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Tejon34 Grabs Headlines

We were quite excited to open the Denver Post this past Sunday to find one of our favorite developers, Ray Kawano, smiling back at us from the front page of the paper’s business section. Ray’s River Meadow development company is behind Tejon34, one of the upscale condominium/townhome projects featured in the article as proof of the Highland neighborhood’s resurgence. The development, located in the heart of Highland at 34th and Tejon Streets, launched in 2011 with an initial phase featuring five, three-bedroom townhomes.


Last summer, River Meadow broke ground on the second and third phases of the development, which will add five townhomes and eight condos to an area that is very much in demand, according to the article. In fact, two of the townhomes area already under contract, even though they aren’t slated for completion until later in the first quarter. The condo should be available sometime in the second quarter.

Paul Tamburello of Red Chair Realty Advisors, which is marketing Tejon34, notes that even with the uptick in luxury developments, Highland still suffers from a lack of inventory. Many of the new buyers looking to snap up property in the neighborhood are empty nesters, who are drawn to Highland’s restaurants, art galleries and community gatherings.

A view of the living room in one of the townhomes built in Tejon34’s first phase.

That demographic could be a perfect fit for Tejon34’s units, particularly the new townhomes, which will feature private, rooftop decks, European kitchen designs and customizable basements. The project will eventually include a total of 28 homes.

If you get a moment, take a look at the Denver Post article, or if you’d like to learn more about Tejon34 and all that’s happening in Highland, check out the Tejon34 blog here.

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2012 – A Year of Milestones

The end of the year provides us with a great opportunity to reflect back on all the work we did in the past year. While it seems like a blur now, we accomplished quite a bit in 2012, from helping introduce the public to an array of new projects that promise to change the landscape of Denver (Cadence Union Station, RTD’s Sheridan Parking Garage); to providing the exposure our entrepreneurial clients needed to launch their services in new markets (Mudlick Mail, VideoBloom, iVote) to marking important anniversaries (Little Man Ice Cream, Paxia Authentic Mexican Cuisine).

One of our favorite projects this year involved a group of very enthusiastic preteens and more than 2,000 cans of food. To celebrate its 70th anniversary in Colorado, Swinerton Builders launched an educational initiative called Discovery Builders, in the Adams County charter school, The Academy. Over six weeks, Swinerton employees taught fifth-to-eighth grade students how to use math and science to solve real-world construction problems. Their work culminated in the construction of a 
a 14-foot tall replica of the Four Seasons Hotel (a Swinerton project) made completely out of canned food.

We were thrilled to be present for the build-out one cloudy afternoon in October and we can’t say enough about how well these students worked with their mentors to create a truly amazing model. Check out the photos below for proof of this wonderful collaboration.

The students getting their instructions for the day

Mapping it out

Hard at work

The team and the finished product

We are proud to report that all of the food used to build the Four Seasons replica was donated to Community Food Share, a food bank serving Boulder and Broomfield counties.

The Colorado Real Estate Journal highlighted the project in it’s December 19th issue and the Arvada Press which ran a story about the company’s achievements in Colorado in November. You can read it here.

Congratulations to Swinerton and all of our clients for setting and achieving such high goals and giving us plenty to talk about!

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Happy Holidays!

We consider ourselves lucky to both live and work in the Highland neighborhood, where the holiday spirit is alive and well. If you look closely, you’ll see plenty of storefronts proudly displaying interesting and original wreath creations – entries in the the annual merchant holiday wreath contest.  This year, the contest was judged by Highland resident and Westword Editor Patty Calhoun and Luc Halstead, an articles editor at 5280 magazine. The wreaths were not only judged on their beauty, but how well they told the story of the businesses they represent.

Shapes Salon took the grand prize, with a wreath filled with a variety of hair products in shades symbolizing the “color wheel” that stylists use daily. In addition to bragging rights, salon owner Richelle Bishop-Gonzales and her team also get to display their grand champion trophy. Congrats!

Second place went to the Navajo Arts District for a colorful wreath featuring an assortment of cards and paint brushes representing all the galleries in the district. Lulu’s Furniture took third place for a festive wreath made out of a lamp shade and Jinji Cycles earned an honorable mention for a wreath crafted from an old tire frame. Check out the pictures of all the great wreaths below:

We were also thrilled to catch up with our fellow business owners at the second annual LoHi Merchant Party, generously hosted by Highland Tap and Burger. The holidays remind us just how vital collaboration is to our business. As 2012 draws to a close, we want to thank you for your continued partnership and support. It is good friends and business associates like you who make our job a pleasure all year long.

2012 has been a successful year for our company, bringing new connections and business ventures that have helped grow our agency. With the addition of a few talented and knowledgeable professionals, we have expanded our company’s reach and broadened our expertise. Look for updates on our website this coming year that will reflect our growing list of services.

May our holiday season and New Year be filled with much joy, happiness and success. We look forward to reconnecting with you in the coming year and hope our business relationship continues for many years.


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Stasko Agency Promotes New Tuaca Product

The Stasko Agency is proud to announce that it has been selected by liquor and wine producer Brown-Forman to launch a new Tuaca liqueur in Colorado. The liqueur, called Cinnaster, is a blend of Italian brandies, vanilla and citrus flavors and a bold kick of cinnamon.  Cinnaster marks the first expansion of the Tuaca brand, which has been sold in the U.S. since the 1950s and is hugely popular in Colorado. The state (along with Texas) is one of the top two markets for Tuaca sales in the nation.

With cinnamon gaining favor as a flavoring in food and beverages, we’re hoping that Tuaca fans will embrace Cinnaster as well. The liqueur will have its formal kick-off on December 12th at the Cinnful & Sweet Party at The Dive Inn, 1380 South Broadway. If you’d like to attend, see the details below, which include the text code you need to get on the guest list.

You’ll also get the chance to learn more about Cinnaster in January when an advertising campaign for the liqueur hits the airwaves. The commercials will air in Denver, Colorado Springs (where the bar boasting the highest Tuaca sales in the state is located) and Austin and represent Tuaca’s first foray into television advertising.

If you’re not a Tuaca drinker already, consider giving the liqueur a try. The original flavor is a mix of Italian brandy and orange and vanilla, making it great as a shot or combined with other mixers. The liqueur dates back 500 years and has quite an interesting history – as outlined in the video below.

Cinnaster is already available at local bars, restaurants and liquor stores. We are also busy pitching stories and planning events to build exposure for Cinnaster, so be on the lookout for more news about this exciting new liqueur.

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Blue Ribbon Day

November 20, 2012 was a Blue Ribbon day for Lu Stasko and her Prima Research LLC, business partners: Jud Cary, Greg Beveridge and Christopher Price. After four years of waiting, investing, and anticipating, the team received its first patent – U.S. Patent 8,315,598. The simple description of the patent is “wireless technology,” but the official title of the patent is: Systems and Methods for Gathering Information about discrete wireless terminals

We are all very grateful for this wonderful accomplishment and are thankful for everyone who helped us along our journey!  The issuing of this patent is made Thanksgiving extra special this year.

Our journey actually started back in 2002 under the company name Bing.com.  The initial idea for our patent came from Mark Longacre, who shared his idea with Lu and asked her if she thought if it was worth a patent.  Lu not only agreed but also assembled the team that successfully filed for the first patent. The idea made it through the two rounds of examination before the patent office informed us that the National Cash Register company (NCR) received the patent on the technology just six weeks before we did.  Deflated but not defeated, we marched on.

The first call to action was to sell the Bing.com assets – which included the very recognizable four letter domain name, Bing.com  Our business strategist, Christopher Price, managed to strike a wonderful deal with Benchmark Venture Capital, which in turn, sold the name to Microsoft – we are assuming for a lot higher price then we got in the initial sale!

Once all assets were sold, we reorganized under the new name Prima Research, LLC in 2009.  This time our patent idea made it through all examinations and was issued.  The patent is a little challenging to describe but, we thought it would be nice to let you all in on what made November 20th our Blue Ribbon Day:

Abstract
The present invention is broadly directed to systems and methods for gathering information about wireless transceiver devices in a defined boundary region. To this end, the disclosure is more particularly directed to gathering movement information (e.g., via detection and location) about two-way end-user wireless terminals within three-dimensional boundaries of defined local space (“DLS”) to allow for selective control of the terminals and other subsystems, as desired. Additionally, the data collected can be used to improve accuracy and precision regarding the prediction of behavior characteristics and tendencies of populations based on a sampling of observed terminals.

Happy Holidays to you and your families.  And remember the next time you think your idea is worth a patent – go for it!

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VideoBloom Makes Waves in the Online Retail World

At The Stasko Agency, we’re big believers in retail therapy. So, when Activate Brands asked to partner with them to raise awareness about an innovative company that helps retailers sell their wares through interactive videos, we jumped at the chance. 

The company, Greenwood Village-based VideoBloom, was one of two local businesses exhibiting last month at the Shop.org Annual Summit, a networking and education event where retailers learn about the hottest digital trends. More than 4,000 big-name retailers attended the event (held in Denver this year), including H&M, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.

 Established in 2007, VideoBloom not only produces videos for clients such as Proctor & Gamble, but also provides retailers with video commerce capabilities that can be easily integrated into their websites, allowing consumers to click on a product in a video and add it to their virtual shopping carts.  The company also helps retailers distribute their videos to the right social media channels – generating buzz and sales.   

With VideoBloom’s creative approach to online retail we had no problem capturing the attention of 9News, which featured the company’s Chairman Antoine Toffa on its broadcast the morning Shop.org kicked off and the Denver Business Journal’s Dennis Huspeni, who featured Toffa in his blog from the convention.


If you’d like to learn more about VideoBloom and all the company offers, click here.

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Cadence Breaks Ground at Union Station Site

If you’re not a frequent visitor to LoDo, you may not be aware of the transformation taking place behind Union Station. The area surrounding the historic train station is being converted into a state-of-the-art transit hub, complete with a commuter rail station and an underground bus facility, scheduled to open in 2014. The project is spurring a bevy of new developments, including Cadence Union Station, a new high-rise apartment community from Zocalo Community Development.

We were on hand late last month when Zocalo (a longtime client of The Stasko Agency) broke ground on Cadence, the first apartment project to be built at the Union Station site. The event drew a slew of dignitaries, including Mayor Michael Hancock who talked about the significance of the Union Station redevelopment of Union Station and how essential it was for Denver’s future growth to have housing located near public transportation. Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership also publicly congratulated Zocalo on making Cadence a reality, as did RTD General Manager Phil Washington.

The Zocalo team with Mayor Michael Hancock

Like many of Zocalo’s developments, Cadence will have a strong focus on sustainability and aims to earn LEED Gold certification. According to Zocalo’s estimates, the building’s residents will spend 50 percent less on utility bills than they would living in a similar, non-LEED certified building. The project will include studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units and will offer residents a rooftop pool, rooftop fitness center and a variety of community gathering areas.

Tami Door, David Zucker and Mayor Hancock

Because of its distinction as the first residential development in the Union Station Neighborhood, media interest in Cadence’s groundbreaking was strong. Zocalo Principal and Director of Development David Zucker was interviewed about the project on 9News and the development was also featured in the Denver Business Journal and InsideRealEstate.

CBS4 News was one of several media outlets that attended the Cadence groundbreaking
Denver Business Journal Reporter Dennis Huspeni interviewing Mayor Hancock

Thanks to its location adjacent to Union Station, Cadence residents will have easy access to a variety of metro-area destinations, including Denver International Airport. The building is also steps away from dining, shopping and within walking distance of cultural attractions and sports facilities.

We’ll be working with Zocalo through the development process of Cadence and will keep you posted as the project’s progress.

We also want to congratulate David Zucker and Chris Achenbach, who serves as principal and director of construction for Zocalo, for being selected as winners in the Denver Business Journal’s Power Book in the Residential Real Estate category.

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2785 Speer Apartment Community Breaking Ground in Jefferson Park!


 

As 2785 Speer Apartment Community’s official publicity support team, we are excited to announce that coming this September 2785 Speer will officially be breaking ground!  This 332-unit apartment community on a 4.5 acre parcel in Denver’s Jefferson Park Neighborhood is not only expected to bring in residents but retail space as well. With 10,801 square feet of ground floor retail space 2785 Speer Apartment Community is bound to one of Denver’s top apartment rental communities.

“2785 Speer will no doubt be a premier rental community in Denver, offering residents luxury living and easy access to downtown, sports venues and all of the metro-area, thanks to the project’s close proximity to I-25,” said Allied Principal Lauren Brockman. “We expect strong demand when we open the doors.”

Units range from 660 sq. ft. to 1,307 sq. ft. and will offer full size washer and dryers, private balconies, granite counter tops and more. In addition, there will be a community resort-style pool with sun shelf, fitness center, bocce ball court, fire pit, clubroom and more.

Located in the heart of Jefferson Park, 2785 Speer Apartments will feature modern amenities, a competitive price point, and a location that can’t be beat.

As Denver’s first official suburb, Jefferson Park is a diverse, urban neighborhood, located minutes from Downtown Denver. Due to its proximity, Jefferson Park is currently experiencing a renaissance in investment and development. Bringing in young professionals who are tired of a long commute or can’t find the amenities they are looking for downtown. With that said, if you’re looking for a neighborhood on the verge, look no further than Jefferson Park.

The apartment community is expected to be completed by late 2014.

For more information about 2785 Speer Apartment Community go to, https://www.facebook.com/2785speer. Check for more updates soon!

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Little Man Ice Cream:Cooler than ever

Happy Birthday to Little Man Ice Cream, which celebrated five years in business on Independence Day. We’ve been involved since the very beginning and we can reveal the behind the scenes scoop on the shop’s opening day. While opening an ice cream parlor on the 4th of July sounds like a slam dunk, meeting that magic date was a challenge.




Of course, part of the challenge stemmed from the structure owner Paul Tamburello chose to house Little Man – a giant replica of an old-fashioned milk can made out of steel. Western Steel and Boiler Co. was the only manufacturer we could find to build the “can,” (as it’s affectionately called). The structure arrived on a flatbed trailer and was delivered to the site on July 2nd, giving us two days to get it painted,  have the windows and interior installed, awnings attached and electricity hooked up. It took a village, but Little Man managed to open on Independence Day as planned.  (Check out this great photo album, which chronicles the “can” coming together). 

Since that special day, Little Man has chosen to mark its birthday by giving back to neighborhood. The shop is a sponsor of the Highland 4th of July Parade and serves up a 60-foot ice cream sundae as part of the festivities. After a brief (and I’m sure torturous) countdown, local kids chow down on the oversized ice cream treat. 

This year, Little Man is celebrating with an exciting line-up of activities designed to build on it’s reputation as a gathering spot for the community. (Westword even took the time to mention the full slate of fun). The offerings include:

      Bluegrass Sundays: Bluegrass bands take the “stage” at LoHi Plaza from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Sunday.
Magic Mondays: Every Monday night, roving magic man Dan the Magician entertains patrons in line and on the patio from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
A Scoop of Jazz: Thursdays were made for jazz lovers, with live jazz performances from   7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
      Vintage Movie Nights: There’s nothing like watching a movie under the stars, especially if the main attraction is a classic. Catch these special flicks on these select Saturday evenings starting at dusk.  Movies will be shown.
  •      July 14 
  •      July 21
  •      July 21
  •      July 28
  •      Aug. 4
  •      Aug. 11
  •      Aug. 18

In addition to these events, Little Man will also host a variety of special events throughout the summer, including a Hula Hoop contest on July 21st to encourage pint-sized patrons to exercise. Registration fees from the event will benefit GrowHaus, an urban farm and market focused on building healthy communities. Click here to register.



The Stasko Agency has been the agency of record with Little Man since its inception and we’re proud to be associated with such a fun and philanthropic-minded business.  Stop by this summer and have a scoop. 









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Real Estate Editors Visit the Mile High City

Last week was like Christmas for public relations professionals working in the real estate industry. That’s because Denver played host to the spring convention of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, a group of real estate reporters and editors from such prominent news outlets as Los Angeles Times, SmartMoney magazine and Bloomberg News. The conference offered a great opportunity to build relationships with news makers we never get access to, so when a NAREE board member asked The Stasko Agency to plan a cocktail party for conference attendees, we jumped at the chance.

Finding a place to showcase all Denver has to offer was a challenge, but we finally found the perfect spot –  one of the luxury penthouses located above the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.  Development company Craft DeLay owns the 25 residences within the hotel (known as Residence XXV) and generously donated the space for the event. Swinerton Builders Colorado, Zocalo Development and Management, Amstar and Allied Realty/Orion – all current or past clients of The Stasko Agency – also served as sponsors. The event space, located on the 19th floor of the building, provided wonderful views of the downtown skyline and a great vantage point to view some of the buildings the sponsors have developed, including the green apartment building Solera (Zocalo) and and condominium project One Lincoln Park (Swinerton). We hosted about 50 media representatives who got to hear a bit more about what’s happening in Denver’s real estate market.

The view from the top
Our sponsors with NAREE Members Kris Hudson of the Wall Street Journal and John Rebchook of the Colorado Real Estate Journal 

Organizing the party certainly wasn’t easy, but having the chance to connect key real estate movers with some of the nation’s most well-regarded real estate journalists made the event well worth the effort.

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