Special to InsideRealEstateNews

Melissa Baldridge

Metrolist, the largest real estate multiple listing service  serving Colorado real estate agents, recently unveiled “Energy/Green fields,” a far-reaching initiative that integrates ‘energy/green’ data into the MLS search process, officials say.

By adding key attributes such as searchable fields, Colorado’s largest MLS will provide the industry with much-needed energy and green  data through home sales listings, a key component of quantifying market value and identifying comparison data for real estate professionals, homebuyers, and for appraisers that are valuating energy-efficient homes, officials say.

Governor’s Energy Office

Metrolist’s new green-field initiative is the result of work the company began with the Governor’s Energy Office  in 2010.

“We identified two major reasons why we should move forward with searchable green fields,” said James T. Wanzeck, Metrolist chairman. “The first is social responsibility. Buildings, after all, consume 39 percent of the nation’s energy use. The second is Realtor differentiation. Anything Realtors can do to differentiate themselves is good.”

Metrolist, which represents approximately 50 percent of Colorado’s Realtors and almost 70 percent of the state’s real estate transactions, designed its implementation of green fields to correlate with the recommendations of the GEO’s Appraisal Committee and has made available to its 15,000 members the state supplied Energy/Green Feature Addendum. An open and voluntary group, the Committee worked with key stakeholders in developing recommended searchable fields for integration into Colorado’s multiple listings services.

Green features in this home at 3404 Tejon St. will be easy to search in Metrolist's new green fields.

“Adding searchable green fields to Metrolist is very exciting” said Pete Rusin, a GEO residential program associate. “This effort will not only increase the coverage of energy efficiency fields in Colorado, it will help home owners and buyers find homes that can save them money on their utility costs.”

Consistent with the appraisal committee’s recommendations, Metrolist’s searchable fields are split into two categories, “Certifications” and “Features.” Sellers can also showcase additional common features of an energy‐efficient/“green” home.

According to  Wanzeck, compiling this data in Colorado is critical because green-building advocates say it will mirror what has  been happening in other parts of the country.

“We know that green homes sell faster and for more money than conventional, code-built comparables,” said Wanzeck. “I believe all of our re-tooling and data capture will help nearly everyone in Colorado see green.”

Melissa Baldridge is co-founder of of eGreenContractors, which offers more than 120 service categories for residential and commercial repairs, renovations and additions. She also blogs about green building, living and design. Contact her at Melissa@eGreenContractors.com

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KB Home is among the new home builders benefitting from its green construction techniques.

As national headlines screamed that 2011 was the worst year on record for the sale of new homes, Denver bucked that trend, shows a report released today.

“Denver is de-coupling itself from the national market and is moving to the forefront in the recovery cycle,” said Jeff Whiton, President and CEO of the HBA of Metro Denver. “We are encouraged.”

Nationally, the Commerce Department reported today that about 302,000 new homes were sold last year, the worst year since at least 1963, when it began tracking new home sales.

By contrast, the HBA of Metro Denver this afternoon released a report showing that builders in the Denver metro area pulled 3,545 building permits last year for single-family detached homes, 4.9 percent more than the 3,379 in 2010. The HBA does not track sales or housing starts. Permits reflect future building activity.

“Housing activity is up almost 5 percent, which is a step in the right direction,” Whiton said. “”The numbers are still small. We are still down 70 percent or 75 percent from 2006 and 2007,” before the Denver-area and national housing collapse.

“Denver is considered one of the strongest  markets in the country, as far as emerging from this down cycle,” Whiton said. “Some major cities in Texas are coming back and certain parts of California. Denver is on the forefront of the recovery.”

Although the permit activity doesn’t correlate exactly with sales, home builders are constructing new homes to meet demand, Whiton said.

“Builders are responding to market conditions,” he said. “They are doing really well against the resale market right now. There is not very much resale inventory on the market, so builders are providing the right product to meet the needs of consumers.”

The report includes the counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Jefferson and all of the communities in those counties.

Denver showed the most activity, with 623 permits pulled, followed by Aurora with 501.

In December, permit activity was up 14.2 percent from December 2010, but the numbers were small – 274 compared with 240.

Whiton said that in addition to the shortage of resale homes – which are at the lowest level in more than 10 years – new homes increasingly are packed with energy saving features.

“It is really almost a sea-change in green features,” Whiton said. “That is giving new homes a real market edge over resale homes.”

The dismal national home sales numbers helped fuel a drop in the stock market, with most home building companies getting hit especially hard.

Denver-based M.D.C. Holdings Inc., parent of Richmond American Homes, was no exception, with its stock dropping 1.45 percent to $21.

M.D.C. was the largest builder in the Denver area last year, pulling 444 permits, a 38.8 percent drop from 2010, when it pulled 726 permits.

Meanwhile, builders pulled permits for 2,008 apartment units, double the 1,003 pulled in 2010. Municipalities issued 834 permits for single-family attached homes, such as townhomes and condos, 4.5 percent more than the 798 in 2010.

In total, builders pulled 6,387 permits for all housing types, a 23.3 percent increase from the 5,179 issued in 2010.

“Last year, at this time, we made the bold statement that we would have about 6,000 new housing units in the Denver area, and now the data is showing about 6,300, albeit most of it is coming from multifamily,” said Patty Silverstein, chief economist for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. “We were predicting that 2012 would continue to increase, about 14 percent above 2011 levels. With the December data, we may revise our outlook upward.”

But she cautioned it’s not time to break out the bubbly.

“We are still significantly below historical norms,” Silverstein said. “This is not a boom by any stretch of the imagination.”

On the other hand, builders are not adding too much supply to the market, added Silverstein, who also is principal of Development Research Partners.

“When we look at growth in the Denver region, Denver is on the brink of needing some new housing units. Our overall housing market never soared like so many other places during the boom, and we never had the huge downfall.”

Even modest increases in home construction helps fuel the overall economy, and not just by providing jobs for people in the trades, from framers to drywallers, plumbers to electricians.

“The housing and construction industry have very large multiplier effects that ripple throughout the whole economy,” Silverstein said. “Once someone buys a home, they typically need to furnish the house. So occupants of new homes also have a very large multiplier effect,” creating more jobs.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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Matt Fredell stands in front of his solar home in Littleton.

The first “unique” thing that Matt Fredell wants you to know about the custom home he built in Littleton…is that it doesn’t look unique.

“It’s not some geeky looking house,” Fredell, owner of Innovative Structures LLC said, on a tour of the home on South Wadsworth Court, which he claims is one of the most energy efficient homes in the Denver area.

“It fits right in with the neighborhood,” he said during a tour of the 6,000-square-foot house, with 3,300 finished square feet.

Green doesn't mean unattractive.

It’s not always easy to make a home not like a box, when it is as much as 90 percent more energy efficient than a typical new home, he said.

He sold it for $500,000, which  is in line with a home that size in the area, Fredell said. The major energy saving components only added 5 percent to the cost, Fredell said.

Energy saving features include:

• A super-tight exterior envelope.
• Passive and active solar systems.
• A thermal mass system under the basement floor.
• A blower system that augments the furnace, circulating heat throughout the home, helping to keep the temperature constant whether you are in the basement or on the second floor.
• A hybrid water heater.

South window brings in the sun

Given what an energy miser the home is, the other unique feature that Fredell quickly pointed out is a south-facing window on the side of the house. “It’s just plain glass,” he said. “It’s not a low-E, insulated glass. That’s because those kind of windows keep the heat from entering the house.”

From the south, he wants the heat to enter the house to serve as a passive solar feature.

“It’s a solar engine,” he said. “We’re harvesting the sun with the gains from the non-insulated window.”

The other windows, however, are top-of-the line, low-E insulated windows.

Passive solar book

Fredell built the home based on the philosophy of James Kachadorian, author of “The Passive Solar House,” which provides techniques for building homes that heat and cool themselves.

Fredell’s home, however, also includes an array of photovoltaic cells on the garage roof. In addition to providing electricity for the house, the solar panels also heat water.

One of the key features of the home is that it extremely tightly built. Much of the home was constructed in a factory, and then assembled on the site.

SIP panels

It uses Structural Insulated Panels, or SIP, foam-panel insulation from Precision Panel Colorado LLC. SIPs eliminate the potential of voids that greatly reduce energy efficiency and are common with batt insulation stuffed in the walls. It’s so tight, that outside air is supplied automatically by the furnace system.

“You could have R-1000 (insulation) in the walls and roof, but if your house isn’t tightly built, it won’t matter. It will still leak energy,” Fredell said.

Andy Mazal, of Populus Sustainable Design Consultants in Boulder, performed the door-blower test to determine how tightly constructed it is. “It’s one of the top two or three houses I have ever seen,” Mazal said. “It’s a SIP-house, so really, there are not any gaps. And (Fredell) foamed wherever there could be gaps, to make sure it was really tight.”

He estimated that Fredell’s home would see “five to 10 times” less leakage than most homes built to current building codes in the past 10 years. “I might have seen a couple of LEED homes in Boulder, one of them being a LEED-remodel in Boulder,” that were about as tightly constructed, he said.

For his part, Fredell didn’t seek a LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, designation from the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council, because of the expense. “This would blow away,” a Platinum LEED-designated home, Fredell said, although proponents of LEED-certifications would surely disagree.

Instead, he used what is know as the HERS, or Home Energy Rating System, established by the Residential Energy Service Network. Homes that meet the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code score a 100 on the HERS Index.

The lower the number on the HERS Index, the more energy efficient it is. A home that used no energy would score a zero. Ultimately, Fredell and others would like to see mainstream homes produce energy. Fredell’s house scored a 35, but he said even that doesn’t represent all of the energy saving features.

“I really think the score should be in the 20s,” Fredell said.

Thermal mass key

That’s because he is not getting credit for one of the more unusual, yet one of the most cost-effective features of the house. Under the basement floor, he has placed 2,000 8X16 concrete blocks to create a thermal mass system. Together, they weigh 140,000 pounds.

The thermal mass system of the side-by-side blocks stores heat from the day and releases it at night.

The thermal mass system stores and releases heat during the winter and helps keep the home at a steady temperature year round. There is almost no temperature variance in the basement or the top floor, which greatly improves the comfort.

Hybrid water heater

He also installed a hybrid water heater in the basement. Unlike a tankless water heater, these systems use a conventional storage system that is paired with a heat pump that takes heat from the air, using it to help heat the water.

Fredell said he knows only of one other hybrid system that has been installed in the area, so far. Consumer Reports estimated a typical homeowner could save $325 annually with such a system. These type of systems, or similar ones, should be mandated, which not only would save energy, but would drive down the price of the systems as they became commonplace, he said.

“I hate government intervention in my business, I just hate it, but we need to have some real change,” he said. “Unfortunately, that won’t happen unless the government forces builders to do it.”

Also, consumers need to change their mind-set about homeownership, Fredell said. A typical mortgage may last 30 years, and the house might change hands three or four times during that period, “but energy bills never go away during the projected 100-year lifespan of the house,” he said.

“People have to understand where electricity comes from,” Fredell said. “Most people think it comes from a switch. But it doesn’t. It comes from expensive, polluting power plants. But there’s an alternative – that big yellow orb in the sky.”

Fredell admits that he made virtually no profit from the sale of the house, but he was so passionate about green building that he was willing to sell it at basically his cost. “Right now, I’m talking to a guy about building a $900,000 home for him in Evergreen,” he said. The buyer appreciates his approach and Fredell expects to actually make some money on that deal.

Video: Builder sheds light on solar

For more information, please visit Innovative Structures.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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This LEED Platinum home in Stapleton will be given away this summer by HGTV.

Urban Peak, a non-profit group that helps homeless youths and those in danger of becoming homeless, will be the recipient of a fundraising tour of the 2011 HGTV Green Home in Stapleton.

Urban Peak provides housing, medical care and counseling to homeless young people.

The HGTV cable-TV network in August will give away the 2,400-square-foot green home in Stapleton. The house, built by Infinity Home Collection, has a Platinum LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It also has an Energy Star rating from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that attest to its energy efficiency, indoor air quality and careful selection of recycled materials.  Recycled material from the former Stapleton International Airport used in the landscape for the HGTV Green Home includes a portion of the airport’s “blast fence” and runway concrete known as “StapleStone.”

National spotlight helps local group

“We are very pleased to help support vital services for the homeless youth of Denver by contributing the net proceeds from the tours of the HGTV Green Home at Stapleton to Urban Peak,” said John Lehigh, president of Forest City Stapleton, Inc., master developer of the former airport.  “Because interest in the 2011 HGTV Green Home Giveaway has placed Stapleton in the national spotlight, we will be able to turn the tremendous interest in this fabulous new home into an opportunity to raise funds for an important cause in Metropolitan Denver.”

Kay Ramachandran, CEO of Urban Peak, said the green home and Urban Peak provide a good fit.

Being "green" doesn't mean ugly, as the great room in this Platinum LEED home in Stapleton shows.

“Sustainability is the perfect theme for this partnership,” said Ramachandran.  “Much as HGTV, Forest City Stapleton and Infinity Home Collection have prioritized sustainability in building this exceptional home, Urban Peak focuses on sustainability and self-sufficiency in all its programs and services to help homeless youth overcome real life challenges and find a safe place to live.”

Patio view of Stapleton home by Infinity.

New Central Park West Neighborhood

The HGTV Green Home is just east of the new Central Park West Neighborhood, which is under construction now with some of the most energy efficient homes yet to be built at Stapleton.  Built on intimate open space gathering places known as “mews,” many homes in Central Park West will offer solar electric power as a standard feature.  The Central Park West neighborhood is within walking distance of a new Denver Public School and major retail, as well as the planned FasTracks rail station and multimodal transportation facility scheduled to open by January 2016.

Ticket sales will begin this Friday, April 1.  They may be purchased online at www.stapletondenver.com in advance of taking a tour or purchased at the Stapleton Discovery Center after it opens May 5^th.  All tickets will be priced at $20 with net proceeds going to Urban Peak programs addressing homelessness involving young people.

Tours of the HGTV Green Home will run from May 5^th – July 3rd, Thursdays – Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., and on Sundays, from noon – 5 p.m., as well as Memorial Day, 10.a.m.- 6 p.m., and July 3^rd, noon – 5 p.m.

Tour tickets must be picked up at Will Call, in the Stapleton Discovery Center located at Syracuse Street and Martin Luther King Blvd.  Parking is available and timed tours will depart every 20-30 minutes via shuttles.

To find homes for sale in Stapleton, please visit this COhomefinder.com link.

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The $55 million Seasons of apartment community in Cherry Creek is loaded with green and luxury features.

RedPeak Properties today announced it has begun leasing the Seasons of Cherry Creek apartment, the first green apartment high-rise community of its kind in Cherry Creek. The 13-story Seasons is the first aparment community in Denver to receive  the “Built Green” designation. 

The new property is targeting a growing demographic of people who are making the decision to rent rather than own and have the burden of a mortgage. 

“The Seasons provides many of the same luxuries that the new condo developments in Denver offer, but with people in mind who would rather rent than own a luxury residence,” said Mike Zoellner, chief executive officer. Monthly rents start at $1,880 for the large units.

“We’re filling an important niche by providing the option to lease rather than own a residence with access to 24- hour concierge, a media lounge and demonstration kitchen, a large fitness and massage therapy center, a private dog park, dry cleaning valet service and more. People who want the best an apartment building can offer will find it at The Seasons,” Zoellner said.

The Seasons, within walking distance of the Cherry Creek Mall and Cherry Creek North, includes 148 new high-rise apartments which are part of a $55 million expansion of the iconic The Seasons of Cherry Creek apartment community. With the addition of the new apartments, the community now has 587 luxury apartments in three high rise towers. The property offers a variety of monthly rental rates for one-bedroom plus den, two-bedroom and three-bedroom floor plans. There are other smaller green apartment buildings in Denver, too.

First Built Green apartment community

In addition to first class amenities and services, The Seasons was the first for-rent multifamily project accepted into Built Green Colorado’s multifamily pilot program. As part of the pilot, RedPeak implemented “green” standards designed to increase energy efficiency by 15 percent.

“Our new Built Green apartments symbolize RedPeak’s environmentally responsible approach to real estate development and our commitment to creating distinctive living environments,” said Zoellner. “As the first apartment development to be accepted into Built Green Colorado’s Multi-family Pilot Program, this building symbolizes the great things that happen when people harness their collective inspiration, ingenuity and humanity to achieve a singular goal: to provide a healthy and sustainable living experience to the people who call us ‘home.’” The Seasons’ green features and apartment amenities include: 100% smoke-free living;  use  of locally manufactured and recycled sustainable materials; used  water-based, low-VOC paints and Shaw recyclable carpeting in all social spaces; extensive use of natural light and photocell switches; generous use of sustainable Travertine and porcelain tile; chemical-free mineral filtration pool system; full recycling with separate trash chutes on each floor; Energy Star appliances; upgraded energy-efficient exterior windows and doors; programmable thermostats;  dual flush toilets and low-flow fixtures; large, efficient  floor plans; floor-to-ceiling windows; hardwood flooring; upgraded insulated window treatments; slab granite countertops in kitchens and baths; custom cabinetry; soaking tubs; frameless shower doors; large walk-in closets; reserved garage parking; gas fireplaces; individual washer & dryer; private balcony with gas grill; demonstration kitchen; media lounge; private wine cellars; concierge services; bike maintenance and storage facility; Denver B-cycle Bike Sharing Program location;

 Large floor plans

The Seasons expansion includes large floor plans. One-bedroom plus den floor plans range from 945 square feet to 1,195 square feet; two-bedroom floor plans range from 1,282 square feet to 1,512 square feet; and three-bedroom floor plans range from 1,652 square feet to 1,811 square feet. Rental rates range from $1,880 to $3,850 per month. Residents will also enjoy full access to the existing amenities at The Seasons of Cherry Creek, including its 10,000-square-foot private health club, complimentary yoga and Pilates classes, massage therapy and personal training services and private dog park. In addition, the site was selected as a Denver B-cycle Bike Sharing Program location.

All apartments are available for immediate move-in. Currently, all new leases are eligible for $2,400 in savings, representing a discount of $200 per month.

“We are proud to offer an environmentally friendly luxury rental option in Cherry Creek, a neighborhood epitomized by extremely high housing costs and very few rental options,” said Zoellner. “Our brand-new Built Green apartments provide new opportunities for Denverites to lead the ultimate urban lifestyle in one of Denver’s most prestigious – and walkable ­ neighborhoods with the amenities and finishes typically found in for-purchase housing.”

Fentress the architect

The Seasons expansion was designed by Fentress Architects. Saunders Construction was selected as the general contractor for the project. The expansion of The Seasons of Cherry Creek represents RedPeak’s first ground-up development since the company was founded in 2001.

The Seasons’ leasing office is located at 3498 E. Ellsworth Avenue, just two blocks east of the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver. Leasing information, including floor plans, photos, pricing and availability, can be found at this link  or by calling 303.394.4333.

RedPeak Properties is a full-service apartment owner, operator, developer and acquirer with an exclusive focus on Denver and Colorado’s Front Range. The company continually upgrades the value of its portfolio through the l development, redevelopment and repositioning of its assets. RedPeak strives to provide distinctive, highly amenitized residences close to key employment centers, public transportation and entertainment districts. RedPeak’s portfolio comprises 2,054 units located in Downtown Denver, Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, Cheesman Park, Glendale, Littleton and Colorado Springs. Its current portfolio includes 1600 Glenarm Place, The Seasons of Cherry Creek, Timber Creek Apartments, Heritage Creek Apartments, Cottonwood Creek Apartments, Arboretum at Cheesman Park, Hunters Cove Apartments, Quail Ridge Apartments and Briarglen Apartments.

Complete company information can be found at this link.  

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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This home at 3220 Zuni St. in Highland is priced at just over $1 million. It is listed by Dee Chirafisi of Kentwood City Properties.

Almost one out of every four homes sold and closed in the metro area in 2009 took place in Denver. And almost 30 percent of the homes sold above $1 million were in Denver.

An analysis of Metrolist data by independent broker Gary Bauer shows that 10,010 homes closed in the Denver area last year, accounting for 23.8 percent of the 42,027 home sales in the metro area last year. Arapahoe County was No. 2, with 8,230 single-family homes and condo closings last year.

That may not be too surprising.

“Denver usually seems to get the largest percentage of the buyers, except during the time when Douglas County was really growing like gangbusters,” Bauer said. During much of the 1990s, Douglas County was the fastest growing counties in the U.S. and is still one of the fastest. (Indeed, I remember writing a story at the Rocky Mountain News during the ’90s that Highlands Ranch in Douglas County accounted for one of five out of every new and used-homes sold.)

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said that given Denver’s size, Denver’s showing last year isn’t startling.

“Denver accounts for 22.2 percent of the metro area’s population,”  Hickenlooper said. “So we are doing a bit above that for home sales, but not much more. Denver is right about where it should be.”

Hickenlooper did say that a Realtor-friend recently mentioned to him that sales activity seems to have picked up recently.

Corey Wadley, a broker and co-owner of Nostalgic Homes in West Highland in northwest Denver, said that a lot of buyers are drawn to certain Denver neighborhoods because they think homes will retain their values more than suburban counterparts.

“In the Highland neighborhood, for example…our prices held stable during this recession,” Wadley said. “I think the biggest factor is homes  being able to hold values. There’s only a finite amount of new stuff in a place like Highland. I think also there is a uniqueness about Denver neighborhoods. You can walk street-by-street and see how the housing stock changed from different eras and from additions, renovations and even some scrape offs.”

Perhaps what was most surprising about Bauer’s report, is that Denver also dominated the $1 million and over price category. The 131 single-family homes and condos that sold and closed last year in Denver accounted for  28 percent of the 471 homes sold in that lofty price range. Arapahoe County, with 95  homes selling at $1 million or more and Douglas County with 67, accounted for 20 percent and 14 percent of that market, despite a number of high-end enclaves.

“That is a bit surprising,” said Chris Mygatt, president of  Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Colorado. In the past, he said, the vast majority of homes in that price range were in Arapahoe County,  because of the concentration of  huge homes in Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village.

“What I think what this is showing is a societal change,” Mygatt said. “It speaks to the idea that people who have a significant amount of money who are down-sizing or right-sizing, who are deciding  they do not need a half acre or an acre of land.  It’s never been more fashionable to be frugal.  Let’s face it:  Someone who is buying a million-dollar home is not spending their last million dollars on it. But they don’t want the expense of watering a giant lawn or keeping it clean, even if they can afford it. ”

He said the move to Denver from the suburbs is a trend he sees continuing. Mygatt said there are “too many 6,000-square-foot homes,” in the suburbs, and they will be increasingly difficult to sell.

“The smart developers are now building a very well-designed, very efficient 3,500-square-foot home instead of  a 6,000-square-foot home,” Mygatt said. “And the new homes are very, very green. ”

“That’s great,” about Denver, said Christina de Barros, of RE/MAX Masters. “It is a little surprising given that Arapahoe County has Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village and Douglas County has Castle Pines Village. ” Cherry Hills, for example, had 46 home sales of more than $1 million last year, while Cherry Creek in Denver, had seven, she said. And Boulder County (although not most of the city of Boulder), had a total of 126 home sales above $1 million, for 27 percent of that market, making it Denver’s closet competitor.

Some well-heeled buyers were picking up screaming, high-end deals last year, said Susan C. Mathews, a broker with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty.

“There were a lot of foreclosures, or more likely short sales, in places like Hilltop and Crestmoor,” Mathews said. “I saw homes that were originally priced at $2.25 million and up selling for $1.4 million or $1.5 million. And that was good. It helped us get some of this inventory off the market.”

She said high-end deals can still be found, but there are not as many as there were in 2009.

“I think consumer confidence is returning,” Mathews said. “People are not as afraid that prices are going to continue to drop if they buy now. I do think we are past the bottom.”

Wadley said that in northwest Denver, homes priced below $450,000 are selling, but it is tougher to move ones above that range.

“But Jenny (Apel,his wife and co-owner of Nostalgic Homes) did sell a William Lang mansion off Lowell (Boulevard) last year for $950,000,” Wadley said. “And I think that when homes that do sell in places like Cherry Hills for above the $1 million mark, they have been heavily discounted from their original asking price.” In fact, he said he thinks a lot of those ultra-expensive suburban homes are being sold at a loss.

Bauer said that one reason Denver dominates the luxury home market, is that empty nesters, who are  at the age and income level who can afford seven-figure homes, would rather live in an urban area than in a suburban community.

“I think part of it is the aging of the population,” Bauer said. “Many people are still working, and want to be closer to where they are working, which is often downtown.  They are down-sizing and their children are grown. For a large percentage of the population, Denver offers a chance to be close to the sporting facilities, theater, and everything else in downtown and LoDo.”

He pointed to Janet Elway as an example.

“With these $1 million-plus homes, people really want something special,” Bauer said. “Janet Elway went from a giant home in Cherry Hills to a Denver home in Belcaro.”

Source: Gary Bauer

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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The LEED-Platinum building hopes to be the greenest office building in the nation, but at a price – construction costs are estimated at $280 per-square-foot, double the typical construction cost in Denver, according to the article.

No detail is too small, though, when it comes to saving energy. The 750 employees will use laptops, because personal computers are too big of energy hogs. Even the phones are green, using only 2.8 kilowatt-hours of electricity monthly, compared with 10.8 kilowatt-hours for a standard model.

The design-build team includes Denver-based RNL, Haselden Construction LLC of Centennial, and Stantec Consulting. Denver-based RavenBrick LLC is providing a reflective film it developed, which will be used on some windows that allows the glass to darken as it gets warmer outside,  reflecting the sun’s heat form the building, but still allowing daylight to provide natural lighting for the employees.

Truly a building of the future.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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