Insights

The hospitality sector in Denver is thriving and several new hotels have opened downtown recently. Is the boom sustainable? How does Denver compare with the rest of the nation in terms of revenue, room rates and occupancy levels, and what can we expect to see in the future?

If your business involves obtaining commercial real estate loans, you have likely either heard references to your loan being “HVCRE” or seen new provisions in your loan documents that are a result of “HVCRE.” HVCRE stands for High Volatility Commercial Real Estate and refers to a complex new rule promulgated by U.S. banking regulators concerning commercial real estate loans that took effect on January 1, 2015.

We have all seen them: perfectly coiffed teacup dogs sitting on the laps and inside the handbags of their well-heeled owners, going in and out of various boutiques and restaurants, without a care in the world. Service animals, on the other hand, do much more than experience life from inside of a Louis Vuitton purse. Their day-to-day work can include, among other things, guiding a person who is blind, alerting a person who is deaf, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications and calming a person with post-traumatic stress disorder during an anxiety attack.

On March 25, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules intended to facilitate smaller companies’ access to capital and to provide investors with more investment choices. The final rules became effective on June 19, 2015. The new rules update an existing exemption known as Regulation A. The SEC was mandated to create these rules by Title IV of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, and the updated exemption is often referred to as Regulation A+.

Denver, Colorado – Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonetti PC (Otten Johnson) has once again been ranked as a “Band 1” real estate law firm in Colorado. Chambers USA annually ranks law firms and lawyers by areas of practice in each state. Otten Johnson is the only firm in Colorado to have been ranked in the top “band” in real estate every year since Chambers began ranking law firms in the United States, in 2003.

The approval by Colorado voters of medical marijuana in 2000, and recreational marijuana in 2012, has created a burgeoning legal marijuana industry in our state. Not only have marijuana growing operations and dispensaries flourished, but they have provided new leasing opportunities for landlords. Of course, marijuana is still a Schedule I controlled substance and, as such, remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act (the “CSA”).

Leaders in Multifamily Housing Talk About What’s Happening on the Front RangeThe cost of Denver housing seems to have skyrocketed in the past six months or so, as demand exceeds supply – despite all those new buildings that are going up around downtown. What’s going on in the residential construction industry and what can we expect to see in the future?

UPDATE: The bill for the Regulatory Reform Act of 2015 was postponed indefinitely by the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee earlier this week. The office of sponsoring Senator Tim Neville (R-Littleton) confirmed that they will try again in the next legislative session and that regulatory reform will continue to be a priority.

Just over a year has passed since the start of legal retail sales of recreational marijuana in Colorado. The new retail marijuana industry, along with the medical marijuana industry, continues to have an impact on Colorado’s legal and economic landscape. Indeed, a recent study found the legal marijuana industry to be the fastest growing industry in the country. Colorado is ground zero for that growth.