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Colorado - Tue. 04/28/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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MIAMI FIRM BUYING RE/MAX, MOVING HQ FROM DENVER
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Real Brokerage Inc. will acquire Re/Max Holdings in a cash and stock deal valuing Re/Max at about $880 million and will combine the companies into a new Real Re/Max Group headquartered in Miami while keeping a significant Denver presence; the transaction, expected to close in the second half of the year, values Re/Max stock at $13.80 per share and lets shareholders elect 5.152 shares of the new company or $13.80 in cash (cash elections subject to proration), with aggregate cash proceeds capped between $60 million and $80 million. The combined company would have generated about $2.3 billion in pro forma revenue last year; Re/Max reported $291.6 million in 2025, down 5.2 percent.
Real shareholders are expected to own roughly 59 percent of the combined company and Re/Max shareholders about 41 percent. Tamir Poleg will serve as chairman and CEO, Jenna Rozenblat as chief integration officer. The deal is expected to yield about $30 million in annual run rate savings, and Real has a $550 million financing commitment to refinance Re/Max debt and fund the cash portion.
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NUGGETS CRUISE TO GAME 5 WIN OVER TIMBERWOLVES, STAVING OFF ELIMINATION IN NBA PLAYOFFS
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The Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-113 in Game 5 to avoid elimination, with Nikola Jokic recording a triple-double (27 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists) and Jamal Murray adding 24 gritty points; Spencer Jones, inserted into the starting lineup with Aaron Gordon sidelined by left calf tightness, hit 4 of 5 from 3 and scored 20 while guarding Julius Randle. Denver forced 25 Timberwolves turnovers and capitalized in transition, building a 27-point lead before Minnesota cut it to 10 late; key Wolves injuries include Anthony Edwards (hyperextended knee) and Donte DiVincenzo (torn Achilles), and Game 6 is Thursday in Minneapolis. The Nuggets have won their last three elimination games at home.
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COLORADO WHISKEY NAMED WORLD’S BEST AT INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
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Root Shoot Spirits’ American Single Malt Whiskey was crowned Whisky of the Year at the London Spirits Competition, earning a double gold and 97/100 points. Judges scored aroma, flavor, body and value and also considered label and shelf appeal. The whiskey is made from 100 percent Colorado grown grain produced by Root Shoot Malting, owned by fifth generation farmer Todd Olander, who grows about 700 acres of barley. Root Shoot released the spirit in 2023 to showcase the farm and malthouse. The spirit’s tasting notes include cobbler and honey granola aromas with floral and spicy flavors, and it previously won best American single malt in 2025. Denver’s Stranahan’s also earned double gold and several other medals at the competition. A full list of winners is available at londonspiritscompetition.com.
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SAN LUIS, COLORADO’S OLDEST TOWN, TURNS 175 THIS MONTH
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In April 1851, Hispanos from Taos, New Mexico, established a settlement called San Luis on the banks of Culebra Creek, about 15 miles north of the New Mexico border, overlooking the change in landscape from the Rocky Mountains to what would become the American Southwest. Mexico had ceded the land (which has been home to Native American tribes for thousands of years) to the United States in 1848 as a part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War. Numerous villages sprouted in the area following the exchange, but the state recognizes San Luis as its oldest continuously inhabited town. San Luis has about 700 residents who work high-altitude farms, adobe structures predominate and the featured enterprise in town is the community food co-op, the San Luis Peoples Market. The food market dates back to 1857.
The town’s most famous attraction is the Stations of the Cross Shrine, also known as La Mesa de la Piedad y de la Misericordia. These 14 near-life-size bronze sculptures depict Christ’s passion, death and resurrection along a half-mile trail and were created in 1990 by local artist Huberto Maestas, whose family has been in the area for six generations. Also notable, in a state where water rights are critical and especially in arid San Luis Valley, Colorado's oldest continuously operating water right is the 1852 San Luis People's Ditch (La Acequia de la Gente de San Luis), which diverts water from Culebra Creek in Costilla County. Hand-dug around 1851-1852 by the first settlers of San Luis, it predates Colorado’s territorial status and the "first in time, first in right" doctrine.
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HOME SALES IN MESA COUNTY OFF TO A SLOW START IN 2026
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Residential home sales in Mesa County got off to a slow start this year, according to the March report from Bray Real Estate. In the first quarter of 2026, there were 551 homes sold, down 8.2 percent from the first quarter a year ago. Sales began to pick up in March, as 232 homes were sold, compared to 166 sold in February. Even so, March sales in 2026 were still 4.5 percent below March 2025 sales. The total dollar volume of residential home sales in the first quarter was just below $250 million, 7.3 percent below the $269 million in sales volume in the first three months of 2025. While sales are down, home prices are up with the median price at $409,000, which was 3 percent higher than the $397,000 median home price in March 2025. House inventory is also up, according to Bray, with 708 active residential listings on the market. That is an 11 percent increase compared to the prior month, and a 27 percent increase compared to March of last year.
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- GJ Daily Sentinel, 04.24.26
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GRAND JUNCTION REGIONAL AIRPORT: RECORD NUMBER OF SUMMER FLIGHTS
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In 2025, Grand Junction Regional Airport set a record for passengers going through the airport. This summer, GJT is on track to go beyond those numbers as it will have a record number of flights. Grand Junction Regional Airport CEO Angela Padalecki notes, “All of the airlines except Delta have more service this summer than they did last summer, and the summer before." American Airlines’ previously twice-a-day flights to Phoenix and Dallas will both bump up to three for the next several months. Phoenix is set to drop back to two in August, while Dallas is scheduled to bump up to a fourth flight in the fall. Breeze Airways’ previously offered twice-weekly service between GJT, Las Vegas, and Orange County. For the rest of 2026, Breeze will have three flights a week to Las Vegas. A new permanent daily flight between Grand Junction and Denver via United began in April. It is not an additional summer flight, but now there are seven flights to Denver.
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- GJ Daily Sentinel, 04.25.26
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LA PLATA PLANNING COMMISSIONERS SUPPORT MAJOR REVIEWS OF BIG PROJECTS
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Last week, the La Plata County Planning Commissioners made a unanimous recommendation to the board of county commissioners to change the county’s land-use code to restore major-level review for larger or more impactful projects in the Animas Valley when they meet countywide impact thresholds, such as project size or traffic intensity. All projects in the valley have been required to meet only the minor-level review after a change was made several years ago. The La Plata County commissioners will have the final decision on the change at their scheduled meeting in May.
Major-use permits, which represent high-density residential or larger, intense commercial activity, would be subject to a more rigorous review by the board of county commissioners. Minor-use permits represent lower-intensity development and are reviewed and approved by the planning commission. Under the current code, a wide range of “special uses” are automatically treated as minor projects, including RV parks, apartment complexes, condos, townhomes, motels, restaurants and manufactured home parks.
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- Durango Herald, 04.25.26
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COMMUTERS ON HWY. 82: ROCKFALL WORK WILL RESUME THIS WEEK
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The Colorado Dept. of Transportation announced that rockfall mitigation work along Colorado Hwy. 82 near Red Hill outside of Carbondale is planned to resume today, Monday, April 27. The work will take place between mile points 11.7 and 12.2, east of the Colorado 82/Colorado 133 intersection. Crews are expected to work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, according to CDOT. To finish the work more quickly, crews will use a helicopter to help lift and place the heavy metal mesh netting. During helicopter operations, both northbound and southbound traffic will be stopped for safety. Drivers should expect delays of up to 20 minutes during helicopter work. Flaggers will be on site, and the speed limit through the work zone will be reduced to 45 mph. The project is expected to be completed in two weeks. Crews had already installed about 85,000 square feet of mesh netting before the shutdown, with about 30,000 square feet still needed to complete the system.
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- GS Post Independent, 04.24.26
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WORKERS STILL HAVE NOT RETURNED TO DOWNTOWN DENVER
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As the Downtown Denver Partnership, city of Denver, as well as businesses, seek to get a return of visitors and workers to downtown Denver, numbers still lag below levels seen in the pre-pandemic years. Workers have been especially slow to return:
- In the Denver area, 22.6 percent of workers aged 16 and older work from home.
- In comparison, just 14.9 percent of workers in the Los Angeles area and 12.9 percent in the New York area work from home.
- Denver’s rate is much higher than the national average of 13.3 percent.
- Denver’s total downtown office vacancy rate reached 38.2 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025.
- That is up from 35.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2024.
- In the first quarter of 2026, the downtown total office vacancy rate reached 38.9 percent, according to CBRE’s latest data.
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USA TODAY’s TOP WORKPLACES 2026
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Ten Colorado-based companies were ranked in the top 100 for companies of their size in the USA TODAY Top Workplaces awards for 2026. The top Colorado companies (with their rankings in their respective categories) were:
- Elevations Credit Union, a Boulder-based credit union (No. 12)
- Housecall Pro, a Denver-based maker of construction business management software (No. 20)
- LONG Building Technologies, a Littleton-based provider of building automation, security systems, commercial HVAC service and parts and building analytics (No. 39)
- Bloom Healthcare, a Lakewood-based provider of in-home healthcare (No. 39)
- DaVita, a Denver-based provider of kidney dialysis and kidney care services (No. 40)
- Empower, a Greenwood Village-based financial services company (No. 46)
- Simpson Housing LLLP, a Denver-based property manager (No. 54)
- Encore Electric, a Lakewood-based electrical contractor (No. 63)
- Ping Identity Corp., a Denver-based digital security company (No. 83)
- LINX, a Denver-based technology integration firm (No. 95)
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MARKET UPDATE - 04/27/2026 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 04/23/2026)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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