, this year’s Challenge includes Douglas County Libraries which is ready to build a new state-of-the-art facility that will seamlessly integrate with the larger planning process. “Douglas County Libraries is excited to have the opportunity to continue to gain essential community input and feedback as we work towards building a new library for the Parker community,” said David Farnan, Associate Director of Community Services for Douglas County Libraries. “From this creative process, we look forward to hearing about the interesting ideas and concepts in regards to the development of this whole site.”
The overall goal for the Town of Parker is to enhance the Downtown area as a vibrant and attractive ‘destination’, while thoughtfully creating an Eastern Gateway to the Downtown core which includes recently-completed civic amenities. “We are thrilled to have a motivated project sponsor who envisions executing on the ideas realized through this challenge. The combination of interests will provide a wide variety of concepts for the students to consider,” said Susan Stanton, Chairman of the NAIOP organizing committee. “To be successful in this year’s competition, students will be required to understand public finance at the municipal level and balance the interests of multiple stakeholders.”
“The Town of Parker is excited to partner with Douglas County Libraries and the development community to improve this prominent gateway into Old Town Parker,” said Mayor Mike Waid. “The Town believes that sponsoring the NAIOP Real Estate Challenge, in support of the participating university students and programs, will greatly assist in the creation of development plans that are driven by both community vision and market dynamics.”
The outcome of the NAIOP Challenge will help the Town understand the various development options for the site and evaluate the cost/benefits of different ideas for this important real estate asset. Student teams will be responding to an RFP formatted case statement that will weigh the
civic goals, the economic realities and the environmental constraints of the site. The Town of
Parker will be using this year’s challenge to help create a better understanding of the site development potential and are optimistic that elements of the outcome can be a part of what is ultimately built on the site.
About the Town of Parker
The Town of Parker is a progressive, highly-educated and affluent community with plenty of opportunity to grow. Parker is home to more than 46,000 residents and is expected to reach approximately 60,000 at build out. The Town encompasses 20.8 square miles and is located in northern Douglas County, uniquely situated between Colorado's two largest cities - Denver and Colorado Springs. Ranked number 12 on the CNN Money Magazine's 2013 Best Places to Live List, , Parker was also the proud host community of the 2013 Solheim Cup event. Parker prides itself on offering a wide range of recreational and community activities to our citizens. The Town offers a variety of community events and has an amazing network of trails for biking, hiking, skating and horseback riding, as well as numerous parks and open spaces. For more information, visit www.parkeronline.org.
About Land Title Guarantee Company
Land Title Guarantee Company is a locally owned and operated title insurance company, dedicated to serving Colorado and its people since 1967. Land Title provides quality title, closing and escrow services to homebuyers and sellers, residential and commercial real estate professionals, mortgage lenders and servicers, and home builders. One company has it all Guarantee(d). .. LOCAL: A genuine Colorado product—produced by Coloradoans for Coloradoans. STABLE: Our principled financial, business and underwriting practices maintain the security of our customers’ transactions and funds. PROFESSIONAL: Most courteous, accurate and experienced title & closing experts in the industry. RESOURCEFUL: Continually invest in our legal, IT, construction disbursement, and 1031 groups. COLLABORATIVE: Build relationships with our clients to provide networking, business planning and marketing support. For more information, visit our website at www.ltgc.com.
About NAIOP
NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is the leading organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial and mixed-use real estate. NAIOP provides unparalleled industry networking and education, and advocates for effective legislation on behalf of its members. NAIOP advances responsible, sustainable development that creates jobs and benefits the communities in which its members work and live. For more information, visit www.naiop-colorado.org.