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NEWPORT BEACH, CA—A lower cost of living, the lifestyle, the seasons and a robust market are attracting talent to the Denver market, RETS Associates principals Kent Elliott and Jana Turner tell GlobeSt.com. The locally based West Coast CRE recruiting firm recently completed five job placements in Denver and Boulder, CO, including two property managers, two financial analysts, a director, a senior associate and a VP of retail asset management. Elliott and Turner spoke with GlobeSt.com exclusively about the appeal of this market and why so many CRE executives are choosing to live and relocate there.

GlobeSt.com: Why is CRE ramping up in Denver?

Elliott: There are a couple of reasons. I think you've got a few major employers based there, between Prologis, which has obviously been on an acquisition spree, buying KTR recently; all the different private REITs growing within Black Creek's building; and Unico, another client of ours, expanding in the Denver market. So, as a result, some of these clients have had hiring needs in Denver, resulting in the number of searches we've done there.

Turner: It's a pretty robust market. We see a lot of activity with a couple of those clients, and some might not be in the Denver market itself but in the outlying areas. We love Denver—it's easy to recruit there. Candidates like the lifestyle, the cost of living and the seasons. Denver has culturally expanded itself, transportation is improving, and it's very attractive—there's also a lot of great single-family and multifamily stuff going on there.

GlobeSt.com: Is Denver attracting talent away from other markets in the country?

Elliott: We recently placed a director of financial analysis from L.A. in Denver. There's a candidate we knew who moved with his wife and family from San Francisco to Denver because it was so attractive. They sold their house in the Bay Area and bought for 50% with double the size, and the kids have a two-minute walk to school. That makes a huge difference to candidates.

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Turner: When we're talking with candidates in Southern California and ask them to give us our geographic preference, Denver comes up nine times out of 10.

GlobeSt.com: Do you see the same hiring boom happening in other markets?

Elliott: If we focus on the Western US markets, the primary markets are all demonstrating significant demand in hiring: L.A., Orange County, Seattle, Denver and San Francisco all have the same level of hiring. The population in Denver is smaller than that of San Francisco or L.A., so the numbers are lower in Denver, but the level of hiring is comparatively equal.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about the Denver market?

Elliott: Denver is following the compensation trends. We used to advise candidates moving positions to expect a 15% increase in base salary, but that's no longer the case. Now we're seeing 20% to 30% increases in base salaries to get employees to move from point X to point Y. We've seen that in Denver without a doubt.

Turner: We've done a lot of hiring for companies that based in Denver but have a distributed employee requirement where we've done East Coast, Central and West Coast placements for them. Also, for firms located outside of Denver, they need employees who are based on the ground in Denver. It's an active market for us, and we like it.