July 2, 2018
This month's Valbridge Office Spotlight is showcasing Colorado’s Western Slope offices located in Basalt and Durango. These Valbridge Colorado offices, led by Gabriel Molnar and Aaron Ward specialize in the unique challenges of appraising in Colorado’s high-value mountain resort markets.
Molnar and Ward have over 40 years combined experience in commercial appraising and expertise in appraising specialty and complex properties. The unique challenges of appraising mountain property is another example of how Valbridge’s national presence and many specialty practice areas come together to best serve our clients commercial appraisal needs.
Meet the team:
Gabriel Molnar
Gabe has over eighteen years of real estate analysis experience, with the past twelve focused exclusively on commercial appraisal. While completing his degree from the CU Boulder School of Architecture (class of 2000 – Urban Planning), he interned in a city planning department, as well with a Manhattan commercial brokerage. Following graduation, Gabe spent two years with a development team creating large-scale mixed-use projects.
Following this, he conducted independent market and feasibility studies of tax-credit multi-family properties nationwide. In 2005, Gabe was one of the first appraisers for CVC, a small boutique company that became a regional commercial appraisal group acquired by a multi-national firm. During his tenure as Managing Director, his work was instrumental in the growth of the company from four to 30 plus employees.
The bulk of recent work has primarily been concentrated on the unique challenges of appraising in Colorado’s high-value mountain resort markets. As Senior Managing Director for Valbridge Property Advisors the focus is on providing expert analysis and oversight of the Mountain West office, as well as appraisals of specialty and complex properties throughout the state. Mr. Molnar is also a successful property owner/developer throughout Colorado
Aaron Ward, MAI, CCIM
Aaron Ward is a Certified General Appraiser in the State of Colorado. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa in Business Administration with concentrations in Real Estate Finance and Marketing. He has earned both the MAI designation through The Appraisal Institute and is also a member of the Association of Realtors.
Ward has been active in the Colorado real estate market since 2007 as a commercial real estate appraiser, primarily servicing high-end resort and rural markets in the Mountain and Western Slope regions. After working as a senior appraiser for a boutique appraisal firm in Denver, he co-founded Valbridge Property Advisors | Mountain West and serves as principal/senior managing director of the office.
His focus has remained on providing expert analysis and oversight to insure excellent quality valuations of commercial real estate properties. Ward has significant experience in highly complex and specialized properties and has provided expert witness testimonies and written analysis for litigation purposes. In addition to his appraisal career, Ward has also realized success as a real estate investor and developer.