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Editor’s Note: In 2005, I wrote this article for the Rocky Mountain News, following the death of Kal Zeff, Denver’s undisputed king of apartment development. Now, another milestone has been reached . The empire he built of more than 8,000 apartment units is being sold by CB Richard Ellis. Some believe it could fetch north of $900 million. Here is the article I wrote for the Rocky in July 2005.
Kal Zeff , described as the great-godfather of Denver apartment developers, was buried on Tuesday in Israel, where he was born 78 years ago.Mr. Zeff ‘s history in Denver is a true rags-to-riches story: a new immigrant whose business savvy over the years made him into one of the most successful – albeit low-profile – real estate developers in the city.
His company developed and owned about 10,000 apartment units in the metro area.
” Kal wanted to be buried near his father and mother in a little place called Magdiel (in central Israel),” said his friend of more than 50 years, Jack Grynberg, who was reached in Israel, hours after the funeral.
Mr. Zeff , who was born Dec. 25, 1926, in what is now known as Israel, died in his Cherry Hills home early Saturday morning. Mr. Zeff bought the home in 1988 for a bargain $1.7 million from the late billionaire Marvin Davis.
“It’s interesting reflecting on an era that has passed” with Mr. Zeff ‘s death, said Larry Mizel, chairman of MDC Holdings Inc., parent of Richmond American Homes and the largest Denver-based home building company. Mr. Zeff was the soil engineer on the first apartment building that Mizel developed in the late 1960s.
Kal Zeff extraordinary businessman
Mizel described Mr. Zeff as someone he “looked up to and respected. . . . He was always a very careful and cautious businessman. Kal was always very analytical in everything he did. You could assume if he did it, it made good business judgment. He was a good barometer of the direction of business and of the economy.”
Mr. Zeff fell and hit his head and died before he reached the hospital, Grynberg said. An autopsy wasn’t performed because Mr. Zeff was an orthodox Jew, and an autopsy is prohibited.
Mr. Zeff founded and owned Carmel Cos., believed to be the largest owner of apartments in the metro area. Chicago-based Equity Residential Properties, the nation’s largest apartment owner, for comparison, owns about 6,500 units in the metro area.
Israel roots deep
Mr. Zeff named his company after Mount Carmel in Israel, where as a member of Israel’s underground army he held off Arab forces at a munitions dump as the fledgling country was created in the late 1940s.
In the 1920s, Mr. Zeff ‘s parents had emigrated from Lithuania to Palestine, as it was then called.
After graduating with a degree in engineering from Technion University, he came to Denver in 1953 to earn his graduate degree at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Grynberg said. Mr. Zeff had a dispute with the School of Mines when it wouldn’t accept some of his credits, and he transferred to the University of Colorado, he said. After graduation, Mr. Zeff started a soil-engineering company but soon began developing apartments.
True long-term investor
He was well-known for never selling anything, holding on to his apartments through good cycles and bad.
“He was a real rags-to-riches story,” Grynberg said. “Of course, he built a very nice fortune. But he was also a very generous man. He gave to a lot of charities.”
Mr. Zeff gave $5 million to Technion University, and a representative from the university spoke at his funeral about Mr. Zeff and his storied life, said son Ron Zeff , who heads Carmel Partners in San Francisco, one of the nation’s largest private real estate investment firms focused exclusively on apartments.
“He certainly came to Denver with nothing,” said Ron Zeff . “He was very much a family man. And somebody who had a lot of integrity. He was never motivated by what other people thought or did. He relied on his own judgment.”
Mr. Zeff ‘s penchant for developing properties that he owned free and clear was evident in a recent deal. He built an apartment community along the overbuilt southeast corridor, despite objections from some advisers. Because he owned the land and building, he kept the rental costs lower, and it precluded competitors from building rival communities.
Grynberg said that last month he was in San Francisco for the bar mitzvah of one of his grandson.
“It was a shock to hear that Kal had passed away,” said Jeff Hawks, principal of Apartment Realty Advisors. “I was talking to him two weeks ago, and he seemed in pretty good shape.”
Hawks agreed with Mizel that Mr. Zeff ‘s death marked the end of an era.
“He built so many apartments that he alone controlled for the last 40 years,” Hawks said. “He was the great-godfather of apartments in Denver.”
Despite his vast real estate holdings and his wealth, Mr. Zeff was an extraordinarily private man. “He never was interested in the limelight,” Ron Zeff said.
Didn’t want his name in the newspaper
Indeed, when he bought Marvin Davis’ home, he created a shell company to buy it rather than under his own name.
When I asked him why, he replied: “We were hoping to keep it out of the newspapers.” He then deadpanned: “It didn’t work.”
In addition to his son Ron, Mr. Zeff is survived by his wife, Joyce; daughter Diana Zeff Anderson, of Israel; son Michael, of Denver; daughter Dana, of San Diego; and sister, Jaffa Herzfeld of Israel.
Contributions can be made to Jewish Family Services or Hadassah.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com
