Ferdinand Belz

Biographie : Ferd Belz is President in charge of all real estate for L.C. Fulenwider, Inc. Prior to joining Fulenwider, Ferd was the President of Cherokee Denver, LLC, the entity that owned the 50-acre redevelopment of the former Gates Tire & Rubber Factory in Denver. As President, he managed all aspects of the development, entitlements, public financing and environmental remediation for this transit oriented, mixed-use project. The project is entitled for more than 7 million square feet of mixed commercial and residential uses and is approved for more than $126 million of public financing. Mr. Belz is also a co-founder of Dakota Ridge Development, LLC, a real estate services company that specializes in hospitality and resort developments. At Dakota Ridge, Mr. Belz managed the Aspen Development Program (ADP) in Aspen, CO. The ADP included development of the 257-room Ritz-Carlton Aspen; the redevelopment and operation of the 175-room Grand Aspen Hotel; the management and subsequent sale of the historic Aspen Meadows conference center; the development of 12 luxury townhouses at the Aspen Meadows; and the development of five separate residential projects along with mixed retail and recreational facilities. In addition Mr. Belz was responsible for the acquisition, renovation and conversion of three other Ritz-Carlton assets in Houston, New York City and Washington, DC. Mr. Belz performed a broad range of other real estate tasks and roles as a consultant, owner’s representative and principal investor/developer for more than $1 billion worth of retail, office, hospitality and residential projects throughout the country. Mr. Belz moved into real estate development through the specialized field of project and development management. As a developer, his projects have included virtually every real estate product type and major mixed-use projects. These included the development of the Tabor Center covering two square blocks in downtown Denver. This $320-million project is still among the largest commercial mixed-use projects in Colorado history. During his long real estate career, Mr. Belz has developed more than $1 billion of hotel and resort real estate as well as numerous commercial, residential, retail, and senior housing projects. He was also development manager during the pre-development and entitlements phase of the $150 million Pepsi Center in Denver, the home of the NBA Denver Nuggets and NHL Colorado Avalanche. He has conducted extensive work in the redevelopment, renovation and repositioning of real estate and has led efforts on the redevelopment of Mercy Hospital and the 9th Avenue Campus of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) in Denver. Mr. Belz holds cum laude degrees in both architecture and engineering from the University of Kansas and he began his career as a licensed architect. He is the current Chair of the Downtown Denver Partnership, is treasurer and on the Board of the Auraria Foundation and is treasurer and on the Board of the Civic Center Conservancy.