February 15, 2005

DU, CU enter third real estate competition on a ‘Highpointe’

by Jill Jamieson-Nichols

The Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge has taken students in, up and, now, out.

Highpointe at DIA will challenge university students to create a 21st century corporate office/research-and-development park at the gateway to Denver’s international airport. While past year’s projects focused on the Gates infill site and Tabor II tower, Highpointe represents a horizontal development that promises to take this year’s contest in a new direction, said Jamie Fitzpatrick, chairman of the event.

With so much planning yet to be done, Ray Pittman of Landmark Properties Group, which is developing Highpointe, added that students’ ideas will influence the look and feel of 800 acres of commercial ground that are part of the master-planned community stretching from Denver to Aurora.

Sponsored by the Colorado Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge charges University of Colorado and University of Denver real estate students with creating an investment strategy for a real-world development/redevelopment project in the Denver metro area.

Teams within each college compete for the right to represent their schools in the challenge, which this year is scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at Invesco Field at Mile High. Working with a developers, civil engineers, and architects and land planners, they will create feasibility assessments and development plans for presentation to a panel of industry professionals. A public presentation will follow, with the winner being awarded the NAIOP Cup.

In addition to giving students real-world development experience, the competition puts them in contact with key players in Denver commercial real estate.

Highpointe at DIA is an 1,800-acre master-planned development that will include approximately 1,600 single-family homes, the first of which are expected to get under way in May; 1,200 to 1,400 multifamily units; and 10 ½ million square feet of commercial development. The land is located south of Pena Boulevard between Tower and Gun Club roads.

“This is ground zero as you leave the airport,” Pittman, Landmark president, said at a recent kickoff event at Invesco Field at Mile High.

A putting contest inside the visitors’ locker room gave DU the first pick from a hat for the names of development, civil engineeing and architectural/land planning companies that volunteered to assist students with the competition. It was followed by a coin toss, which DU also won, that gave the school the right to determine whether it would make the first or second presentation to the judges. It chose the latter.

The universities are entering the third annual Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge with a 1-1 record. DU took the honors in last year’s competition.

Referring to DU’s success on the ice, developer and CU supporter Rick Woodruff said, “Our goal is to get DU off the roll they’re on. We don’t care about hockey, but we do want the trophy back.”

“We’re not giving up the trophy,” asserted Dr. Mark Lee Levine, a professor and director of the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at DU’s Daniels College of Business.