You never count chickens before they hatch, but when Mayor Hancock and his team climbed off a plane from California early this month after a state-led trip that included the governor, the Chamber’s Tom Clark and others, they were feeling pumped about what’s ahead for Denver, business-wise.

Economic Development Director Paul Washington in Civic Center Park. “Anytime there’s a crane in downtown Denver is a good thing,” he said.

“The broader business community views Denver with tremendous excitement,” said Paul Washington, the mayor’s new Economic Development director. “They see us having a strong tech base and a strong cadre of young people with tech backgrounds.” more »

After the 12 days of Christmas disappear into 2012, the one thing that everybody in real estate will agree on is that they’d rather face the future here in the Mile-High than in practically any other market. But in a new year racked by uncertainty, here are a dozen issues that will shape whether coming months have more cold in the forecast, or whether we’ll finally see some promises fulfilled:

Homeowner Lori Gregory (left) and her Realtor Debbie Zucker show off her remodeled home near Golden’s newly popular downtown.

- Niobrara is the oil-gas formation that wraps Colorado along the Wyoming/Nebraska borders, including newer surveys east of Denver. The difference in unemployment between North Dakota (3%) and Colorado (8%) hinges in part on how those prospects pan out, not just geologically, but politically. Shale oil recovery requires lots of water and chemicals to ‘frack’ deep layers, already drawing environmental ire; but the economic impacts are potentially huge. more »

When a builder like Colonnade Communities makes a master-planned neighborhood, there’s a reason why. At Pioneer Hills, a luxury enclave holding a one-week sale on a 1,494-foot townhome,the reason why lies just east in Piney Creek, a popular single family area that was a Parade of Homes in the 1980s and spawned upscale neighborhoods for decades afterward.

Silvio DeBartolomeis and Cheryl Harpt in the kitchen of Pioneer Hills 3-bedroom show home. That model sold…around the corner from a 1,494-foot home on sale for $239,900.

When you have nice single-family homes, sooner or later you have kids who grow up and leave…empty nesters who want out of shoveling snow…people changing, needing newer spaces. Most of those people still want to stay in the same neighborhood, with its trails and Cherry Creek Schools; and Colonnade reaches to them with a neighborhood that has a secluded feel, big pool and cabana, parks and trails. more »