Ferd Belz is President of L.C. Fulenwider, Inc., the corporate entity for the Fulenwider family holdings. He is the first non-family member to become President in the company’s 120-year history. The holdings include 7,500 acres of land near Denver International Airport (DIA), as well as multiple other real estate assets in the Denver region. Ferd oversees all aspects of the company and a highly professional team that manages development, construction, acquisitions, and asset management. Amongst them are the development effort for Peña Station NEXT/North, a 487-acre transit-oriented development (TOD) surrounding the first rail stop on the commuter line from DIA to downtown Denver. This TOD is a public-private partnership between L.C. Fulenwider, Inc. and DEN Real Estate (DIA). Other assets include a 3000-acre master planned community, Reunion, a 600-acre industrial park, an office building in Cherry Creek and several additional holdings.
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 was entitled for more than 7 million square feet of mixed commercial and residential uses and approved for more than $126 million of public financing.
During his long real estate career, Ferd has developed more than $1 billion of hotel and resort real estate nationally and internationally, as well as numerous commercial, residential, retail, and senior housing projects. The projects include several Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, the Pepsi Center in Denver and Tabor Center in Denver. He is currently a partner in the redevelopment of the historic Denver Union Station into a mixed-use, retail, hotel and transit center project.
Ferd has also been involved in several philanthropic and business organizations. Amongst them, he is past Chair of the Downtown Denver Partnership and past Chair of the Board of the Auraria Foundation. He is past Chair of the Metro State University Foundation and still on the Foundation Board, co-leading their $100M capital campaign. He is past Chair of Urban Land Institute (ULI) Colorado and current chair of ULI’s Advisory Board. He is currently the Chair of the Board of the Winter Park Recreation Association.
Ferd holds cum laude degrees in both architecture and engineering from the University of Kansas, and he began his career as a licensed architect. He and his wife, Christy, live in Park Hill in Denver. They have one son, Charlie, who lives and works in Chicago.