The announcement was made at the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.'s first "Annual Report to Investors and Awards Luncheon," which drew about 425 civic, business and political leaders to the Marriott City Center hotel. Fast Enterprises operates offices in Boise, ID; Baton Rouge, LA; Helena, MT; and Victoria, BC. It has been hunting for space for about two years before selecting Denver.

"We didn't even know they were interested, until about two weeks before they signed their office lease," Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver EDC tells GlobeSt.com. The Metro Denver EDC is the economic development arm of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

The company, which prepares off-the-shelf tax software for governments, did all of its initial research online. "When we started the process of selecting a new headquarters, we started with a list of 36 cities that we conducted data research on," said Martin Rankin, CEO of Fast Enterprises. "We quickly realized what cities were well prepared for a technology company that was ready to move quickly into the market."

He praised the Metro Denver EDC's website. "It had a wealth of information," he says. He said it was especially helpful for mining data on real estate, recreation and sports and the cost of living and recruiting employees.

The company is initially looking to hire 20 or 30 people and will bring some people from other offices. The starting salaries will be about $50,000, Clark says, and the average salary--excluding both benefits and the executives' compensation--is about $82,000.

Clark says that the company picked Plaza Tower One because it wanted class A space along a light rail line. A light rail station is under construction by Plaza Tower One, as are the T-Rex highway expansion and light rail addition project. Joe Blake, president and CEO of the Denver chamber, notes T-Rex is serving as a model for across the country, on how to combine highways and light rail.

Kittie Hook, a commercial real estate broker at Fuller and Co., and a co-host of the Metro Denver EDC event, says Fast Enterprises also had to other more unusual requirements: "A Starbucks in the building and a Red Robin restaurant within walking distance." Plaza Tower One met both requirements.