November 7, 2008 4:17 PM

DU announces award winners

It was an event where Sherman Miller and Mary Sullivan, the long-time commercial couple, put on a fashion show.
Decked out in clothes provided by Andrisen Morton, they did their version of the cat walk in front of movers and shakers filling a ballroom Friday at the 2008 Rocky Mountain Commercial Real Estate Expo Fall Forecast at the Colorado Convention Center.
The University of Denver's Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, the main sponsor, presented Miller with the Honorary Dean Award .
at today's Rocky Mountain Commercial Real Estate Expo and DU Fall Forecast.
Miller is the executive managing director and west regional manager for Cushman & Wakefield.
, "Sherm has been a friend to many in the real estate profession," said Mark Levin, Ph.D., professor and director of the DU Burns School for Construction and Real Estate Management. "For those of us that have had the opportunity to work with Sherm in the broad area of real estate, we've learned to appreciate his candidness, broad knowledge of the business, integrity and sense of humor. It is little wonder that Sherm has been a leader in the commercial real estate field, given these qualities and his continuing position and willingness to help others.
"The Burns School at the University of Denver is very proud to have Sherman Miller as our honorary dean of real estate and construction management. Our students would do well to look to him as a role model for their own careers, be that in real estate or any path as a business professional."
DU's real estate program, in partnership with the Denver Metro Commercial Association of Realtors, also honored companies in seven categories, as well as one top Project of the Year award at the 14th Annual Rocky Mountain Commercial Real Estate Expo and Fall Forecast.
The Palazzo Verdi Office Building in Greenwood Village, earned the top office project, as well as the overall Project of the Year honor for 2008.
Designed by Fentress Architects and developed by the John Madden Company and Kiewit Building Group, Palazzo Verdi is a 422,000 square-foot, $55.8 million Class A structure.
Achieving 100 percent lease up within the first year, the 15-story building represents the largest precast concrete structure in Colorado. Key features include a three-story, 4000-square-foot atrium and an exact replica of the Prayer Labyrinth found at the Chartres Cathedral near Paris.
Additional honorees included:
· Industrial Project of the Year: Mountain West Business Park, Mountain West Industrial Properties. An eight-building complex located near I-70 and I-225 featuring 300,000 square feet of Class A industrial space. Designed by Ware Malcomb and built by DCB Construction.
· Residential Project of the Year: RiverClay Condominiums. Located in the historic Jefferson Park neighborhood just north of Invesco Field, RiverClay is the first LEED certified multi-family building in Colorado with mixed use. Development and construction were managed by Zocalo Development.
Retail Project of the Year: Forest City's Orchard Town Center Westminster, Colo. A one-million square foot retail center at I-25 and 144th Ave. with a design inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie style. The Roche Constructors project features natural materials with an emphasis on glass and metal facades and large overhangs.
· Special Project of the Year: Brighton Learning and Resource Campus. The adaptive-reuse project reflects the cooperation of government, educational and not-for-profit agencies with strong leadership from the City of Brighton and Community Reach Center Foundation. The 7.6-acre campus offers numerous benefits to the community including an expanded Front Range Community College Campus; relocation of the Adams County Head Start program; expansion of local pre-school programs and expansion of the community's mental health counseling programs. Burkett Design served as project architect with general contractor Pinkard Construction.
· Design of the Year: The Sugar Cube Building at 1555 Blake Street in the historic Lower Downtown District. Designed by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg of Toronto, the building features a heavy use of architectural features to blend in with the surrounding buildings and neighborhood. With 37 residences ranging from 850 to 2200 square feet and 32 floor plans, amenities include 10-foot ceilings, floor to ceiling windows, balconies and terraces. The property also features a rooftop solar farm. Sugar Cube was developed by Urban Villages and built by J.E. Dunn Construction.
Mixed Use Project of the Year: Lincoln Station Town Center. Located adjacent to the Lincoln Ave. Light Rail Station in Southeast Denver, developers Bradbury Properties and Westfield Development describe the 54-acre mixed-use development as Denver's first GoBurb - a combination of suburban comforts and urban design and convenience. With housing, office, commercial and retail space, the development combines pedestrian and auto approaches through a village main street feel and includes a parking garage developed in cooperation with RTD to meet transit and light rail station needs

Posted by John Rebchook at 4:17 PM | Comments (2)