Colby Denison - Founder/Owner
In 1997, Mr. Denison left CSFB, and based on the same values that lead to the success of his equity research team, started his development business in Austin. In the last 14 years, he has successfully developed a range of residential properties including high-end custom homes valued at $5,000,000, affordable single-family homes, modular homes and multifamily low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects. He has used a variety of financing mechanisms to fund these projects including private equity, tax credit equity, HUD loans, city loans, and conventional bank loans. His education and background in finance combined with his knowledge of construction and development has made Mr. Denison a leader in the construction and development of LIHTC communities.
After receiving his bachelor's degree in Honors Business and Finance from the University of Texas at Austin, Mr. Denison started out his career as a member of the oil services and equipment equity research team at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). His team was ranked #1 on Wall Street, and worked closely with the Investment Banking division on IPO's, secondary offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. Their clients included the largest money mangers, mutual funds, hedge funds and pension funds in the world. His team took a very analytic approach to equity valuation, and routinely outperformed the market. A relentless focus on client service, a zero tolerance for error, and a unique approach to valuation all contributed to the success of his team.
Ina Spokas - Director of Development, Texas Region
Ms. Spokas has been part of the Denison team since 2008. Her primary scope of responsibility is from initial site selection through to construction completion. She is responsible for packaging Housing Tax Credit (HTC) and HUD (HOME and CHDO) applications to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), submitting construction compliance documentation, drafting the Land Use Restriction Agreement (LURA), tracking TDHCA deadlines and requests, compiling due-diligence for investors and banks, tracking change orders, ensuring the execution of plans and specifications for all projects, representing the owner for plan reviews and pre/interim/post-construction meetings with city officials, managing the landscaping phase, and leading special projects. Special projects include solar panel installations, tracking federal tax credit receivables for Energy Efficiency (solar), lift station improvements, utility allowance analysis and implementation, obtaining loans from cities and HFC's, researching ancillary income options for properties, and compiling city impact fees.
Ina develops and nurtures Denison Construction's relationship with state and local agencies, banks, investors, design consultants, and construction teams. She strives to provide everyone with the information and support they need to be successful Ms. Spokas enjoys getting her boots dirty while spending time at both the construction site and behind-the-scenes in the office. She also holds the title of Labor Standards Officer for Davis-Bacon.
Ms. Spokas has a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, a Master's degree in Business Administration and over 250 hours of formal Project Management (PMP) training. She has successfully completed Housing Tax Credit, HOME RHD, HTC Compliance, and Federal Labor Standards/Davis-Bacon training courses offered by TDHCA. She worked in the high tech industry for 15 years prior to joining the real estate industry. Ms. Spokas' attention to detail and passion for excellence has made her an integral part of our team.
Lisa Beauchamp - Director of Operations
Ms. Beauchamp joined the Denison Construction team in 2009. Her primary focus is operations. Her areas of responsibility include market research, advertising, accounting, budgeting and IT support for both the office and established communities. She is the critical link between the development and management teams.
Lisa works closely with EPMI and the community managers. Lisa has improved our properties by creating community newsletters, expanding resident activities, initiating and installing police watch programs and meetings, and recruiting local charities to educate our residents on local resources, including rental assistance, utility assistance, Head Start programs and library programs. Lisa manages utility costs at all our communities by evaluating and monitoring the impact of vacancy and weather on our electric bills, as well as working with the local utility providers to evaluate and monitor new meters, and follows through on energy and water conservation initiatives for our communities. She also is responsible for maintaining the annual property tax exemption status for all our projects.
Lisa has been proactive in developing and managing our community websites, and local marketing efforts. She works diligently to find creative and unique ways to attract potential tenants to our properties. Lisa's work with the communities has directly impacted the success of those properties and furthers our mission to have the best apartments with the best services for our residents.
Lisa holds two Bachelor's Degrees in Business; one in Marketing and another in Management. She also holds an MBA in Leadership and Change Management. Lisa comes to the Denison team with over 12 years of Health care IT project management experience. She worked with large, multi-million dollar IT installation for hospital and large multi-specialty clinic groups. She managed all aspects of the projects from sales contract to post-live support, including budgeting and personnel management. Lisa has owned two businesses prior to joining Denison Construction. Her first business specialized in residential real estate marketing; providing web and print marketing materials to Chicago real estate agents, as well as, virtual tours, website consulting, and business and marketing planning for new and established real estate agents. Her second business focused on accounting and finance support for all types of businesses including real estate, retail, medical and ranch type businesses. Lisa's strong work ethic and attention to detail has made her an integral part of the Denison team.
