DENVER — The Denver Metropolitan Commercial Association of REALTORS ® (DMCAR) honored its top commercial real estate producers of 2017 in land, industrial, multi-family, office, investment, retail, and small office broker categories at the association’s annual Heavy Hitters Awards.
In addition, DMCAR recognized its Young Broker of Denver, Top Landlord companies in the office, retail and industrial categories and paid tribute to Chris Cowan of ARA, A Newmark Company, as its Broker of the Year. Fresh out of college in 2003, Chris Cowan began his commercial real estate career as a research analyst for what was then called Apartment Realty Advisors. Working for less than many of his fellow University of Denver CRE graduates at the time, Cowan knew what he wanted and saw only opportunity, according to those who had hired him and remain his colleagues today. His long-term vision and insatiable appetite to learn were immediately in play.
Fifteen years later, being honored as the DMCAR Broker of the Year, Cowan is one of the highest producing, most well-respected commercial real estate experts in the state of Colorado. Charismatic and highly intelligent with a vast understanding of economic development and commercial real estate trends, coworkers and clients rave about his approach to everything he does.
“Chris bolted out of the gate from day one,” said Steve ODell, executive managing director at ARA Newmark and Cowan’s business partner for 14 years. “He is hard-working, energetic and intelligent, which is a recipe for success in any field, and Chris has taken brokerage to a new level. He has taken the reigns of our land team and continues to approach each new situation in an innovative and creative way. He deserves every bit of what he has accomplished.”
As a member of DMCAR, Cowan is highly involved in shaping the direction of the organization, as well as driving success of both its charitable and political involvement. He served as the association’s President from 2015-2016 and has developed the ongoing community Gives Day for the commercial real estate community through DMCAR, pushing financial contributions and volunteer time from members of the commercial industry into neighborhoods with underserved children.
“Chris is truly one of those very rare leaders that any organization or business would love to have on their side,” said DMCAR CEO Katie Kruger. “Incredibly smart, he knows the people and policies that impact our industry and has the expertise, personality and instincts to get the deals done and meet everyone’s objectives.”
DMCAR’s 2017 Heavy Hitters award recipients by category:
Top Land Brokers – Mike Kboudi, Cushman & Wakefield – his $43.6 million in 2017 production was highlighted by his representation of Starwood Land on the 1200-acre,mixed use High Point subdivision near DIA.
Top Industrial Broker – Jim Bolt, CBRE, Inc. – 2017 total production of $124.4 million included the 850,000 square foot lease in Thornton for an Amazon sortation facility.
Top Multi-Family Brokers – Shane Ozment and Terrance Hunt, ARA, A Newmark Company – with $770.9 million in individual production, the team captured another amazing year and earned their second straight Heavy Hitter honor in Multi-Family.
Top Office Brokers – Jamie Roupp, JLL – highlighted by deals that included CDOT’s build-to-suit headquarters and the pre-lease and capitalization of The HUB development, Roupp
finished the year with $120.6 million in personal production.
Top Investment Brokers – Chris Bodnar, CBRE, Inc. – with $975.2 million in individual production included a “once-in- a-lifetime” deal for Englewood-based Catholic Health
Initiatives.
Top Retail Broker – Dorit Makovsky-Fischer, NAI Shames Makovsky – EFG’s redevelopment of the former St. Anthony’s hospital site at Sloans was the focal point for Makovsky-Fischer in 2017 en route to personal production totaling $41.5 million.
Top Small Office Broker –Patricia Wassik, Health Connect Properties, Inc. – Wassik noted the challenging lease renewal for Littleton Pediatric Medical Center at Highlands Ranch Medical Plaza as a focal point in 2017 with personal production totaling $16.1 million.
Young Broker of Denver: DMCAR’s 2017 Young Broker of Denver is Brian Bailey of Marcus & Millichap. Selected from a group of young professionals with less than three years of experience, Bailey, working with his business partner Drew Isaac, completed several memorable deals in 2017 that helped him earn personal production of $10.5 million.
Top Landlord Honorees: DMCAR recognized the 2017 Top Landlords in the Office, Retail and Industrial categories. Association members were asked to submit nominations for their top choices in the submarket that the individual broker practices.
Office Category: 1st was Hines, 2nd was LBA Realty, and 3rd was Unico.
Retail Category: 1st was Evergreen Devco, 2nd was McWhinney, and 3rd was Drake Real Estate.
Industrial Category: 1st was United Properties, 2nd was Prologis, and 3rd was First Industrial Realty Trust.
Image courtesy of DMCAR.
