NAIOP 2026 Commercial Real Estate Honors: Regional Office Broker Award Winner

Matt Smith, Founder – Premises Commercial Real Estate, Named winner of NAIOP 2026 Regional Office Broker Award

The team at Premises Commercial is happy to share the exciting news that Matt Smith, Principal and Founder of Premises Commercial Real Estate, was selected as the winner of the esteemed NAIOP Colorado Commercial Real Estate Honors award in the Regional Office Broker category. These awards honor and celebrate the outstanding achievements of top commercial real estate professionals throughout the Denver metro area, recognizing their dedication and contributions to the industry.

Congratulations to Matt Smith! We are proud to celebrate Matt’s recognition as the 2026 Regional Office Broker Award winner. Much deserved, Matt!

It is a sad statement when one of the oldest and most respected Denver developers looks elsewhere to build due to unnecessary and over burdensome delays and requirements by the City of Denver’s Building Department.

PLAN FOR A HEADACHE

Denver’s permitting process isn’t changing fast enough for developers, and many are looking to other cities for relief.

By Robert Davis

Driving through Denver brings up mixed feelings for Carl Koelbel.

As the chief operating officer of Koelbel and Co., a Denver-based development firm his grandfather founded in 1952, there’s a sense of pride that comes from seeing completed developments like Yale Station, LoHi Court and CityHomes at Lincoln Park.

But each project also reminds Koelbel, now the CEO and president of Koelbel and Co., of the headaches that came from working with Denver’s building department.

Once, Denver’s Community Planning and Development office asked Koelbel’s company to provide address signs for individual units in an entry-level townhome project in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Submitting that seemingly minor revision triggered a restart to the lengthy site development plan review process, Koelbel told the Denver Business Journal, delaying when the building could generate cash flow.

Koelbel finds other requirements impractical. He points to one parcel of industrial land his company owns on Wynkoop Street in the River North Art District. Before granting permission to develop the property, CPD asked Koelbel and Co. to activate the street with retail opportunities. However, low foot traffic in that area makes it difficult to attract customers. Koelbel has not yet developed the site because of this issue.

“These issues are pushing [builders] out of the city of Denver, and I’m not the only one,” Koelbel said. “I’ve got partners that operate nationally and they say Denver, in its current state, is the most challenging municipality outside of California to operate in from an approval process standpoint.”

Complaints about Denver’s system were so common, Mayor Mike Johnston campaigned in 2023 on a promise to fix the permitting backlog and repair the city’s relationship with local builders. But some say those changes aren’t happening quickly enough. Instead, they claim they’re looking to build in other cities like Littleton, Aurora and Boulder — or outside of Colorado altogether — to maintain their project flow.

This is good news; Denver ranks 3rd best at attracting millennials behind only Alexandria VA and Cambridge MA!

Cities Attracting the Most Millennials – 2025 Study

By Jaclyn DeJohn, CFP®

In just one year, 5.49 million millennials moved to large U.S. cities. While about 73% of these transplants moved to a big city within their current state of residence, another 19% traversed states to start new – and nearly 8% came to these cities from abroad. Millennials are often in their prime earning years, and many have young families, which may significantly impact the communities they join and leave.

With this in mind, SmartAsset ranked 271 of the largest U.S. cities based on the percentage of people between the ages of 25 and 44 who recently moved in.

Key Findings

• In these two cities, millennials who have recently moved in make up over 12% of the population. Alexandria, Virginia saw the highest influx of millennials relative to its population, with 12.67% – or 19,486 – moving in during 2023, approximately 46% of whom came from out of state. Cambridge, Massachusetts ranked second, with millennials making up 12.15% of new residents, or 14,197 people, 39% of whom relocated from outside the state.
• New York City had the most millennials move in by a factor of at least 2x. Not accounting for its population size, New York City had the most millennials join its perimeters at 362,649 move-ins in one year – accounting for 4.44% of the population. This number of move-ins was double that of Los Angeles, which had the second highest nominal move-ins at 187,210.
• These California cities were least attractive to millennials. While Sunnyvale and Santa Clara made the top 10 cities where millennials are moving to, more California cities rank at the bottom of the list. Jurupa Valley ranked last with 2.35% of its population comprising new millennial transplants. Other cities that were among the 10 least popular include Santa Ana (2.58%), Elk Grove (2.60%), San Bernardino (2.78%), Oxnard (2.78%), Ontario (2.96%), El Monte (3.08%), Garden Grove (3.11%) and Modesto (3.12%).
• Seattle, WA has the largest segment of millennials relative to its population. Just over 42% of Seattle residents are between the ages of 25 and 44. Seattle also ranked fifth overall for most popular places for millennials to move to, with 11.51% of its population made up of millennials who moved in in 2023.

More evidence that the office market has turned the corner as JLL reports a 34% increase in leasing revenues!

JLL doubles profit as leasing and property sales surge

By Randyl Drummer, CoStar News

Chicago-based firm joins US real estate brokerages reporting accelerated deal activity. Commercial real estate brokerage JLL more than doubled its profit and posted big gains in leasing and property sales as dealmaking picked up across the industry in the third quarter.

The Chicago-based company said revenue increased 15% to nearly $5.9 billion from the prior-year quarter, fueled by double-digit gains in leased space, capital markets and what it called its “resilient” businesses such as property and project management.

JLL reported a profit of $155.1 million in the quarter — up sharply from the $59.7 million a year earlier — as the company’s results were boosted by accelerating activity across all its main businesses.

“The results reflect our strength in transaction markets that are still in the early stages of recovery,” CEO Christian Ulbrich told investors during an earnings call on Wednesday.

JLL joined CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Colliers International and Newmark in reporting increases in leasing that helped drive higher revenue, activity that added to promising signs of recovery in property markets.

Law firms leased 3.2 million sf of office space in the first quarter, surpassing previous highs in 2019 and 2021. The evolving trend towards hybrid work, with 2 days remote and 3 days in the office, offers attorneys flexibility for collaboration and performance.

Law Firms Are a Bright Spot in a Dreary Office Leasing Market

By  Kelsi Maree Borland

Law firms have a history of supporting the office market. During the creative office revolution, law firms provided a lifeline to traditional office owners, and in the midst of today’s office market correction, law firms remain fervent users of office space.

From the adoption of hybrid work styles to retiring the corner-office mentality, they are emerging as an example of how the office market will evolve, say Raymond Trevisan, CRE, executive managing director with Cushman & Wakefield and a member of the Counselors of Real Estate, and Anthony DellaPelle, CRE, the global chair of the Counselors of Real Estate, two experts in law firm leasing.

Law firms are voraciously leasing office space, even as office demand in the US has fallen sharply. According to research from Cushman & Wakefield, law firms have accounted for 7.2% of office leasing activity in major markets, and firms have committed to 3.2 million square feet of space in the first quarter of the year alone. The activity exceeds leasing activity for the sector in1Q19 and 1Q21, and it puts law firms on track for another strong year of leasing activity

Are you a seasoned commercial real estate broker looking to elevate your career? Do you have experience leasing commercial office space and a desire to work with a leader in the industry? If so, we have an exceptional opportunity for you.

The Role

We are seeking a high-quality Commercial Real Estate Broker to join our team. This role will involve partnering with an award-winning broker who has consistently demonstrated excellence in the field. As a broker in our firm, you will work on our current nine office listings and engage in tenant representation work. This is a role for a self-starter who is motivated, possesses high integrity, and is a great teammate. If you are a good person with a strong work ethic, we want to hear from you.

What We Offer

1. Proven Leadership: You will have the opportunity to team up with a three-time winner of the DMCAR/Denver Business Journal Office Broker of the Year award.
2. Excellent Training: We provide access to top-tier training through the Massimo Group. This training will equip you with the latest strategies and techniques in commercial real estate, helping you to stay ahead in a competitive market.
3. Great Splits: We offer competitive commission splits that reward your hard work and dedication. Your potential for a high six-figure income is real and achievable with our support and resources.
4. Mentorship: Receive mentoring from a proven leader in the industry. This mentorship will help you navigate the complexities of the market and develop your skills further.
5. Tools and Resources: We equip our brokers with the best tools and resources to ensure their success.

The Ideal Candidate

Our ideal candidate will have experience leasing commercial space, preferably office space. You should be a self-starter, motivated, and possess high integrity. Being a great teammate and a good person is equally important. We are looking for someone who is driven by success and is eager to grow their career in a supportive and dynamic environment.

Why Join Us?

Joining our team means being part of a small shop that punches above its weight. We have a track record of success and a reputation for excellence in the industry. This is a fantastic opportunity to grow your career and increase your earnings.

Key Responsibilities

• Partnering with our lead broker on current office listings and tenant representation work.
• Engaging with clients to understand their needs and provide tailored solutions.
• Managing the leasing process from start to finish, including negotiations and closing deals.
• Developing and maintaining strong relationships with clients, landlords, and other stakeholders.
• Staying updated on market trends and developments to provide expert advice to clients.

Compensation

This role is commission-only, offering the potential for a high six-figure income. With great splits and the support of our team, your hard work and success will be well rewarded.

How to Apply

If you are ready to take your career to the next level and join a winning team, we want to hear from you. Apply today by emailing Matt Smith at msmith@premisescommercial.com to become part of our dynamic and successful firm. Together, we can achieve great things.

Gensler’s study underscores the importance of creating a great workplace that balances functionality with an engaging experience for employees. Achieving this delicate balance is undoubtedly a challenging task!

Want a High-Performing Workplace? Here’s What Matters Most.

Our global research identifies what makes a high-performing workplace and what design factors matter most.

By Janet Pogue McLaurin and Anita Grabowska

Note: This blog is the second of a blog series sharing insights from Gensler’s Global Workplace Survey 2024. Read part one here.

With the Summer Olympics rapidly approaching, the stories of the athletes who will be competing are starting to surface. I’m always inspired by the grit and determination of these athletes and how one-hundredth of a second can determine the difference between bronze, silver, or gold. Olympic athletes know the importance of the environments in which they train to maximize their performance. Top performers in the workplace follow a similar model — they’re the people at the top of their organizational game, driving performance and innovation across the company, and they also need the best workplaces to optimize their performance. The focus of Gensler’s latest research was to identify what makes a high-performing workplace and what design factors matter most.

In our global study of 16,000+ office workers in 15 countries and 10 industries we uncovered that while work and employee expectations of the workplace have fundamentally changed, less than one third of workplaces have been redesigned in the last three years. That’s a missed opportunity! It’s time to reevaluate what matters most for workplace design.

Top performers have better workplaces and better experiences.

We explored performance at three different levels: an individual level measuring employee engagement, the team level measuring strength of team relationships, and an organizational level measuring a culture of innovation, which is an index Gensler has used since 2016. Each of these measures are composite scores of four to six questions to give us a more holistic understanding of performance. In this study, the “top performers” are respondents who score in the top 25% of each outcome – they are the most engaged, workers with the strongest team relationships, and those who work in the most innovative companies.

We saw that top performers work differently — spending more time learning and socializing, coming into the office to sit with their team, and working in locations outside home or the office. But we also found that top performers tend to have high-performing workplaces. When we mapped workplace performance against engagement, team relationships, and innovation scores, we found a direct correlation — these scores increased as workplace performance increased.

Philadelphia calls its 25,000 city employees to come back to the office from remote work. Makes sense to us!

Philadelphia requires all full-time city employees to return to the office

By Bruce Shipkowsk

Philadelphia has mandated all city employees to return to their offices if employed full-time, as of July 15.

Mayor Cherelle Parker made the announcement Monday, saying she wants to create a more visible and accessible government. The decision ends the city’s virtual work policy that was put in place in 2021 and essentially returns employees to pre-pandemic scheduling.

“Employee presence at the workplace allows for more personal and productive interactions,” said Parker, who took office in January. “It facilitates communication. It promotes social connections as well as collaboration, innovation and inclusion.”

This is not your ordinary conversion from office to multi-family. 4340 S. Monaco is a newer building by the Denver Tech Center standards, built in 2001 versus most of the office buildings built in the 80s. So it will be interesting to see how this turns out. Kudos to Shea for the opportunistic investment

Lack of Affordable Housing Pushes Developer to Pitch Denver Office Conversion Plan

Shea Properties Moves on Push to Overhaul Property Near Affluent Employment Hubs

By Katie Burke, CoStar News

It has some of the highest rents in the city and a construction pipeline stuffed with luxury developments, but the Denver Tech Center neighborhood could get a more affordable alternative with one developer’s plan to overhaul a long-vacant office building.

Shea Properties, a Southern California-based developer with an extensive track record in Colorado, submitted a preliminary plan to convert a four-story property at 4340 S. Monaco St. into housing, according to information filed with the city and county of Denver. Yet rather than take the high-end route most stakeholders investing in the area have preferred, Shea would focus its proposal on creating a rare option for lower-income renters.

As pitched, the plans call for overhauling the roughly 120,000-square-foot building — which sat vacant for the past five years — and subdividing it into 143 units. The reimagined apartment complex would cater to tenants making between 30% to 70% of the area median income, which has climbed to about $105,000 a year, according to CoStar data.

Shea Properties is currently under contract to purchase the building, Executive Vice President Peter Culshaw confirmed. It was last sold to Orion Office REIT as part of a 94-property portfolio acquisition that closed in late 2021, according to CoStar data. If the deal goes through and Shea’s conversion proposal proves feasible, it would be the firm’s first office-to-residential project in its extensive development pipeline.

If all goes well, Culshaw said future tenants could occupy the property as early as 2026.

Faced with an unprecedented amount of empty space, office-to-residential proposals have sprouted up across the United States as city officials, developers and landlords contend with how to adapt to post-pandemic demand.