The University of Denver took top honors in the 14th annual NAIOP Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge at the Denver Marriott City Center Thursday night.
This year’s challenge, presented by Land Title Guarantee Co., was to create a real-world development plan for 21 acres at the city of Westminster’s first transit-oriented development site. The property is located just west of Federal Boulevard near 69th Avenue, between Interstate 70 and U.S. Highway 6.
Graduate students in DU’s Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management proposed The Mosaic, a mostly residential development with a 24 Hour Fitness and Sprouts Farmers Market along Federal Boulevard. They also proposed using an existing warehouse on site to house TheBigWonderful, a public marketplace.
Competing students from the University of Colorado Real Estate Center pitched W Station, which melded an agriculture and craft marketplace, rooftop gardens and climbing gym with senior and multifamily housing, medical uses, market-rate multifamily and an agricultural tech innovation center anchored by GrowHaus, a nonprofit indoor farm.
Approximately 800 real estate professionals, students and guests attended the event, which included the Opus Foundation’s presentation of a combined $10,000 in scholarships to the two universities.
A panel of industry experts judged the competition. Read more about the competition, and the judging process, in CREJ’s May 18 issue.
