Healthcare Development Magazine recently published a short article on the St. Anthony North Medical Office Building emphasizing that it is possible to be economically friendly, environmentally friendly and flexible enough to meet current and future user needs.
http://healthcaredevelopmentmagazine.com/article/healthcare-development-magazine01.html
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
History, Habitat and the Environment
Recently, our family investment partnership started looking for some additional real estate to acquire. The market seemed to be presenting good opportunities for investment. In seeking multifamily investment properties, I stumbled across a 6-unit apartment building located at 2355/2359 Lafayette Street, Denver, CO 80205. I carefully reviewed the financial statements presented, took a quick tour of the property and made an offer. After a bit of back and forth with the seller, we had the property under contract.
Though now a bit worn and a little dilapidated, it is clear that 2355 Lafayette was bursting with historical charm. I began researching everything I could about this property and performing due diligence on the acquisition. As it turns out, the property was designed in 1889 by Charles A. Lang – a very prolific Denver architect. Taken from Colorado Architects Biographical Sketch, “Lang burst onto the Denver building scene at the peak of economic activity with a fast and furious pace. He designed over 250 buildings in his brief career in Denver, including a church (St, Mark’s Parish), townhouses (Vine St.), barns, a commercial building (A.M. Ghost Building),and numerous residential dwellings. He was known as Denver’s residential architect. Per
haps most well known are the Molly Brown House (1890) and Castle Marne (1890), which show Lang’s preference for rusticated stone, turrets, arches, and a grandness of scale. His recognizable eclectic style was used not only on these large imposing mansions but also on townhouses (a few of which remain) and what he termed "moderate cost housing." Although he left Illinois before Richardsonian architecture made its mark on Chicago, it is apparent that this style-albeit somewhat tailored to his taste-had a great impact on Lang. It is difficult to pin Lang down to a definite style, for he merged many elements from different styles to suit his taste, not following convention.”
I personally had an interest in building sustainable projects. My vision for this property was starting to solidify with three very clear directions: (1) preserve/restore and honor the history of this property, (2) create a LEED for homes certified renovation project and (3) make this an exceptional place to live. In reading another bio about Charles A. Lang written by Charles O Brantigan, M.D., it turns out that “[Lang] won an award for energy efficiency of his designs 83 years after his death.”
Starting with a historical building that is already energy efficient in its design seems like a natural fit to create something very special.
The next step will be to find a way to work through the inspection issues and actually close on the property.
Though now a bit worn and a little dilapidated, it is clear that 2355 Lafayette was bursting with historical charm. I began researching everything I could about this property and performing due diligence on the acquisition. As it turns out, the property was designed in 1889 by Charles A. Lang – a very prolific Denver architect. Taken from Colorado Architects Biographical Sketch, “Lang burst onto the Denver building scene at the peak of economic activity with a fast and furious pace. He designed over 250 buildings in his brief career in Denver, including a church (St, Mark’s Parish), townhouses (Vine St.), barns, a commercial building (A.M. Ghost Building),and numerous residential dwellings. He was known as Denver’s residential architect. Per
haps most well known are the Molly Brown House (1890) and Castle Marne (1890), which show Lang’s preference for rusticated stone, turrets, arches, and a grandness of scale. His recognizable eclectic style was used not only on these large imposing mansions but also on townhouses (a few of which remain) and what he termed "moderate cost housing." Although he left Illinois before Richardsonian architecture made its mark on Chicago, it is apparent that this style-albeit somewhat tailored to his taste-had a great impact on Lang. It is difficult to pin Lang down to a definite style, for he merged many elements from different styles to suit his taste, not following convention.”I personally had an interest in building sustainable projects. My vision for this property was starting to solidify with three very clear directions: (1) preserve/restore and honor the history of this property, (2) create a LEED for homes certified renovation project and (3) make this an exceptional place to live. In reading another bio about Charles A. Lang written by Charles O Brantigan, M.D., it turns out that “[Lang] won an award for energy efficiency of his designs 83 years after his death.”
Starting with a historical building that is already energy efficient in its design seems like a natural fit to create something very special.
The next step will be to find a way to work through the inspection issues and actually close on the property.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Pull the Chute!
I published a post titled the Crash of N953CD in November of 2008. In November/December of 2009, Cirrus Pilot published a great article titled "Visualizing a CAPS Pull" by Rick Beach. The article used data from the computers on board my former aircraft to create a visual simulation of the events leading up to the crash. The article was very well done and enclosed below.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=28276318&key=MzVmYWVlNzIt&pass=MGU2Yi00ZGVl
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=28276318&key=MzVmYWVlNzIt&pass=MGU2Yi00ZGVl
St. Anthony North MOB Achieves LEED Gold Certification
Aardex recently released a press release about the building I developed. Though anticipated, it is nice to have the official stamp of approval from the US Green Building Councel for delivering a LEED Gold building at the low end of market rental rates.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kristen Campbell: 303.327.4459
St. Anthony North Achieves LEED Gold Certification
Westminster’s first LEED Gold Building
(Westminster, Colorado – February 15, 2010) The St. Anthony North campus achieved an important milestone this week when the 65,000 square foot, St. Anthony North Medical Office Building achieved LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification.
“We are so happy to have a property that commits itself to the health and well-being of our customers and tenants and is dedicated to long-term green strategies that benefit all of us in the community,” said St. Anthony North CFO, Barbara Carveth.
Located at 8501 Bryant Street in Westminster, the building is the City’s first LEED Gold certified building. LEED is the recognized trademark of the United States Green Building Council that ranks buildings on the level of sustainability attained in design and construction.
St. Anthony North features include multi-zone HVAC systems for frequent air exchange, advanced individual temperature controls, natural daylighting, sound diffusion and efficient energy saving systems and design. The building is also fully integrated electronically with the hospital’s medical informatics system.
"We congratulate St. Anthony's for their advanced LEED Gold certification," said Brent McFall, City Manager for the City of Westminster, "This building serves as a great example of how environmental stewardship and economic growth can co-exist in the local landscape."
Developed by Aardex LLC, the medical office building is home to Centura Lab Services, Panorama Orthopedics & Spine Center, Panorama Physical Therapy, Rocky Mountain Cardiovascular Associates, St. Anthony North Family Medicine Residency, St. Anthony Senior Health Centers and Women’s Health Specialists.
Founded in 1983, Aardex LLC is a development, design, construction and property services firm based in Denver. A recognized leader in build-to-suit, Aardex authored User Effective® Buildings in 2004, a methodology that champions worker productivity in the workplace. The company is committed to reflecting the highest standards in sustainability in all of its business lines – GSA, office, healthcare and hospitality.
Learn more at http://www.aardex.com/
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kristen Campbell: 303.327.4459
St. Anthony North Achieves LEED Gold Certification
Westminster’s first LEED Gold Building
(Westminster, Colorado – February 15, 2010) The St. Anthony North campus achieved an important milestone this week when the 65,000 square foot, St. Anthony North Medical Office Building achieved LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification.
“We are so happy to have a property that commits itself to the health and well-being of our customers and tenants and is dedicated to long-term green strategies that benefit all of us in the community,” said St. Anthony North CFO, Barbara Carveth.
Located at 8501 Bryant Street in Westminster, the building is the City’s first LEED Gold certified building. LEED is the recognized trademark of the United States Green Building Council that ranks buildings on the level of sustainability attained in design and construction.
St. Anthony North features include multi-zone HVAC systems for frequent air exchange, advanced individual temperature controls, natural daylighting, sound diffusion and efficient energy saving systems and design. The building is also fully integrated electronically with the hospital’s medical informatics system.
"We congratulate St. Anthony's for their advanced LEED Gold certification," said Brent McFall, City Manager for the City of Westminster, "This building serves as a great example of how environmental stewardship and economic growth can co-exist in the local landscape."
Developed by Aardex LLC, the medical office building is home to Centura Lab Services, Panorama Orthopedics & Spine Center, Panorama Physical Therapy, Rocky Mountain Cardiovascular Associates, St. Anthony North Family Medicine Residency, St. Anthony Senior Health Centers and Women’s Health Specialists.
Founded in 1983, Aardex LLC is a development, design, construction and property services firm based in Denver. A recognized leader in build-to-suit, Aardex authored User Effective® Buildings in 2004, a methodology that champions worker productivity in the workplace. The company is committed to reflecting the highest standards in sustainability in all of its business lines – GSA, office, healthcare and hospitality.
Learn more at http://www.aardex.com/
Sunday, July 26, 2009
What’s in a name?
Today I pulled out some old items my dad gave me, carefully organized and mounted them in box two lovely black box frames. The frames fit the décor of my downtown loft. The contents of these frames do not necessarily fit into the ambiance of my home. I sit here looking at the collection of five pocket watches all of which are at least 50 years old, I’m sure some are much older. There another box frame that hosts a beautiful hand punched belt and hat band, both complete with silver and turquoise buckles. All of these articles came from my grandfather. My father gave them to me over the years and I have finally taken the time to honor them….to honor my history…to honor my name.
James Costello Turpen (the first) was my grandfather. He had left this world long before I was even a thought. While I do not know a tremendous amount about my grandfather, I know he was an artistic man. He loved Indian tradition and art. My grandfather created sand paintings, silver inlaid Indian jewelry, silverware and many other Indian art forms. I have even heard stories that my Caucasian grandfather would have Indians he knew enter his art work in contests as he was not qualified. He frequently won! My uncle Jim (James Costello Turpen, Jr.) came across one of my grandfather’s blue ribbon winning sets of inlaid silverware several years ago and bought the set to keep in our family.
Pocket watches, a belt, a hat band and a horseshoe shaped diamond ring – these are the artifacts I have that give me little pieces and little insights into my grandfather, the man for whom I am named. My grandfather came into his name through a local Irish shopkeeper. While pregnant with my grandfather, my great grandmother and great grandfather were on tough times. The local shop keeper – James Costello – was nice enough to give my great grandparents, who were new to town and had not credit record, credit in his store so they could make it through the winter without too much suffering. In addition to paying back what they borrowed, my great grandparents named my grandfather James Costello Turpen as a gesture of thanks.
Pieces of history, pieces of my grandfather, pieces my father cherished and saves so they could become pieces of me.
James Costello Turpen (the first) was my grandfather. He had left this world long before I was even a thought. While I do not know a tremendous amount about my grandfather, I know he was an artistic man. He loved Indian tradition and art. My grandfather created sand paintings, silver inlaid Indian jewelry, silverware and many other Indian art forms. I have even heard stories that my Caucasian grandfather would have Indians he knew enter his art work in contests as he was not qualified. He frequently won! My uncle Jim (James Costello Turpen, Jr.) came across one of my grandfather’s blue ribbon winning sets of inlaid silverware several years ago and bought the set to keep in our family.
Pocket watches, a belt, a hat band and a horseshoe shaped diamond ring – these are the artifacts I have that give me little pieces and little insights into my grandfather, the man for whom I am named. My grandfather came into his name through a local Irish shopkeeper. While pregnant with my grandfather, my great grandmother and great grandfather were on tough times. The local shop keeper – James Costello – was nice enough to give my great grandparents, who were new to town and had not credit record, credit in his store so they could make it through the winter without too much suffering. In addition to paying back what they borrowed, my great grandparents named my grandfather James Costello Turpen as a gesture of thanks.
Pieces of history, pieces of my grandfather, pieces my father cherished and saves so they could become pieces of me.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Economically Green
I have always been a firm believer that the world at large will become environmentally friendly on a very consistent and predictable basis when we succeed in making the environmentally friendly choice the economically friendly choice. We tend to fail at legislating change.
The focus on trying to legislate and thereby force environmentally friendly choices will continue to fail as it has consistently in the past. Take for example our Environmental Protection Agency. We continually make it harder and harder for auto manufactures to meet the environmentally friendly standards. As such, the most fuel efficient cars in the world fail to meet these standards so they are only sold over elsewhere in the world. Did you know there is a Mini Cooper Diesel that gets 60 - 70 miles per gallon? That car does not meet the EPA standards, so instead, please purchase an SUV that gets 15 miles per gallon, but meets the EPA standards. After waiting patiently for quite some time, Volkswagen was finally able to import the 2009 Jetta TDI. I managed to get my hands on one of these cars with the goal of helping to further research and development on biodiesel. My car is usually powered by Blue Sun biodiesel now – www.gobluesun.com. The VW TDI has significantly improved gas mileage over my previous automobile, no conversion was necessary to run Blue Sun Fusion, and the price of the fuel is comparable to fossil fuel diesel. I have made the environmentally friendly choice about driving that is also the economically friendly choice for me.
If we work to make the environmentally friendly choice the economically more efficient choice, we will not have to spend time convincing people to be environmentally friendly. Instead, we can just let people work towards their own self interest. They will begin to make the environmentally friendly choice simply because it is in their own best interest to do so. For example, I signed up for 100% Windsource® power from my local utility company – Xcel Energy - http://www.xcelenergy.com/Business/RenewableEnergy/Windsource_/Pages/Windsource.aspx . As price for electricity sourced from fossil fuels increased, my utility bill was locked in at a fixed Windsource® price and ended up being lower than it would have been by selecting the less environmentally friendly choice. I believe Xcel Energy is now in a situation in which they are trying to add Windsource® capacity in order to meet demand.
As we all make the choices that help drive environmentally friendly items to become economically friendly, the world at large will become increasingly environmentally friendly.
The focus on trying to legislate and thereby force environmentally friendly choices will continue to fail as it has consistently in the past. Take for example our Environmental Protection Agency. We continually make it harder and harder for auto manufactures to meet the environmentally friendly standards. As such, the most fuel efficient cars in the world fail to meet these standards so they are only sold over elsewhere in the world. Did you know there is a Mini Cooper Diesel that gets 60 - 70 miles per gallon? That car does not meet the EPA standards, so instead, please purchase an SUV that gets 15 miles per gallon, but meets the EPA standards. After waiting patiently for quite some time, Volkswagen was finally able to import the 2009 Jetta TDI. I managed to get my hands on one of these cars with the goal of helping to further research and development on biodiesel. My car is usually powered by Blue Sun biodiesel now – www.gobluesun.com. The VW TDI has significantly improved gas mileage over my previous automobile, no conversion was necessary to run Blue Sun Fusion, and the price of the fuel is comparable to fossil fuel diesel. I have made the environmentally friendly choice about driving that is also the economically friendly choice for me.
If we work to make the environmentally friendly choice the economically more efficient choice, we will not have to spend time convincing people to be environmentally friendly. Instead, we can just let people work towards their own self interest. They will begin to make the environmentally friendly choice simply because it is in their own best interest to do so. For example, I signed up for 100% Windsource® power from my local utility company – Xcel Energy - http://www.xcelenergy.com/Business/RenewableEnergy/Windsource_/Pages/Windsource.aspx . As price for electricity sourced from fossil fuels increased, my utility bill was locked in at a fixed Windsource® price and ended up being lower than it would have been by selecting the less environmentally friendly choice. I believe Xcel Energy is now in a situation in which they are trying to add Windsource® capacity in order to meet demand.
As we all make the choices that help drive environmentally friendly items to become economically friendly, the world at large will become increasingly environmentally friendly.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Vice......................Chair
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8372367
On October 29, 2008, I had the distinct honor of being elected as the Vice Chair of the St. Anthony Health Foundation. I initially became involved with the St. Anthony Health Foundation through Flight For Life Colorado. Flight For Life began in 1972 with a single Alouette III helicopter, based at St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver. It was the first hospital-based medical helicopter program in the U.S. From its humble beginnings, it has grown to be a regional program responding to nine states.
In addition to Flight For Life, the St. Anthony Health Foundation helps to fund several other health-related programs and services such as:
* Family Medicine Centers which cares for thousands of ethnically diverse and medically underserved residents each year
* The Yaffe Hospitality House, a no-charge “bed and breakfast” for out-of-town family members of hospitalized patients
* Injury Prevention/Helmet Promotion – have you seen the “brain bucket” stickers or taken advantage of a free helmet when renting skis from Christies?
* The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program provides trained, on-call nurse examiners to support and obtain forensic evidence from sexual assault victims.
* And many other very valuable community health programs
On October 29, 2008, I had the distinct honor of being elected as the Vice Chair of the St. Anthony Health Foundation. I initially became involved with the St. Anthony Health Foundation through Flight For Life Colorado. Flight For Life began in 1972 with a single Alouette III helicopter, based at St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver. It was the first hospital-based medical helicopter program in the U.S. From its humble beginnings, it has grown to be a regional program responding to nine states.
In addition to Flight For Life, the St. Anthony Health Foundation helps to fund several other health-related programs and services such as:
* Family Medicine Centers which cares for thousands of ethnically diverse and medically underserved residents each year
* The Yaffe Hospitality House, a no-charge “bed and breakfast” for out-of-town family members of hospitalized patients
* Injury Prevention/Helmet Promotion – have you seen the “brain bucket” stickers or taken advantage of a free helmet when renting skis from Christies?
* The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program provides trained, on-call nurse examiners to support and obtain forensic evidence from sexual assault victims.
* And many other very valuable community health programs
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