We all attend those holiday cocktail parties and, like you, some I look forward to, others I think, “do we have to?” However, I did hear a few comments that are worth pondering. Add that to a world that changes so rapidly that by the time you go to bed and sleep for eight hours, big changes have occurred. Hello, White House… you think shutting down NCAR is a good idea? More on that later, but what about those cocktail party comments?
#1: ARE WE GOING TO SEE ACTUAL GROWTH, OR IS THIS JUST GOING TO BE ANOTHER ASTRO TURF YEAR?
By nature, I am an optimist and truly believe that with hard work and a little luck, positive outcomes will occur. That said, the office market needs some help. And the help can’t fall solely on landlords—our CITY needs to step in now. Don’t get me wrong, landlords can and should invest in their office buildings to even have a remote chance of landing a tenant. My dad would always say, “If there are no fish in the pond, the bait won’t matter.” While I agree, we—the city—just can’t sit back and hope companies will want to return to the office and return to downtown Boulder, Colorado.
This is where the city needs to step in and step up. Think about issuing building permits within 30 days, tax rebates, tax incentives, cleaning the streets (including filling potholes and addressing homelessness), and hiring a national marketing team that can tell Boulder’s story beyond our 300 days of sunshine, hundreds of miles of bike paths and hiking trails, and being less than two hours from some of the best skiing in the world. Maybe tell the stories of our Nobel Prize winners, the homegrown businesses that made a big impact and were acquired—like Case Logic, Gnip, SendGrid, and Array BioPharma—or those still operating under their original names, like Celestial Seasonings. Not to mention today, we have phenomenal companies here doing cool stuff, including the obvious Google, Apple, Nvidia… and then add in that Boulder is a culinary-savvy town with Michelin-star pedigrees here now and more on the way. WE HAVE AMAZING STORIES TO TELL!
So, I guess my point is, this year will be AstroTurf unless we see major positive leadership from our elected officials and our business leaders.
#2: WHAT REALLY DOES HIGHEST AND BEST USE MEAN FOR BOULDER, AND DOES INVESTMENT PRICING MATCH UP?
This was a good question and a fun topic to banter around while sipping on a holiday beverage. Highest and best use of buildings can be very difficult in cities like Boulder, where real estate is simply expensive—both to buy and to build. For example, office is where everyone wants to look given the vacancy rates, and housing always seems to be in demand. But despite what the human eye sees, not all office buildings can be easily converted to residential, and many times the cost to convert an existing building is more expensive than building new.
Then, by the time you pay for a building you need to tear down and rebuild, the cost becomes so high that no one can afford to rent or buy while still making a profit for the developer who took all the risk. So now you’re left with an empty office building that the landlord can’t—or won’t—invest in until there is a tenant to take the space, and meanwhile the space sits empty and gets older by the day. So highest and best use is tricky. Capital is moving again, but slowly; pricing is resetting, but unevenly; and strict underwriting is not optional—it’s mandatory.
My predictions for 2026? AI will continue to become a real tool, especially on the asset management side and in creating data models for analysis. NCAR will still be fully functional. Boulder gets on more radar screens (and not just screens for Sundance). The men’s CU basketball team will make the NCAA tournament. The CU ski team wins its 23rd national championship. Some local biopharma company announces a life-changing discovery. Whole Foods will no longer have humans checking you out. And Carelli’s will open for lunch again.
Cheers to positive absorption, acquisitions, taking a tour of NCAR, visiting downtown small businesses, and the hope of raising a trophy.
-Becky Callan Gamble, CEO
