Zakhem Real Estate Group's John Zakhem
Editor ESTHER LEE LEACH interviews John Zakhem, Managing Partner of Zakhmen Real Estate Group. John was photographed at the company’s headquarters on Logan Street in Denver.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ESTHER LEE LEACH
Esther Lee Leach: John, your career journey before creating Zakhem Real Estate Group is fascinating. You are a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and served in the US Army for nine years, created a mortgage firm, and also worked as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch. Let’s start at the beginning of your professional life. What path did you take after graduating from the University of Colorado?
John Zakhem: I was in the military during my time at CU and was involved in the SNP (Army Simultaneous Membership Program). I was a reservist as well as in ROTC with the goal of having the military pay for my medical school. My military training was in the operating room (OR) as a 91D /surgical technician, and I worked in the OR during my military deployment in Saudi Arabia. I was activated in November of 1990 and was deployed to Saudi Arabia shortly after that. I had to withdraw from my junior year of university and it was a very stressful and challenging time for me and my family. I served in an OR team that took over a Saudi Military hospital on the Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabian Border. We mostly operated on prisoners of war and the experience is nothing that you can ever replicate. I grew both mentally, physically, and emotionally. I met some of the bravest and most interesting people and learned a lot about myself, became much more cultured and developed a much more worldly perspective.
ELL: How did your life change after returning from active duty?
JZ: Once I returned from active duty in May 1991, I reenrolled at CU Denver and began working full time as Orthopedic Scrub Tech at Presbyterian/St. Luke Medical Center (PSL). I worked full time at PSL while finishing my degree in Biology. After university and some serious thought, I reconsidered my pursuit of medicine. I came to realize that medicine was not for me and I didn’t want to spend my life in a hospital. I was immediately hired by some medical sales companies that sold medical equipment to operating rooms and moved to Hermosa Beach in California. I started my MBA at Pepperdine and after a few years in California and missing my family, I transferred back to Denver in 1998.
“We went through multiple recessions and my dad was always able to provide for us due to real estate. He taught us the value of investing and how to buy real estate right. ”
ELL: You then began your career in the finance industry by launching your own company, Unified Mortgage, in 1998 and then transitioning to mortgage banking in 2001. What attracted you to this industry?
JZ: My high school friends and CU roommate Art Vasquez suggested that I look into real estate and start a mortgage company. He owned a real estate company and thought that there would be great synergy between our businesses. I decided to leave medicine completely and get into real estate and finance. The mortgage industry was challenging at that time but the real estate market was also on fire and Denver was growing. The mortgage business taught me about banking, finance, and the business side of real estate. After a successful run in that industry, I needed a bigger challenge. In 2005, I left the mortgage industry and a friend took me under his wing and brought me on as his partner at Merrill Lynch.
As one of the big five investment firms at the time, I thought it would be a great step in my advancement and career. Since I had a terrific network of physicians and athletes, he thought it would be a good challenge for me as well as to placate my desire to grow. A few years later and with some of my new-found knowledge, I decided that I wanted to combine my real estate, mortgage finance, and money management experience into my own private equity fund. My brother Mike was managing a real estate office at the time and we decided to partner up, buy a building next to Gov’s Park Saloon, and with the help of our third partner and one of my best friends, Peter Forsberg, we started our first private equity fund, Champion Diversified Private Equity, LLC in 2007/8. This fund focused on local real estate investments in dense, mass transit oriented areas with an emphasis on increasing density and zoning. We became the real estate portion of our investors’ portfolio.
ELL: What motivated you and Mike to create Zakhem Real Estate Group, and what type of projects does the company develop?
JZ: We have always been in real estate. My father Jim, (who passed away recently, may God rest his soul) invested in real estate when he arrived in Denver. We went through multiple recessions and my dad was always able to provide for us due to real estate. He taught us the value of investing and how to buy real estate right. My dad taught languages and also did a stint as a professor at DU, but his main passion was always real estate. We grew up helping manage some of those properties as well as learning hands-on what it takes to repair and maintain them. We learned a lot of what it takes to own, manage and take care of real estate from my dad, he was truly an inspiring man and we owe a lot of our success to my parents' commitment to our family and to making sure we had the tools necessary to succeed. My mom Maya has always been the backbone of our family and to this day she’s our biggest fan and helps keep us in line by managing our office. Zakhem Real Estate Group is the culmination of many years of experience, drive, dedication, timing, and a little luck. It is the umbrella organization that oversees and manages our private equity funds.
In 2017, we sold our office next to Gov’s Park Saloon and purchased the Brind Mansion in Capital Hill, diagonally opposite to the governor’s mansion. After a substantial amount of renovation, we moved into the building in April 2018. It’s a beautiful building and we are very proud to call it the home of Zakhem Real Estate Group.
ELL: Your family has been investing in Colorado for close to three decades. Tell us more about your family’s history in Colorado.
JZ: My Uncle Sam Zakhem moved here for his PhD in the ’60s and our family immigrated here in 1977 after spending some time In Lebanon and Dubai. My parents wanted us to be educated in America, and with my uncle established in Colorado, it made sense for our family to move here. We had another uncle and some cousins move here as well. My uncle helped pave the way for us, and due to his political involvement, established a good reputation for himself and our family. He was in the State house and Senate and was appointed US ambassador to Bahrain by President Ronald Reagan and VP George Bush Sr. in the late 1980s. While I was in Desert Storm, he was serving in Bahrain. I grew up in southwest Denver (my uncle’s district) and went to school at John F. Kennedy High School. My brother Mike was born here and attended Columbine High School and we both attended CU.
ELL: One of your most recent projects is in the last stages of being completed in RiNo. The Collective is a very interesting concept and matches the way we live and work today. The 3701 Marion Street development consists of six townhomes for sale, with a five-story apartment building located behind the ‘live-work’ townhomes. Tell us more about the concept and plans for The Collective.
JZ: RiNo as it’s known now is the Five Points neighborhood, and we had officed out of 25th and Champa that Art’s family-owned for many years. The property on Marion was also owned by Art’s family and we have known about this neighborhood for many years. Having the good fortune of growing up in Denver and seeing it transform into one of the best cities in the country we knew that is was only a matter of time before this neighborhood would change. It’s close to downtown, the light rail station, and a very cool hip “SOHO” vibe. It was also very industrial and had a unique charm to it. The Collective tries to take the essence of this neighborhood with its unique charm, artist-inspired industrial vibe and create a beautiful building that not only tries to capture the essence of this neighborhood but try to blend in with a combination of new and old. The building tries to do that with 5 different murals as well as 16 different art pieces and two sculptures in the hallways all designed and curated by local artists. It has 48 one-bedroom units with great design and amenities and a rooftop deck that overlooks the city. It is walking distance to the light rail station as well as the many restaurants and bars in RiNo. We have started pre-leasing and will be ready for our first move-ins in November.
ELL: 1205 Benton Street in Lakewood is another one of your current projects, with a five-story apartment building planned. What stage are you in development and why did you choose Lakewood as the location?
JZ: This Building is at the Benton Light rail station close to Sloan’s Lake. Its 58 one and 2 bedroom units and sits about 30 yards from the Benton light rail station. The units are larger than typical units since it was going to be a condo building before our redesign. It will also have an amenity deck, underground secured parking, and easy access to Sloan’s Lake and downtown. It’s also a few blocks away from the new Edge Water Public Market. It will be ready for move-in mid next year.
John Zakhem: @zakhem.john
Zakhem Real Estate Group: www.zpmgmt.com