The newly expanded and renovated business school at the University of Colorado at Boulder will be called Koelbel Hall after the family that has donated $4 million toward construction of the project.
Walter Koelbel, who founded the real-estate development firm Koelbel and Co. 54 years ago, and his wife, Gene, are graduates of the CU business school. Their son, Buz Koelbel, who is president of the company, also graduated from the school with a degree in finance.
“For 60 years, Walt has always been in the room for this university,” said Dennis Ahlburg, dean of CU’s business school. “The Koelbels are just an absolute gem for this state.”
The Koelbel family has a history of supporting education. Walter Koelbel has worked on projects such as the renovation of Macky Auditorium and the original construction of the business school building.
“Koelbel has a longtime philosophy of: if the community has been good to you, you’ve got to give back,” Buz Koelbel said. “CU is the singular most important institution in the state.”
Koelbel Hall will house the Leeds School of Business classrooms, research facilities and faculty and staff offices. It is in the midst of a $38 million project that will renovate the school’s existing 100,000- square-foot building and integrate it with a 65,000-square-foot, four-story addition. The 1970 building was designed to hold up to 1,500 students. The Leeds School’s current enrollment is 3,600.
Separately, the CU Real Estate Council donated more than $1 million to the project. A donation entitles the council to hang a plaque honoring Byron Koste, director of the university’s real estate center, in the building’s atrium.
The family has built Koelbel and Co. into one of the region’s leading real estate firms. Its projects include the Pinehurst Country Club community, the Preserve at Greenwood Village, and Rendezvous, a 450-acre resort community in Grand County.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
