Koelbel, who earned membership in the international business honor society, Beta Gamma Sigma, during his graduate studies at CU’s Leeds School of Business, was part of a team of four students whose vision of a redeveloped Denver Coliseum complex won the 8th annual Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge for CU last year against teams from the University of Denver. During his studies, he carried out field internships that involved property analyses in Littleton’s redeveloped downtown area on behalf of Littleton Capital Partners, as well as creation of a “green” development handbook for Vail Associates.

Koelbel, who has an undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California in Economics and International Relations, spent two years before grad school at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. studying the effects of infrastructure on land use, particularly with respect to U.S. competitiveness in an international sphere. His graduate studies included specialty work in finance, real estate law, economic development, and sustainability

“We are very proud of what Carl has already accomplished in his educational and working career, and how he will now assist our efforts in continuing the Koelbel and Company philosophy of sensitivity to the land in all of our developments, while supporting a sustainability commitment for all future projects,” said Buz Koelbel in announcing the appointment. Carl Koelbel will work in the company’s acquisitions and development department.

Koelbel and Company has a storied past that includes development of the Denver area’s first large-scale master-planned golf course community in 1958 (Pinehurst Country Club), and The Preserve at Greenwood Village, the mile-square planned community that for a decade ranked as the area’s fastest selling luxury home area. Koelbel is master developer, as well, of Rendezvous, the resort community taking shape on 1,100 acres between Fraser and Winter Park, and has major development parcels in Greenwood Village, Parker, along the Boulder Turnpike Corridor, and in the City of Denver.

Throughout its history, Koelbel and Company has always approached its developments with the understanding that they are custodians of the land for a short time, but their results last for generations. A commitment to the larger community is also important, as illustrated by numerous civic and cultural contributions, as well as the very active role Buz Koelbel played with a multitude of stakeholders to achieve what is now the successful multi-modal TREX project serving downtown Denver and the south I-25 corridor and the attendant market-driven, sustainable smart growth that will occur as a result.

The Preserve was a leader in a community development concept within the urban ring, protecting almost 25% of its property as permanent open space, including the 55-acre Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve and Wildlife Habitat, which serves as the permanent centerpiece of the community. The Preserve hosted the first Ideal Energy Home tour in 1991, illustrating energy efficiency and sustainability, and features homebuilders that have led the industry in energy technology.

Carl Koelbel added that Koelbel and Company has a prime position for leadership in sustainable development due to its land positions. Koelbel and Company has prime holdings at I-25 and Yale and at I-25 and Orchard along the south I-25 Light Rail corridor, as well as along the planned Boulder FasTracks corridor near the site of ConocoPhillips’ growing energy tech campus. To contact Koelbel and Company, visit Koelbelco.com or call 303-758-3500.
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Peloton’s rooftop pool deck looks out of a view of the Flatirons, and anchors a $6 million community recreation center that’s one of many gathering spots for residents.

The Peloton, on the Boulder Creek Trail near the Twenty Ninth Street mall, has plowed through 34 sales since January, to buyers arriving from Atlanta, New Jersey, Long Island…as well as metro Denver. “They’re a highly educated, tech-savvy group,” says Peter Cushman, Peloton’s senior vice president. When the market dropped last year, Peloton dropped prices 20%. “We’ve been on a tear here ever since,” he adds.
Most sales have been though special events like the one today: a chance to see the $6 million community center with fitness club, lavish club lounge and 22-seat theater (where on any night you might find a chili cook-off, Oscars party, or the CU-CSU game), and a rooftop pool deck with a stunning view of the Flatirons. “The pool and hot tub are used 365-days-a-year,” Cushman says. Those amenities also spawn a vibrant community life, including a sustainability committee that’s already changed Peloton’s landscape plan and added compost collection and an eco-bus pass to carbon-reducing programs already in place, including community bicycles, bike parking in the 6-acre underground lot, and a bike-to-work plan. Neighbors make friends fast: One ad-hoc group flew off to Munich for Oktoberfest last fall. “I’m a developer,” Cushman says. “I can create a building, but I can’t create that.”

Meanwhile, spacious 2-bedrooms (from $389,900) and studio-lofts (only five left, from $249,900) are steps from Peloton’s Gindi Café and new Pizzeria Basta (Westword rates it Best Gourmet Pizza); where you can not only hang, but enjoy drinks and, some evenings, entertainment. During your visit today, you’ll tour entirely new model homes; Peloton keeps selling off the model. “We don’t want to,” says Cushman…however, a generally left-brain clientele gravitates toward buying finished homes where the use of space is already ‘visualized.’

Today’s event launches at 11; from the Turnpike take Foothills Pkwy north two miles to Arapahoe, west a block to 38th, turn right, then a quick left.
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If you go…

WHERE: Special event, The Peloton, condo community next to Twenty Ninth Street shopping district, FHA financing, on Boulder Creek Trail. 38th St. at Arapahoe Ave., Boulder; take Foothills Pkwy north from U.S. 36, 2 mi. to Arapahoe, turn left 1 long block to 38th, right on 38th, and left into community

PRICE RANGE: Lofts from $249,900; 2-bedrooms from $389,900
WHEN: Saturday, May 15, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; daily 11-5 except Wed.
PHONE: 303-457-5230 WEB: www.thepeloton.com

Meritage specializes in homes that are not only affordable, but are Energy Star-rated to HERS-77; have concrete tile roofs, front yards with timed irrigation; and a tech-package totally pre-wired for wi-fi and surround-sound. From the $230s, they’re the lowest priced homes in master-planned Meridian Village with its trails, parks and pool.

“We have lots of engineers that buy——Qwest, Western Union, CH2M Hill, Schlumberger,” says Trishell MacDonald, who’ll be on hand today with Craig Dunkelberger and Karla Knapp. “Even if they’re not interested in the technology, they’re interested in the savings you get.”
Meridian Village is two miles east of I-25 on Lincoln, prompting numbers of residents to use Light Rail into DTC or downtown. “This is a community that feels like you’re really arriving somewhere,” adds Knapp, who notes that the monthly HOA for all of the amenities keeps expenses in check——currently $72. “This is exactly what people always say you should want: the lowest price in a nicer neighborhood.”
Knapp, former flight attendant on routes to Europe, named the models you’ll tour…starting with the ‘Vienna,’ 1,366 feet with three beds and 2-1/2 baths, plus basement, 2-car garage and the tech goodies, at only $236,900. Meritage has nine homes waiting that qualify for the credit (contract by April 30, close by June 30), including a Vienna, upgraded with full hardwood on the main level, maple cabinets and a tile master bath, to $257,763. They’ll take $16,589 off the base price today…and give another 3% of the base toward financing.
You can also tour a ‘Dublin’…Meritage’s fastest seller…1,584 feet with a laundry up. Needless to say, Knapp and MacDonald find most buyers either have kids or plan them soon…prompting Meritage to offer two plans with more bedroom flexibility: You can see a ‘Milan’ (2,237 feet) that can go to five or even six bedrooms with finished basement.
“It’s a very urban feel, a great square-foot value at the price of a loft,” adds Knapp. Take Lincoln east from I-25 2 miles (past Wildlife Experience) to Meridian Village Pkwy, then head south to the roundabout and continue straight.
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WHERE: Meridian Village, 3-bedroom single-family Metropolitan Collection by Meritage Homes; Homebuyer Tax Credit Party today, light lunch, drawings for gift cards. 10390 Rutledge St., Parker; take Lincoln Ave. east from I-25 2 miles to Meridian Village Pkwy, south, at traffic circle continue straight.

PRICE: From $230s; additional 10% off base on tax credit homes
WHEN: Today 10-6; closed Easter Sunday
PHONE: 303-406-4380 WEB: meritagehomes.com

Keller Williams agent Larry Champine (left) joins his client, Hungarian-born architect Bence Kovacs, beside the passive solar home Kovacs created in old Englewood, between Swedish Medical Center and the University of Denver.

Sure enough, at 3 p.m. the low winter sun was still peeking over the top of the 2-story house next door, filling a family room that has massive concrete floors (with radiant back-up heat) to absorb the solar gain. Kovacs, who works for Fentress Architects on projects surrounding the new airport for San Jose, Calif., and the new city hall for North Las Vegas, took a totally ‘green’ approach indoors: engineered ‘paralam’ beams, OSB-type flooring, and Xeriscaped yard for low water use.

He’s also added something that would have been very, very expensive to have done 30 years ago, when passive solar was the hot trend in Colorado architecture. The home’s roof has 2.4-kilowatts of photovoltaic panels, enough according to the manufacturer to provide around 50-75% of Kovacs’ electric needs. That was a $23,000 add-on, but after credits and rebates, Kovacs says the final bill was $8,000 -– a sum that should pay back in five or six years.
Kovacs, trained at the Hungarian University of Arts and Crafts with a follow-up degree from DU, discovered the neighborhood after having lived a mile closer to the campus. “What I like about it is literally no traffic, much quieter,” he told me. He moved into an old, 650-foot house on site…had intentions of preserving more of it than he did…but ended substantially scraping it for the 2,600-foot new structure. You can still see a hint of its original roof angle beside the large solar windows on the south side.
The new home, priced at $699,000, also shows a very contemporary fireplace (“I didn’t want gas logs, I’m not trying to look like something else,” Kovacs said), bedrooms that have Japanese-style sliders that throw open to join the interior spaces below, and plenty of ‘green’ design accents to match the energy package: a bright green column and moss shades in the finishes of kitchen and family room.
His Xcel bill, by the way, ran $20 for a mid-summer month, $120 last month. The home is west ofS. University on Dartmouth one mile, two blocks past Downing, to Ogden, then right.
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WHERE: Passive solar home with solar electric system, 3-bed, 2,600-sq. ft. 3055 S. Ogden St., Englewood; from S. University, take Dartmouth west, 1.2 mi., past Downing, 2 blks to Ogden, turn right.
PRICE: From $699,000
PHONE: 720-291-4227

Five new, luxury townhomes opening on a site overlooking Sloans Lake will have super-low energy bills and a LEED Gold Standard certification…along with something that’s equally difficult to find in Denver’s popular Highlands area: a very low cost-per-square-foot.

RE/MAX Professionals agent Ben Melton shows off LEED certified townhomes near Sloan’s Lake, each with photovoltaic panels. Each has a cost-per-foot slightly above $200.

According to RE/MAX Professionals broker Ben Melton, exclusive agent for the project, 3-bedroom, 3-bath townhomes at 1544 Zenobia in Denver are priced from $350,000 to $375,000…costs per square foot that are just beyond $200. “They’ll be one of the best values in the entire Highlands area, not counting their energy performance and cutting edge solar electric systems,” Melton said.

Each is being provided 2 kilowatts of solar photovoltaic panels on the roof that will return a high percentage of the home’s electrical demand…actually running the electric meter backward during some periods. The homes are super-insulated and are being provided 90% efficient gas furnaces, low-voltage lighting, rooftop gardens, and very high performing Marvin windows…features that will help earn the Gold Certification, one of the highest available under the highly respected LEED program created by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Melton notes that the five homes will also be spacious and lavishly appointed with Kohler fixtures and stainless GE appliances. Master suites, positioned for views of downtown, the lake, or the mountains from various homes, show Jacuzzi tubs and separate showers.

The solar panels and super efficient energy features also make purchasers eligible for rebates for tax credits, and for rebates from Xcel Energy that are reflected in the low purchase price. Each home, Melton adds, is walking distance from King Soopers shopping and from the popular city trail system that surrounds scenic Sloans Lake.

“This is a very advanced design with a high rate of energy performance,” noted Leeann Iacino, President of RE/MAX Professionals. “It’s a good example of our company’s concern with our clients’ energy performance, at a time when everybody is concerned about rising costs.”

The townhomes at 1544 Zenobia Street are now open for preview, Melton said, and tours can be arranged by appointment. Melton, who works from RE/MAX Professionals headquarters office at 9200 E. Panorama Circle, Suite 140, off I-25 at Dry Creek Road, can be reached at 303-880-8783. Or visit RE/MAX Professionals on the web at PrestigiousDenverHomes.com.
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Can you build a house even greener than ‘net-zero energy?’ President Obama’s pick to serve as ambassador to Finland has done just that; and you can tour it Sunday in Boulder’s Mapleton Hill neighborhood, 1-4 p.m., just north of Pearl on Fifth.

Bruce Oreck, appointed ambassador to Finland, created the ‘Next West House’ in Boulder, on view Sunday, Aug. 9, 429 Spruce Street, 1-4 p.m.

Boulder developer and environmentalist Bruce Oreck created his ‘Next West House’ to be ‘net-zero carbon’—so efficient that it not only makes more energy than it uses, but recovers enough to compensate for what was used to build the house and its materials. Oreck calls it “the greenest home in North America”…and received a Platinum LEED certification for it—highest possible rating.

When you tour, you’ll have a hard time seeing the systems that allow a home to be that sustainable. The first is 10 kilowatts of solar panels…three times as much generating power as builders provide with typical solar demonstration systems. Next West has one array tucked so tight to the roof you’ll have to look twice to see it; others are hidden on top of the porch and on a second roof pitch further back.

Also hard to see is a 450-foot ground-loop heat pump that recovers warmth from deep in the bedrock during winter (and cools the home during summer)…and within the farm house-style architecture, the heaviest insulation package you’ve probably ever visited: walls to R-50, ceilings between R-75 and R-90. Next West is so conserving that Oreck can heat the entire house in winter with no more than an alcohol furnace smaller than a camp stove. The solar panels provide all of the input; batteries store energy during non-sun periods.

You’ll also view a gray water tank that recovers water from sinks and showers to save the 30% of household use that goes to run toilets; LED (light emitting diode) bulbs that are more efficient and natural looking than compact fluorescents and last 20 years; a magnetic induction cooktop that wastes little heat (and saves on cooling); and a garage plug-in for a modified hybrid or all-electric car.

Oreck notes his ambassadorial appointment is a perfect match to his building work; one study rates Finland as the very greenest nation on the planet. 429 Spruce Street showcases a spectacular lot——steps from Pearl Street; a memorable view of the Flatirons; with an agricultural ditch dating from 1862 that runs from Boulder Canyon behind the house, providing water for the third-acre site. Joel Ripmaster with Colorado Landmark is listing agent, 303-443-3377.

If you go…

WHERE: ‘Next West House,’ Platinum LEED certified, ‘net-zero carbon’ design, 3-bed/3,617 sq. ft., billed “greenest home in North America.” 429 Spruce St., Boulder; take Canyon west from Broadway 5 blks to 6th St., right 2 blks to Pearl, left 1 blk to 5th, turn right, 2 blks.

PRICE: $2.895 million
WHEN: Sun., Aug. 9, 1-4 p.m.
PHONE: 303-443-3377 WEB: 429Spruce.com

Half of the work of creating a sustainable lifestyle is in picking a location that doesn’t require lots of gas guzzling…and internationally acclaimed architect Curt Fentress has done just that with his Watermark Luxury Residences…three minutes from downtown’s sports and entertainment attractions…walking distance from a lot of new clubs and dining spots along ‘SoBo’…South Broadway.

Watermark’s sales team members Marina Gorbounov and Ryan Belinak show off Daimler-Benz’ SmartCar…being offered free with the next seven Watermark purchases.

If you’re one of the next seven buyers at Watermark, you can double your mileage zipping around downtown in a SmartCar…free with each purchase. Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) brought them to the U.S. only last year; but they’ve been in Europe ten years now…fuel efficient, and so compact that Italian drivers park them in their car-jammed streets front-end first. At Watermark today you can get a close look at a Smart ‘Passion’ convertible; then venture up to the 7th floor ‘Sky Garden’ with $2 million double-edged infinity pool, and a view over historic Baker neighborhood to the mountains.

Fentress, designer of DIA, LAX, Seoul airport, Invesco, and known for sustainable projects, wrapped Watermark’s luxurious suites (from only $275,900) and street-level brownstones (from $595,000) around the Chittenden Mansion at 4th and Acoma Street, a Baker landmark (now the visitor center for Watermark). “This is an extraordinarily well built community that, at this year’s prices, makes for a tremendous value,” says Laura Levy of Crescent Partners, hosting today’s event. “Even without the Smart, people are fortunate to be getting this pricing; it cost more to build this than these prices reflect.”

You can also see how particularly smart this location is for somebody already working in the downtown orbit…maybe at Denver Health, Anthem, or the TV stations, a few blocks away. You can stop by SoBo (the Mayan Theatre, Deluxe, Beatrice & Woodsley, Hornet and other clubs)…and see the amenities residents have on site…not just the pool, but cook-in party lounge and a well equipped fitness center.

Oh yes…and some very contemporary residences and penthouses that all feature rear-hung Euro-styled cabinets, self-closing Blumotion drawers, real Jenn-air appliances, Pella windows and some of the most creative decorating ideas you’ll see at any urban residential offering. Take Broadway south (or Lincoln north) to 4th Avenue, then west.

IF YOU GO:

WHERE: SmartCar, given to next 7 buyers at Watermark Luxury Residences with purchase; car & show homes on view, appetizers by rooftop infinity pool. 410 Acoma St., block west of Broadway at 4th. Take Broadway south from downtown to 4th, turn right; or Lincoln north from I-25 to 4th, left.

PRICE: From $270s, brownstones from $590s, penthouse from $950s
WHEN: 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
PHONE: 303-777-7037 Web: WatermarkDenver.com

BOULDER. Work began last week on a solar-powered replacement for the home of 78-year-old Bobra Goldsmith, known as “llama lady,” who lost her house Jan. 7 to a 3,000-acre range fire that tore through the Boulder County ranch where she raises llamas and alpacas.

Gathering at Bobra Goldsmith’s home site: Brett Steury and Mary Coonce of Porchfront Homes, Goldsmith, and Matt Grandsaert and Tim Webb from Integral Engineering. Goldsmith’s llamas won grand awards at the 2009 National Western Stock Show.

“This is going to be very energy efficient, getting a high percentage of its operating power from solar and super energy-efficient construction,” said Mary Coonce, who together with husband Tim Coonce are principals in Boulder-based Porchfront Homes. “We expect to complete construction in late fall.”

Included in the replacement home’s features are 4.73 kilowatts of solar photovoltaic roof panels, a solar domestic hot water system, and passive solar elements to provide natural heating and cooling. The old home, Coonce noted, had been a passive design dating from the 1970s, with nowhere near the energy efficiency the Porchfront design will provide.

Goldsmith has been living in temporary housing on the ranch site off Neva Road and N. 45th Street, close to where Porchfront crews are at work on a new foundation. Her home and possessions were sole casualty of the wind-whipped fire; all 120 of her award winning llamas and alpacas escaped harm and no other homes were destroyed. News of the fire drew wide support for Goldsmith as she recouped from the loss and made plans to rebuild.

Coonce offered special thanks to several organizations who rallied to help in the fire’s wake, including Tim Webb and Matt Grandsaert of Integral Engineering, architect Richard Sanchez, Colorado Mini Excavating, American Pride Co-op, Bird RV, and solar supplier REC, which is providing the PV panels at reduced cost. She added that the Boulder County Land Use Department had been exceptionally helpful in processing her requests for temporary housing and a building permit.

Porchfront Homes, builder of energy efficient custom homes and neighborhoods, is located at 1847 Yarmouth Avenue in Boulder, and can be reached at 303-442-8453, or on the web at www.porchfronthomes.com.

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In a week when Forbes Magazine named Denver ‘Best City to Buy a Home’ in the nation, Oakwood Homes is showing you a great place to do just that–Green Valley Ranch, where last week Oakwood CEO Pat Hamill helped officials break ground for Green Valley Ranch’s E-12 campus, an ‘energized platform’ for learning that will blend high-tech with green/sustainable energy features.

Turning the first ground for Green Valley Ranch’s new E-12 Campus are, from left, DPS Operations Director Kelly Leid, Oakwood President and CEO Pat Hamill, former Councilwoman Allegra ‘Happy’ Haynes, School Board Member Kevin Patterson, and Councilman Michael Hancock.

“You’re seeing Green Valley Ranch develop a sense of identity, a sense of place,” says Denver Public Schools’ Operations Director Kelly Leid, who five years ago was with Oakwood when he began work on a vision for E-12…a School of Science and Technology campus (plans call for a laptop for every student), covering all grades, K-12; the first new high school built in Denver in 30 years.

All of that doubles some opportunities Oakwood has created a few blocks from the school’s site. Come tour Oakwood’s seven models on view (Green Valley Ranch Blvd. at Ceylon Street, east of Tower) and you’ll find New Beginning’s designs priced from under $130,000…so low that at current 30-year rates, you could put 3-1/2% down and be making a monthly payment of just $860…taxes and insurance included.

Better yet, you can see a few New Beginnings II plans on track to deliver this fall…in time for you to take advantage of the up-to-$8,000 federal tax credit being offered to first-time buyers (you have to be moved in by Dec. 1 to take advantage).

One of those is an Emery plan…with two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, 1,378 square feet plus a 2-car garage. It’s walking distance from Green Valley Ranch’s town center with King Soopers, coffee shop, Mattie Sopranos and other eateries…and like the new school, comes with high-performance energy features…30% better than code.

Move in by December…and by next fall your kids could be part of the opening of Green Valley Ranch E-12 Campus. No surprise that coming into this weekend, Oakwood is close to marking its 100th Green Valley Ranch sale of 2009…23 New Beginnings sales last month alone.

The school will be open in 12 months…but in a year when Denver’s inventory of homes under $300,000 has already dropped into “seller’s market” levels, don’t expect those prices to be there then. “You’re seeing the emergence of a great community,” adds Mike Tinlin, Oakwood’s Sales Manager, “but these prices will never be the same.”

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Mark Samuelson is president of Samuelson & Associates, a homebuilding/real estate communications firm. You can e-mail him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com.

IF YOU GO:

WHERE: Pre-sales prices on ‘New Beginnings” single-family homes by Oakwood Homes, close to new Green Valley Ranch E-12 Campus (opens next summer), seven models to tour. Green Valley Ranch; take Pena Blvd. north 1 mi. to Green Valley Ranch Blvd. (48th); east 1 mi. past Tower, past Argonne to Ceylon St., right

PRICE: From $129,700 Carson & Parkwood series from $190s, $240s
WHEN: Daily 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
PHONE: 303-486-8722 WEB: www.HomesPeopleLove.com