Steve Ferris Founder Real Estate Garage

Meet the Founder and Principal

Steve Ferris specializes in devising and implementing real estate plans that successfully integrate the best of the public and private sectors. With 25+ years leading design teams and managing development projects, he now focuses his efforts on timely maximizing the production of real estate plans, projects, and approvals.

His production of over $40MM in project savings for former private sector employers exemplifies these skills. In late 2015 he founded the Real Estate Garage in order to replicate these services for valued clients and partners. In doing so, he bid adieux to his appointed position with the City of Denver, where he managed a team of 140 engineers, planners, and technicians reviewing all development in the City. He previously engaged in over $475MM in Ritz-Carlton hotel/residence development management for the Gencom Group, and $20MM in residential and infrastructure development for New Town Builders. Prior to his development management work, Steve served 7 years as Director of Planning and Building and 2 years as Municipal Manager for the Town of Telluride, Colorado.

Steve was born in Southeast Asia, and has worked in New York City, the Florida Keys, Micronesia, Hawaii, California, Nevada, North Dakota, and Colorado. His curiosity and passion for learning is exhibited by his BS in Civil Engineering from Marquette University, an MS in Urban Planning from Cornell University, and an MBA with a real estate finance focus from the University of Denver.  |  Steve’s LinkedIn

Bringing experience with diverse geographies, market sectors, political cultures, regulatory agencies, and environmental issues.

The Real Estate Garage believes in collaboration from project inception.

Whether we’re managing an entitlement process, a due diligence review, or a complex project — or just solving a design challenge — we follow several clear principles. These include:

Optimize and streamline the project schedule and the production of the project. We keep the client fully informed of the options to shorten governmental processes, and promise a realistic, trustworthy schedule based on the best information available.
Serving as the “pivot point” on all decisions, integrating the best insight from engineers, designers, planners, lawyers, and government officials to recommend the best possible options to ensure project success.
Encouraging and facilitating team member performance. We ask for and expect positive and realistic contributions and solutions.
To be a trusted team member of any larger team the client establishes, knowing that establishing that trust is critical to the long-term relationships we value.
Learning from everything we do via full post project reviews. We want to be the best, and know that takes continuous improvement.
Contemplating the results of the facts and insights we share. We look ahead of the just the task at hand.
Complex projects are best completed as a partnership with clients, where we build teams and strategies from the ground up.
A key to success is a full understanding of the fundamental needs and desires of communities.
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Steve brought solid knowledge of both the public and private sectors to the City's Development Services Department. I have no doubt he will continue to use that insight to serve this great City we love in his latest endeavor.

Michael Hancock | Mayor of Denver
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Steve brings the insight we need to work with the City, and the understanding of the full scope of our projects to fit the pieces together

Bernard Hurley | Menalto Development
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No one knows the inner-workings of the City of Denver better than Steve Ferris. While serving as Director of Development Services, Steve was an invaluable resource for projects ranging from small tenant improvements to complicated ground-up and highly dense developments. Beyond understanding what it takes to get a project done in Denver, Steve can be counted on to be creative in coming up with new ways to accomplish one's project goals.

Andrew Feinstein | EXDO Properties
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Steve understands the private and public side of projects in a unique way -- and knows how to keep projects in motion. Developers need all sides of that equation and Steve is the secret sauce to make that happen.

Jason Winkler | Industry Denver

Selected Projects

  • Aspen-Snowmass Base Village | 2012-2013

  • Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows Redevelopment Proposal, Santa Monica, CA | 2008

  • Ritz-Carlton Kapalua Residences, Maui, HI Phase II | 2007-2009

  • Denver East Village Town homes Feasibility | 2006

  • Rossonian Hotel Feasibility Analysis | 2005

  • Minot International Inn, Minot, ND | 2011-2012

  • Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, Kapulua, Maui, HI | 2007-2008

  • Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, Rancho Mirage, CA | 2007 -2008

  • Aurora Sun Meadows Land Development Planning | 2005

  • Denver Union Station Public Market Feasibility | 2005

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