In this episode of Icon Insights, ‘12 University of Colorado graduate Mo Gillie speaks with Chris Shears, a principal at Shears Adkins Rockmore, an architecture, interior design and planning firm in Dever. Shears has directed the design efforts for many of Denver’s more substantial new projects, representing a construction value of over $1.5 billion. He also serves on the University of Colorado Design Review Board as well as the Board of Directors for the Downtown Denver Partnership, and he is a Studio Instructor at the University of Colorado Denver, College of Architecture and Planning.

Gillie and Shears discuss a variety of topics in this episode, including the development of the Academy University Hill retirement community in Boulder, the state of the real estate and architecture industries, how Shears deals with criticism and setbacks, and the time he hosted Jeff Bezos for dinner in his parents’ family dining room in his hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas.

In this special episode of Icon Insights taken from the recent Klump Annual Real Estate Forum in Denver, commercial real estate industry leader Willy Walker discusses lessons learned from more than two decades with Walker & Dunlop, one of the largest commercial real estate finance and advisory firms in the United States and internationally. Walker is the company’s chairman and CEO, he was named “Financier of the Year” in 2017 and 2020 by Commercial Property Executive, and he was named the Most Admired CEO by the Denver Business Journal in 2024.

Interviewing Walker is Darren Powderly, the Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer of Crowd Street, a direct-access private market investment platform dedicated to helping members reach their financial ambitions. Powderly graduated from the University of Colorado in 1997, and also serves on the Klump Center Advisory Board.

In this episode of Icon Insights, ‘23 Leeds School of Business graduate Ezra McPhail speaks with Kim Koehn, the owner of K2Ventures, an investment and development entity looking to develop, acquire, and/or redevelop small-to-midsize properties in the Denver and Colorado Front Range areas. Kim has held executive positions at national developers Opus Corporation, Corporex Companies, and Fifield Realty. He is also an adjunct professor within the CU Real Estate Center at the Leeds School of Business.

Koehn discusses a variety of subjects from his decades in the real estate industry, including settling in Colorado after growing up in the Midwest, his introduction to real estate and what drew him to the industry, his thoughts on the current economic climate for commercial real estate, and how young professionals can develop into leaders in the industry.

In this episode of Icon Insights, ’20 Leeds School of Business graduate Brandon Strickland speaks with Danny Prosky, the president and chief executive officer of American Healthcare REIT, Inc. American Healthcare REIT is one of the largest healthcare-focused real estate investment trusts in the word, and Prosky has spent more than 25 years of his professional career in the specialized field of healthcare real estate investment, where he has been responsible for more than $10 billion in transactions.

Prosky discusses how he first became involved in healthcare real estate, the challenges of navigating a changing healthcare industry, what’s next for the industry as it accommodates the aging baby boomer population, and why it’s so important to ask questions and continue to learn as your real estate career evolves. Prosky graduated from the University of Colorado in 1987 and is currently a member of the CU Real Estate Center National Advisory Board.

In this episode of Icon Insights, ’23 Leeds School of Business graduate Luke Burns speaks with longtime Colorado developer Craig Ferraro about how he carved out a career working in ski resort communities, the philanthropic work that has kept him connected to those mountain resort communities, and the risks and rewards of working on projects high in the Rocky Mountains.

Ferraro is the former Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer at East/West Partners, a Denver-based real estate development company. He's also an Adjunct Professor in Real Estate at CU-Boulder.

In this episode of Icon Insights, ‘22 Leeds School of Business graduate Cliff Dinwiddie IV goes in-depth on the past, present and future of affordable housing with Denver-based developer Kevin Knapp, who boasts more than 15 years of working in the industry. Knapp discusses how he became involved in affordable housing, the differences between affordable and market-rate housing, his thoughts on rent control, his advice for students looking to start a career in affordable housing, and much more.

Knapp is currently the Vice President of Development at Ulysses Development Group, which develops best-in-class affordable communities nationwide. Knapp obtained an MBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he’s also an adjunct instructor and frequent guest lecturer in the real estate program. He also volunteers as a Commissioner on two City of Boulder advisory boards and is on the Board of Directors of Flatirons Habitat for Humanity.

In this episode of Icon Insights, ‘23 Leeds School of Business graduate Brendan Mulcahy dives deep into the career highlights of Boulder-based developer Bill Reynolds, the founder of  W.W. Reynolds Companies. Reynolds reflects on how he got his start in the real estate industry, his role in founding the CU Real Estate Center (CUREC), the work of the W.W. Reynolds Foundation, and how he thinks about his legacy in real estate in Colorado.

A Boulder native who graduated from the University of Colorado in 1960, Reynolds founded Reynolds and Company in 1966. Currently the Reynolds properties in Downtown Boulder total 600,000 square feet, and their management portfolio contains 3 million square feet and 440 tenants. He has served as the President of the CU Real Estate Center as well as the first president of the University of Colorado Real Estate Foundation, and he was recently honored with NAIOP’s Lifetime Achievement President’s Award.

In this episode of Icon Insights, ‘12 Leeds School of Business graduate Jordan Swisher interviews longtime commercial real estate consultant Rick Woodruff about the the do’s and don’ts of mentorship. Woodruff discusses why he first began mentoring aspiring real estate professionals, how a mentor should approach the relationship and what skills make for a good mentor, and why mentees should never buy the beer during a conversation about careers.

Woodruff has a long history in real estate along Colorado’s front range, including a stint as the Director of Real Estate for grocery chain King Soopers and 26 years serving as the CFO at Boulder-based commercial real estate developer W.W. Reynolds Companies. He has also served as the CFO at both the Urban Land Conservancy and Boulder Creek Builders, and he graduated from the University of Colorado in 1986.