RICHARD WOBBEKIND ANNA JONES AND TODD WENSKOSKI PAUL WASHINGTON
RON THROUPE JEFF HAWKS JERRY KENDALL ALISON GEORGE PETER FROMKNECHT
ects . It is their goal to energize communities and provide a gateway to downtown Denver .
Current NDCC projects include the Globville and Elyria-Swansea Neighborhood Plans , National Western Center , Brighton Boulevard Corridor Redevelopment , River North / South Platte River , I-70 East Reconstruction , and RTD Station Development . “ This is a vision to help , not only reconnect these neighborhoods to one another , but to the rest of the City of Denver ” said Jones .
Ron Throupe , Jeff Hawks , Jerry Kendall , and Alison George , provided their insight as well and hinted at the fact that Colorado growth continues to be the main driver of rents . Jeff Hawks noted that investing in Colorado ’ s rental market is really becoming competitive . “ 50 % of all buyers in Colorado are new buyers ”, said Hawks and “… that there are 20 millennials living at home in metro Denver today for every one unit on the market ”.
The average rent last quarter increased slightly to $ 1,371 , however discounts and concessions rose as well , which is the first sign of an oversupplied area . Ron Throupe notes that “ We don ’ t see a big end to what ’ s going on here , you ’ d think we would soften up or slow down and that really hasn ’ t happened yet ”, however concessions and discounts foreshadow that it is likely to happen soon .
The areas with the highest rents and lowest vacancies also tend to be the areas with the least amount of construction . This isn ’ t surprising , but is concerning ; for rents to level off there needs to be an increase in supply . The main question seemed to be that the market was doing well , but for how long ?
Finally , the day ’ s last panel consisted of Rick Graf , President and CEO of Pinnacle Property Management , Mike Clow , the Executive Director for Greystar Real Estate Partners , and Chris Geer , the CEO of Haven Capital . The panel was directly responsible for managing over 500,000 units around the world and are growing bigger by the day . When given the question of where they would invest $ 100 million , the panel was unified in saying that they would seriously consider investing in Colorado , but Las Vegas , New York , and Los Angeles also made the list .
Whatever the economic outcome , it is clear that housing providers play a key role in Colorado ’ s economy and will continue to be a driving force of jobs , revenue , and quality of living . Colorado is a fantastic place to live and will only continue to attract new people .
INDUSTRY TRENDS PANEL WITH MIKE CLOW , CHRIS GEER AND RICK GRAF CONFERENCE CO-CHAIR TEO NICOLAIS www . aamdhq . org AUGUST 2016 • TRENDS | 25