Union Station  Redevelopment Underway

The Union Station Neighborhood Company (a joint venture of Colorado based Continuum Partners and East West Partners) and IMA Financial Group, Inc. have announced plans for IMA to move its Denver headquarters to the first new building being developed on the Union Station site as part of the multi-modal transportation hub.

The five-story, 100,000-squarefoot building is currently being designed by the Denver firms of Anderson Mason Dale Architects and Semple Brown Design. Construction could start as early as the first quarter of 2011.

“We’re very pleased to welcome IMA Financial Group as Union Station Neighborhood’s first tenant in the creation of a world class transit hub and dynamic new neighborhood at Union Station,” said Mark Falcone of USNC. “IMA’s commitment and the imminent start of the four-year construction of the $480 million transit hub represent major steps forward. After years of effort and planning, the community’s vision for Union Station is about to be realized.”

The IMA Financial Group is an employee-owned, diversified financial services company comprised of three entities: a retail insurance brokerage, a wholesale insurance brokerage and a discretionary money management firm, with 450 employees in offices throughout the central U.S.

During the past nine years, IMA’s Denver office has grown from 45 to 180 employees, outgrowing its current Lower Downtown office space. The company, the 13th largest independently owned brokerage in the U.S. and previously recognized as one of the community’s Best Places to Work by the Denver Business Journal, wanted to remain in LoDo in order to maintain its unique culture.

“The employee-owners of IMA love working in LoDo,” said Rob Cohen, Chairman and CEO of IMA Financial Group. “We’re a visionary company that protects assets and makes a difference for our clients and the communities where we work and live, and we’re proud to be a part of the visionary plans to revitalize Union Station as Denver’s hub not only for transportation, but also for commerce and community.”

The new building housing IMA Financial Group will be located at 18th and Wynkoop Sts. immediately north of the historic station building. The building’s front door will face onto a new public plaza that is one of a series of new public spaces being created as part of the Union Station project.

The north wing site is one of five development sites on the Union Station property that the USNC is scheduled to acquire as master developer of the site between now and 2013. USNC will acquire a second development site just south of the historic station at 16th and Wynkoop Sts. in the fourth quarter of 2010.

“Union Station will be the best example of public-private cooperation and transit oriented development in this country. IMA’s commitment demonstrates the potential of this site to attract highly respected businesses even in a difficult market environment. The Union Station neighborhood and transit hub will add enormous energy to downtown Denver while dramatically expanding mobility options for the entire region. It represents the best of what modern urbanism has to offer,” said Mark Smith of USNC.

Local contractor Haselden Construction, LLC, will build the building general contractor IMA Financial Group has been represented in the transaction by Barry Dorfman and Ryan Arnold of Jones Lang LaSalle. The Union Station Neighborhood Company has been represented by Todd Wheeler of Cushman and Wakefield.

For more information, visit www.denverunionstation.org.

Kentwood Posts Higher 2009 Sales

While other real estate offices continue to struggle in this challenging market, Kentwood City Properties in downtown Denver has posted a 3.8 percent increase in total sales volume for 2009, measured against the previous year.

Likewise, our top-producing office recorded a total of 700 closed real-estate transactions in 2009, an impressive 20.9 percent increase over 2008.

Kentwood City Properties, one of three strategically located offices of The Kentwood Companies, has added seven of Colorado’s most successful real estate professionals to its staff.

“We are likely one of few real estate brokerages locally and nationally that actually grew during 2009, when measured with the previous year,” said Jim Theye, co-owner and managing broker of Kentwood City Properties.

“We typically don’t actively recruit, but we did add several heavy hitters to our team, while other real estate firms lost ground or closed their offices. Brokers were excited to join us in this first-rate office where there is genuine momentum, incredible energy and brokers who are at the top of the real-estate game.

“Everyone worked hard to make 2009 a successful year in a down market,” Theye said. “We held together as a group and recorded gross-sales volume of nearly $275,000,000, which positions us very favorably for a strong 2010. Our market share has definitely grown, and we now enjoy an even stronger presence in the central Denver.

“Showings were up, and we garnered 15-percent more listings in 2009 than 2008. We also opened a new commercial real-estate division to better serve our live/work and office clients, and added expertise in Golden, Genesee and the northern Front Range cities of Thornton and Broomfield.

“As a side note, about a dozen of our brokers went on a diet last year and collectively lost more than 200 pounds in order to get down to a healthy, agile weight for extra energy during the difficult market. We’ve gone to remarkable lengths to be responsive to the needs of our clients.”

Kentwood City Properties is the leading expert on new housing trends and the exclusive listing firm for many of Denver’s finest developers. We offer incredible diversity in terms of location, finish, amenities and price for today’s buyers. Our listings offer an extraordinary inventory of existing and upcoming homes from which to choose, with competitor listings shown as well.

Kentwood City Properties, formed in 1999, is the newest member of The Kentwood Companies, nationally known as Denver’s premier real estate company. The company’s appealing store-front office at the corner of 17th and Wynkoop, directly across from Union Station, is comprised of 50 of metro Denver’s most experienced real-estate professionals serving residential buyers, sellers, and developers.

For more information, call 303-820-2489 or visit www.kentwoodcity.com. View all Kentwood listings at www.DenverRealEstate.com.