Blue Sky 2021: Corporate Huddle

Since 2012, CDP has held an annual end of year Blue Sky Corporate Huddle all-staff meeting. The tradition has allowed the company to reflect back on the year to discuss what we did well, what we could have done better and what we foresee in the years ahead for our company.

Blue Sky 2021 Was A Mile High!  CDP took the corporate huddle to our new office in Denver this year! Staff (and their significant others) flew in from Birmingham plus our remote staff in Santa Cruz, Portland and Boca Raton to join together with the Denver team.  Each year, the corporate planning week begins with an evening meet and greet and team building event. This year, all staff gathered and we were divided into teams for a friendly competition of building children’s bikes. We built a total of 10 bikes that were donated to the Boys & Girls club of Denver. The following day we convened our Blue Sky corporate huddle which included breakout sessions and interactive discussion among staff members and Principals. Later that evening, we celebrated the year at our annual holiday party where our significant others joined us for comradery and delicious food and cocktails at the Denver Art Museum!

A look back on our year…

  • New Development Hires: 4 new members joined our CDP family. This included Jeanie Johnson, Peter Wolnski, Patrick Parsons and Yvette Tetreault.
  • Growing Tenure: 5 team members reached 10+ year anniversaries with Capstone, including: Wendy McKee (10 Years); Tonia Christensen (15 Years); William Davis (15 Years); Chad Izmirian (20 Years) and CDP Principal, Jeff Jones, celebrated 30 years with Capstone.
  • Growth of Capstone Management Partners: With a growing portfolio CMP now boasts almost 100 employees, with staff at communities around the country.
  • Keeping Development Projects On-Track: Despite the continued COVID-19 pandemic, our development and construction teams were able to keep all of our projects in predevelopment and construction progressing! Our team achieved three financial closings 1) a university-financed project for a new residence hall and career and student success center at the University of Southern Maine, 2) a tax-exempt bond financing for a new student housing community at Lynn University and 3) an equity-based structure for a project being developed in partnership with the University of Washington Bothell; our teams broke ground on three new on-campus developments (Lynn University, University of Southern Maine and UW Bothell), and we were selected to partner with the Colorado School of Mines on a P3 for the redevelopment of a residential village that includes renovation and new construction. Our teams also completed two construction projects, at Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus and San Diego State University, on time and under budget.

Our company could not have overcome the challenges presented in the 2021 market without the hard work and dedication of our entire staff, construction, design and finance partners, and college and university team members. We came together, focused on solutions, thoughtfully responded and ultimately forged ahead together.