DENVER-TIAA-CREF, one of the largest financial services companies in the US, and one of the largest office tenants downtown, recently signed a long-term lease at the UMB Plaza at 1670 Broadway, expanding its presence in the building to about 320,000 sf. Nathan Johnson and Phil Rushmeyer of the Frederick Ross Co. represented TIAA-CREF in the transaction. Nicholas Pavlakovich of Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado Inc., represented the owner,1670 Broadway Investors, LLC.

"This leasing deal reflects TIAA-CREF's long-term commitment to the Denver community," says Edward Van Dolsen, TIAA-CREF vice president of product management in Denver. "It is a flexible arrangement that will enhance our ability to serve those who advance the greater good by bringing 1,300 of our Denver-based employees under one roof."

The 1670 Broadway facility is a 36-story class-A high rise built in the uptown sector of the Denver CBD in 1980 with a total of 697,200 rentable sf. TIAA-CREF will continue to be the largest tenant in the building.

"TIAA-CREF's decision to maintain their Denver Central Business District presence is confirmation of downtown Denver's ability to recruit and retain a workforce from across the metropolitan area," says Pavlakovich. "This was a complicated transaction that took a couple of years to craft." He says the ownership group of the building is "extremely pleased" to continue its strong relationship with TIAA-CREF.

TIAA-CREF has strong ties to Colorado and the Denver area. In 1918, Colorado College in Colorado Springs, a founding member of the organization, became the first institution to make a premium payment. The Denver office, one of the organization's three major operational centers, was established in 1988.