Media Contact: Paul Suter, Suter Media Relations

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Urban Legend to handle retail leasing efforts at

Belleview Station’s two new apartment communities

The new apartment communities will include nearly 70,000 square feet of retail space

Denver, CO (October 2014) – Holland Partner Group, a leading developer of quality multi-family residences and apartments in the Denver metro area, has announced that Urban Legend will handle retail leasing efforts at Belleview Station’s two new apartment communities: MileHouse, and a second, yet to-be-named community which broke ground in July.  Nearly 70,000 square feet of retail space will also be introduced as part of the projects

Front Range Land & Development is working in partnership with Holland Partner Group on the retail portion of both apartment communities.

 “The Urban Legend team is a leader in the leasing of retail space throughout the Denver metro area, and we’re very pleased to have the company join our team and continue to make MileHouse the preeminent mixed-use community in the south metro area,” said Scott Menefee of Holland Partner Group.  “The addition of retail space is part of a master plan to bring more quality retail to this part of the metro area.  Kelly Greene and Pete Pavlakis are underway locating unique and well-suited restaurants and retail that will enhance the quality of life for our residents, while also adding to the retail mix in this part of town.”

 “Based on our relationships and local market knowledge, we’re able to identify the tenants that are best-suited for unique characteristics and personality of each of the communities and properties we represent,” said Greene.  “MileHouse at Belleview Station will provide a great lifestyle to the people who live here, and the retail component will further enhance the experience.  We’re looking forward to making several exciting retail announcements in the weeks ahead.”

Both properties will provide ample free parking, both within their on-site parking garages, and also adjacent parking lots.

In addition to the retail space, the property includes 678 new residences; 353 residences at MileHouse and 325 at the second development..  Both properties are located along Belleview Avenue, just west of Interstate 25.

More information regarding MileHouse at Belleview Station can be found at www.milehouseapts.com.

More information about Holland Partner Group is available at www.hollandpartnergoup.com.

From general manager to Chipotle's top female executive: a look at Chipotle's Gretchen Selfridge

After almost turning the job down, thinking a concept like Chipotle could never work, Gretchen Selfridge began managing the second Chipotle location in Denver in the early 90's. She has since risen in the ranks and now is responsible for half of locations across the country as Restaurant Support Officer. We think Gretchen is truly one of the best in the business.

From Fortune magazine:

From general manager to Chipotle's top female executive
by  Caroline Fairchild  @CFair1  NOVEMBER 4, 2014, 7:30 AM EST
from: http://fortune.com/2014/11/04/chipotle-top-female-executive/

In 1995, Gretchen Selfridge almost turned down the opportunity to manage the second Chipotle in the country. Now, she runs around 850 of them.

As Chipotle’s restaurant support officer, Selfridge role is similar to that of a co-COO. She is responsible for half of the Chipotle’s across the country while another exec, Mike Duffy, manages the other half. Nearly 20 years ago while visiting on tables at the now-closed restaurant that she worked at in Aurora, Colo., one of her regular customers asked her if she wanted to join the new venture. She said no way. There was no chance a concept like Chipotle’s could survive, she thought.

“Back in 1990s, there wasn’t this category of restaurants. You had fast food and you had full service,” Selfridge said in an interview with Fortune. “I was working at a full-service restaurant. I didn’t want to go work at something like a Taco Bell. I sort of turned my nose down on the opportunity.”

Eventually, Selfridge took a meeting with Steve Ells, Chipotle’s founder and co-CEO, to learn more. It didn’t take her long to change her mind on the company. Calling Ells a “visionary,” Selfridge said she didn’t care what kind of restaurant he was running; she just wanted to work for him. The next year, she became the general manager of the second Chipotle  CMG 0.09%  in the country in Denver.

A 31-year-old Selfridge realized quickly that Chipotle wasn’t like any other restaurant. In her experience in the industry, the only time a customer asked to see the manager at a restaurant was to complain about the food or the experience. But at Chipotle, she had customer after customer asking her how they could open up a franchise and when they planned on opening up a location closer to their home.

Loyal patrons weren’t the only ones who wanted to get a piece of Chipotle’s Mexican-style pie. At the end of 1997 with only a handful of restaurants spread across the Colorado area, the company got a call from an unexpected source: McDonald’s  MCD -0.04%  . The fast-food giant known for its golden arches and greasy French fries wanted to invest. Once McDonald’s agreed to stay out of Chipotle’s business and simply act as a lender, Ells and his team agreed to take them on as a financial partner.

Chipotle eventually dissolved the partnership in 2006, but McDonald’s initial investment allowed the small burrito joint to set its sights on larger growth. When Selfridge came in to run the second Chipotle, Ells and his team thought they could eventually grow to a total of four restaurants. By 1998, the company was opening 13 every year. Last year, Chipotle opened up 185 new restaurants bringing the total to 1,700 stores and raking in $3.21 billion in revenue.

“I remember thinking, ‘McDonald’s is a huge company. What do they see in our just 13 stores?’ That’s when I realized that this could be really big.”

Selfridge, armed with an associate’s degree in business from a junior college, kept up with Chipotle’s exponential growth by focusing on what she knew best: people. Moving up the corporate ladder from the general manager of one store to restaurant support officer also responsible for Chipotle’s compliance department, Selfridge talks about her growth as a leader as if it were as organic as Chipotle’s growth itself.

“When you wear a lot of hats, you tend to figure things out,” she said. “People come to you because you are a resource and you understand how to do things.”

Yet despite Chipotle’s unprecedented success, the company still experiences some growing pains. Namely, Selfridge says the company’s dedication to only hiring the best people has made it difficult to staff restaurants at the same rate as demand for new stores. Chipotle ranks potential new hires on 13 innate characteristics like ambition, presentation and attitude. Finding five managers and 30 employees that fit the bill for each of those stores is a challenge.

“I can teach you how to roll a burrito. I can teach you how to grill chicken. I can teach you how to manage a P&L,” says Selfridge. “I can’t teach you to be happy, and smart and ambitious.”

Personally, Selfridge says her biggest challenge has been believing each time that she could rise to the challenge of her new role. She was never insecure, she said, but she never envisioned that she would rise to the ranks in the food industry that she finds herself in now.

“I was put into a position that I thought I never would be put into,” she said. “Somebody believed in me and gave me the confidence. I have been given a great opportunity.”

Is there enough parking in Cherry Creek North?

Dennis Huspeni Reporter- Denver Business Journal Email | Google+ | Twitter | Real Deals blog

How many times have you heard: “There’s no place to park in Cherry Creek.”

While there’s no doubt construction and street-improvement projects there since the start of the year have removed some of the estimated 555 on-street parking spots in Cherry Creek North, research by the Denver Business Journal shows there are 8,311 parking spots in and around the district.

True, much of that comes from private parking garages that can be more expensive than on-street parking, but the majority of those — 5,000 — come from the Cherry Creek Shopping Center.

By way of comparison, Park Meadows mall in Lone Tree has 6,000 parking spaces.

“There are a host of reasons why the perception [about lack of parking] exists,” said Nick LeMasters, general manager of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. “But there is ample parking over there.”

LeMasters said Cherry Creek North visitors “are more than welcome to park in our garage.”

“We believe that shoppers who visit the Cherry Creek neighborhood are often our customers as well,” LeMasters said. “We’re not real excited when [Cherry Creek North] employees use our spaces, because employee vehicles stay there all day. We’ll aggressively enforce our rights in that area, but shoppers are welcome to come.”

Julie Underdahl, president of the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District (BID), said if visitors just used the parking garages more, there’s always plenty of parking.

“Obviously there’s been a loss of on-street parking,” Underdahl said. “But the city did a study recently and even at peak times within the district the parking garages are only half full. ... The BID is working with parking garage operators and the city to see what can be done to increase” parking garage use.

That might include more, or better, signs directing motorists to those parking garages.

The implementation of the “smart meters” by the City of Denver, replacing the parking kiosks, has improved the parking situation, Underdahl said.

Most of the problem comes from shoppers who expect to park right in front of the business they’re patronizing. But that’s becoming harder as more businesses open there and with the advent of at least seven major developments under construction, in addition to the City of Denver’s stormwater drain replacement project on University Boulevard and Josephine Street and street improvements.

“I doubt if it’s going to get better before it gets worse,” said Denver City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb, whose district includes Cherry Creek. “But we’re taking a lot of steps to keep it from being worse.”

Those steps include requiring developers to provide adequate parking for the new residents and workers that will join the district once those apartment, condo and new office developments are complete.

“There will be a critical mass of residents who won’t have to get into their cars to go to restaurants or shopping,” Robb said.

Talks also continue — as they have for years — between the BID, Cherry Creek Shopping Center and the Regional Transportation District for some kind of shuttle or circular between downtown and Cherry Creek North.

“The new Cherry Creek Business Alliance is leading the conversation around this issue,” said LeMasters. “We need a long-term, strategic connection to both downtown and points to the south east. ... We just don’t want to put a Band-Aid on it, we want a long-term solution.”


Dennis Huspeni covers real estate and retail for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Real Deals" blog. Phone: 303-803-9232.