Metropolitan Homes CEO Peter Kudla is the gas lawnmower of live auctioneers. You pull the cord, rev the engine and let him roll.
“I have to get out of here tonight,” he told the 600 attendees at the Herzl/RMHA school fundraiser Thursday night at Temple Emanuel. “I have another engagement with the Italian Bocce Club at 9.”
Kudla, who’s best known for developing Vallagio at Inverness, a collection of flats, rowhouses and single-family homes bordering the Inverness Golf Course, shows his passion for auctioneering by smoothly selling 13 items and raising $67,000 for the school whose name is changing to the Denver Jewish Day School.
For the first item, a pink motor scooter valued at $2,000, he throws out the line and quickly reels in the big fish using what he calls “the Italian spirit.”
“That one woman in the audience, I knew she needed to have that scooter,” he said. “Everybody was happy, now let’s go!”
Holding the rapt attention of that many people is nearly impossible for professional auctioneers, let alone an amateur. Thursday was no exception, as folks in the tight-knit community seemed to prefer moving from table to table, catching up, But that didn’t deter Kudla, and serious bidders loosened their wallets.
“As you might suspect, I’ve got a little bit of energy,” Kudla said. “That translates into engaging people and trying to make them happy.”
He also does his homework before taking the stage by jotting down names of familiar faces and calling them out over the mike.
“They love the personal recognition,” he said. “If you make that contact, you get more money from them.”
Kudla first got into the charity auctioneer biz — he volunteers three or four times a year — 10 years ago for Tiny Miracles, a benefit for Children’s Hospital.
Last year, he handled the auction at the prestigious Beaux Arts Ball, a benefit for National Jewish Health. He was asked for a repeat performance at this year’s event, but declined.
“It’s like bringing back Frank Sinatra too many times,” he joked.
New lawyers’ lair.
The law firm Isaacson Rosenbaum used the firm’s move to a new location after 30 years in the old one as an easy excuse to throw a hearty party for clients and invited guests recently.
The company, which boasts 20 partners and 40 associate attorneys, stepped out of the corner-windows-for-senior-partners box and took the one-size-fits-all route for offices in the new space at 1001 17th St.
“We took a retreat two years ago to figure out what kind of space we wanted to live in,” said partner Neil Oberfeld. “We went to uniform-size spaces for the egalitarian aspect.”
What they doubled in size were, in office-design speak, the “collaboration spaces,” or conference rooms. One conference space — dubbed the Wii Sports Bar — includes Wii band equipment. “It’s an enormous morale- booster,” Oberfeld said.
Belated B-day.
Nick Maestas, a 30-year toiler with Aurora Public Schools, celebrated his 80th birthday March 11. Maestes served as an industrial arts teacher, then a high school counselor who became head of the counseling department at Hinkley High School. His family (including his wife of 57 years, five children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild) celebrated at the Buckhorn Exchange.
Eavesdropping
on a lawyer from another firm at the Isaacson Rosenbaum open house: “I’d forgotten what nice law offices look like.”
Prickly proposal.
For Matt Trasen, project manager for Gart Properties, getting down on one knee to pop the question to pharmaceutical sales rep Jodi Lammert wasn’t an easy proposition.
“I tried to kneel down on one knee, but with ski boots on and in my bindings, I couldn’t make it work,” Trasen said about the top-of-Jackson-Hole proposal.
The couple will tie the knot on Labor Day weekend at the Wellshire.
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
