Ferdinand L. (Ferd) Belz III, President of Fulenwider, has been named vice chair for the 1,425-member Colorado District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI Colorado). He will serve in that role for chair Mike Zoellner of ZF Capital through June 2021.

Belz heads all real estate for L.C. Fulenwider, Inc., the corporate entity for the Fulenwider family holdings. These holdings include 7,500 acres of land near Denver International Airport (DIA) as well as other real estate assets in the Denver region. Ferd is currently leading the development effort for Peña Station NEXT, a 382-acre transit-oriented development (TOD) surrounding the first rail stop on the commuter line from DIA to downtown Denver. This TOD is a public-private partnership between L.C. Fulenwider, Inc., DEN Real Estate, and is the North American headquarters for Panasonic CityNOW.

Before joining Fulenwider, Ferd was President of Cherokee Denver, LLC, the entity that owned the 50-acre redevelopment of the former Gates Tire & Rubber Factory in Denver. In this role, he managed all aspects of the development, entitlements, public financing and environmental remediation for this transit-oriented, mixed-use project. The project was entitled for more than 7 million square feet of mixed commercial and residential uses and approved for more than $126 million of public financing.

During his long real estate career, Ferd has developed more than $1 billion of hotel and resort real estate nationally and internationally, as well as numerous commercial, residential, retail, and senior housing projects. The projects include several Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, the Pepsi Center in Denver and Tabor Center in Denver. He is a partner in the redevelopment of the historic Denver Union Station into a mixed-use, retail, hotel and transit center project.

Ferd holds cum laude degrees in both architecture and engineering from the University of Kansas, and he began his career as a licensed architect. He is past chair of the Downtown Denver Partnership and past Chair of the Board of the Auraria Foundation. Currently, he is treasurer and on the Board of the Civic Center Conservancy, on the Board and Secretary of the Metro State University Foundation, and on the executive committee of ULI Colorado.

ULI Colorado is one of the largest in ULI’s global network of 75 District Councils. Staff offices are located in Lower Downtown Denver. Zoellner and Belz preside over a volunteer executive committee consisting of 20 leading ULI members who run 15 committees. Past chairs since ULI Colorado was founded in1998 have included: Walter A. “Buz” Koelbel, James T. DeFrancia, Julie Underdahl, Marilee Utter, Mike Komppa, William E. Mosher, Chris Achenbach, Kirk Monroe, Amy Cara, and Tracy Huggins.