ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
Coldwell Banker Mason Morse, a Roaring Fork Valley real estate firm with more than 100 brokers, is under the new ownership of a company with a presence in the ski-town markets of Crested Butte, Vail and elsewhere in Colorado and the West.
With its roots dating to the early 1960s, the locally run franchise, which has offices up and down the Roaring Fork Valley, is now operated under the umbrella of Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties, which is based in Vail and has locations in Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Frisco and Winter Park.
Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties is owned by California-based The Select Group, a real estate firm established by Dan Jacuzzi in 1980.
Jacuzzi, who was in Aspen on Wednesday and Thursday working on the transition, said the firm will have the same affiliate brokers and associates and hold the same listings, “although we will bring a new energy and new marketing to the valley.” Employees were notified about the ownership change in September and “nobody is losing their jobs,” Jacuzzi said Thursday. The deal quietly closed in September.
“We believe it is a natural extension for us as a company,” he said, “to unify more of the great Colorado ski markets together under one banner, and to allow us cross-marketing opportunities between the Colorado ski markets. I think it’s a real opportunity for us, the brokers who work for us and the consumers.”
Coldwell Banker Mason Morse has six offices — its home base in Aspen, as well as in Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and Redstone an Snowmass Village.
“For the company, it’s turning a new leaf from the issues of the last 18 months, and I think the brokers are excited to be here to be working with a real estate-focused organization,” said Jacuzzi.
The franchise is the latest asset to change hands in the wake of this year’s bankruptcy sale of Aspen Valley Ranch and the unloading of multiple downtown commercial properties. Businessman Charif Souki pledged those properties and other assets as collateral on more than $100 million in personal loans he received between 2017 and 2018.
Souki, family members and investors bought Coldwell Banker Mason Morse in 2013 through an entity called Ajax Holdings M & M LLC.
The same LLC acquired Mason & Morse Inc.’s office property at 514 E. Hyman Ave. for $6.3 million in January 2013, according to property records. The property changed ownership again in August, when an entity controlled by developer and landlord Mark Hunt acquired the 7,933-square-feet downtown building for $16.6 million.
The recently sold firm was known as Mason Morse Real Estate until merging with Coldwell Banker The Aspen Brokers in November 2011, a time of contraction for local brokerages in the aftermath of the Great Recession.
Mason Morse launched in 1961 and was named after its founders, Bill Mason and Edward “Wendy” Morse.
Some 63 years later, its latest owner, The Select Group, owns three Century 21 franchises — named Select Real Estate Properties, Cornerstone and Epic — that are behind dozens of offices between northern California and northern Nevada.
As well, The Select Group owns a Coldwell Banker franchise with offices serving northern California and Lake Tahoe. Now that it’s part of Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties, Mason Morse is linked not only to luxury-home, ski-town markets in Colorado, but to Angel Fire, Taos and Santa Fe in New Mexico, Jackson Hole in Wyoming and Teton Valley in Idaho.
“We’re deeply in the resort markets and it’s exciting to be here in Aspen,” Jacuzzi said.
A press release from The Select Group said the new addition will solidify its presence in the upscale property market in western U.S. states: “With a strong history of success across six states — California, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and New Mexico — The Select Group has continually pushed the boundaries of innovation in the real estate market. Adding Coldwell Banker Mason Morse to The Select Group represents a pivotal moment, further solidifying the company’s leadership in the global luxury real estate sector.”
Jacuzzi, through his Coldwell Banker businesses, established a relationship with Will Herndon, who has run the Aspen office of Coldwell Banker, for more than a decade.
“Coldwell Banker Mason Morse has always been committed to connecting clients with extraordinary properties, whether they are searching for a luxury Aspen estate, a home in the Roaring Fork Valley, or a ranch in the Colorado River Valley,” Herndon, CEO of Coldwell Banker Mason Morse, said in a statement included in the press release. “With Coldwell Banker’s deep roots in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, and The Select Group’s footprint across the Mountain West, our clients can expect nothing less than the finest real estate opportunities worldwide.”