March 13, 2009

Alliance fills gap in real estate’s neediest niche

LOVELAND – Serving a slice of the housing market that is the most notoriously underserved, Alliance Construction Solutions Inc. of Loveland has completed one project that serves the homeless and has two more under way.

The builder finished work in February on the $2.5 million Sister Mary Alice Center for Hope in north Fort Collins, a resource center for homeless families and individuals. Company representatives were on hand Feb. 27 when the center opened with a public sneak preview of its features.

Alliance then reached a key milestone in early March with the completion of an underground parking structure for the St. Francis Cornerstone Residences, a downtown Denver project that will provide 50 residences, one-bedroom and studio apartments, in a four-story, 42,000-square-foot building.

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The $9.4 million project is a partnership between the St. Francis Center, one of Denver’s largest homeless service agencies, and the Rocky Mountain Housing Development Corp., a faith-based, nonprofit affordable housing group.

The building’s first floor will provide support services for individuals and couples who will reside at Cornerstone, ranging from medical and mental health treatment to employment counseling.

A third homeless service project is now in the pipeline for Alliance, which closed on a $12 million contract to build the Renaissance Uptown Lofts, another downtown Denver project being developed by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.

When complete in 2010, the Renaissance transitional housing project will offer 96 housing units in 100,000 square feet of space.

Alliance business development manager Jeremy Nothdurft said the three projects are coming on line at a time when they are most needed.

“These people have been through some pretty rough times,” he said. “To be able to have a warm bed and a meal is a pretty big deal.”

KW Commercial launches

This column last summer noted the merger of Fort Collins Real Estate, a firm led by prominent and hyper-busy broker Mike Jensen, and Keller Williams Realty Inc.

But it’s taken almost a half year for the official launch of KW Commercial, the commercial brokerage arm of the national company that had been strictly residential in focus.

And during the ceremonies marking the emergence of KW Commercial in Orlando, Fla., in early March, Jensen also learned of a lofty position he holds within the ranks of Keller Williams agents. Among the company’s 73,000 brokers, commercial and residential, Jensen ranks in the top 150, having logged a sales volume of $31 million last year.

Jensen’s not shy, either, about saying he’s shooting to be No. 1. “All I have to do is triple my sales volume,” he said. In this economy? “Right,” he added.

Being plugged into a national network of Keller Williams’ size – it is now the nation’s third-largest brokerage – has meant other advantages, Jensen said.

“As a small guy, you sort of make it up as you go along,” he said. “With KW, the platform and the infrastructure are pretty powerful. What’s been shocking to me are the referrals from other brokers, all over the country.”

Editor Tom Hacker covers real estate for the Northern Colorado Business Report. He can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 223 or at thacker@ncbr.com.

LOVELAND – Serving a slice of the housing market that is the most notoriously underserved, Alliance Construction Solutions Inc. of Loveland has completed one project that serves the homeless and has two more under way.

The builder finished work in February on the $2.5 million Sister Mary Alice Center for Hope in north Fort Collins, a resource center for homeless families and individuals. Company representatives were on hand Feb. 27 when the center opened with a public sneak preview of its features.

Alliance then reached a key milestone in early March with the completion of an underground parking structure for the St.…

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