The IMA Financial Group broke ground on its new headquarters building, which is the first private building to begin construction as a part of the Union Station Neighborhood redevelopment. The North Wing building, between 17thand 18th streets on Wynkoop, represents a crucial private sector commitment to creating a multi-modal transportation hub at Union Station.
"It's an honor for IMA to be a key part of the Union Station redevelopment project. With our headquarters in what will be the heart of downtown Denver shows IMA's commitment to the growth and prosperity of this great city and Colorado," said Rob Cohen, CEO and Chairman of IMA Financial Group, a diversified financial services company anchored by IMA, Inc., the insurance brokerage and risk management company.
IMA's $32 million headquarters building is financed as a partnership between Rob Cohen and Ed Haselden, CEO of Haselden Construction and the building's general contractor. IMA will call the new building home and will maintain more than 200 jobs in the LoDo neighborhood when the building opens in the fourth quarter of 2013.
"We applaud IMA Financial Group's commitment to and investment in lower downtown Denver," said Tom Clark, CEO of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. "IMA's sustained growth and Rob Cohen's leadership in Metro Denver's business community are exemplary and signify the 'can do attitude' of our corporate leaders."
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Senator Mark Udall, Governor John Hickenlooper and Mayor Michael Hancock, who each donned hard hats and shovels and joined Cohen and Haselden in shoveling the first scoops of dirt at the building site. More than 300 community leaders, business leaders and IMA employees joined in the groundbreaking ceremony and party that immediately followed.
The IMA building will be an integral part of what will be the hub of transportation in Denver, with rail passengers descending a staircase from the tracks into the plaza where they will be greeted by the IMA building. The IMA building will gracefully complement the traditions of both the north side of Lower Downtown and Union Station. The building will animate the adjacent plaza with a restaurant and/or shops and pedestrian-oriented events that will make this a vibrant urban place. IMA associates will work in the building's upper floors.
As a part of IMA's commitment to the Denver community, IMA is allocating part of its space to house a conference room that will be available for nonprofit organizations to use free of charge. The five story building will have 108,000 square feet of rentable space.
The IMA Building is targeting LEED Gold certification for sustainable design. A Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) system provides highly energy efficient delivery of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning to complement high performance glazing and wall systems. Exterior window shading elements further enhance the energy performance of the building. Horizontal shades articulate the glass façade at the plaza and vertical glass fins shade the punched openings in the brick wall. A strong roof cornice shades top floor glazing and echoes the similar forms throughout the historic Lower Downtown context.
The building's development manager is First Century Development, its contractor is Haselden Construction, the architect is Anderson Mason Dale Architects and the associate architect and interior architect is Semple Brown Design.
To learn more about IMA, visit www.imacorp.com.
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