With a growing volume of medical and mixed-use projects in the pipeline, NexCore Group recently bolstered its in-house design and construction capabilities with the hiring of John M. Lasell as Vice President of Design and Construction. In his new role, Mr. Lasell is responsible for managing all aspects of project delivery, including budgets, schedules, process, and quality.
“With NexCore Group’s rapid growth, we needed a seasoned design and construction executive to oversee project delivery,” explains NexCore President & CEO Greg Venn. “John Lasell brings that level of expertise and vastly expands our capabilities in that area. He also brings extensive experience in our two primary markets: medical and mixed-use projects.”
Mr. Lasell comes to NexCore from M.A. Mortenson Co. where, as Senior Project Manager, he was responsible for the $42 million, 32-story, 1600 Glenarm Place mixed-use project in Denver. That redevelopment project transformed a vacant downtown office building into 333 luxury high-rise apartments, 20,700 square feet of retail space, 15,220 square feet of office space and 100 valet parking spaces.
Mr. Lasell’s background also includes eight years as Vice President and Principal-In-Charge for Bovis Lend Lease Inc. in Denver. In that role, he established the firm’s Denver office, and he was responsible for numerous healthcare projects. For HealthONE, the largest healthcare system in the Denver metro area, he spearheaded projects on several campuses, including Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, North Suburban Medical Center in Thornton and Swedish Medical Center in Englewood.
From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Lasell also worked for The Neenan Company in Denver, and it was through those relationships that he came to join NexCore Group. NexCore was formed when Neenan’s development group was spun out of the company in late 2004. Mr. Lasell says he kept in touch with his former colleagues who left Neenan to form NexCore. Those relationships, combined with NexCore’s rapid growth, convinced Mr. Lasell to pursue this new opportunity, he says.
Mr. Lasell also brings valuable design expertise. He earned a B.A. in Architectural Studies from Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y., and an M.B.A. and a Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign.
In his new role, Mr. Lasell will have the opportunity to be involved in projects from design concepts through final completion. “That’s the part that really interested me the most,” he says, “to be responsible for the entire project delivery process, not just the construction.”
Mr. Lasell’s first responsibility with NexCore is Gateway Station: an approximately $20 million mixed-use redevelopment that will transform a blighted corner of downtown Golden into an exciting hub of residential and commercial activity. The first phase of Gateway Station, which is to be completed by October 2007, will include about 16,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant space and about 7,500 square feet of second-floor for-sale office condominiums, topped by 34 luxury residences.