The Capital Construction and Planning unit coordinates university-wide activity and reporting for external constituents. It maintains core data on CU capital construction activities and provides support for the Design Review Board and the Regents Finance Subcommittee.

Board of Regents Finance Subcommittee

Pursuant to Regent Policy 2C, areas of consideration for the Board of Regents Finance Subcommittee include the annual five year and ten-year capital construction plans; ten-year master plans and financing; capital construction proposals; the acquisition, disposal, operating and life cycle costs, and maintenance of facilities; and the use of university grounds, buildings, and other property. According to Regent Law (Article 13, Part A), the Board must approve real property acquisitions, new construction projects with budgets greater than $2.0 million, and all other capital projects that have budgets greater than $5.0 million.

Capital Project Dashboard

Quarterly dashboards provide a brief status and progress update for each of CU's major construction projects that have been approved by the Board of Regents.

Design Review Board

The mission of the University of Colorado Design Review Board (DRB) is to provide review and advice to parties charged with the design and development of proposed capital planning and development projects at all campus properties under control of the Board of Regents.

Meeting Dates, Agendas and Minutes

DRB Process and Procedures - Updated 2022

Members

  • Christopher Shears, FAIA, Architect – Appointed April 2023 (chair)

Chris Shears is founding principal of Shears Adkins Rockmore Architects (SAR+). Chris is a strong planner and designer with over 50 years of experience involving projects nationally and internationally. His interest and expertise is in the design of complex downtown urban infill and mixed use projects and master planning efforts which recognize proven urban design principles.

A passionate weaver of urban fabric, Shears is interested in possibilities of planning, zoning, and design to catalytically transform cities and how people live. Working with city officials for more than thirty years to expand established entitlements while engaging communities and stakeholders, Shears specializes in creative interpretation of zoning ordinances and design standards to achieve economically sound contextual solutions. Chris has directed the design of over $4 billion worth of projects across the United States and is currently involved in numerous local planning and design efforts including River Mile, Ball Arena, and Loretto Heights.

Chris earned a 5 year BArch (with distinction) from the University of Minnesota and a Masters Degree from the Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

  • Jody Beck, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College of Architecture and Planning, CU Denver – Appointed November 2022

Jody Beck is a Professor in the Department of Landscape and serves as the Chair of the department in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver.  He is a registered architect in the State of Colorado and prior to returning to the University of Pennsylvania for his PhD, he worked across a broad range of building typologies.  He has written two books.  The first, John Nolen and the Metropolitan Landscape, focuses on the political underpinnings of the work of John Nolen – a landscape architect and the first person to take the professional title of city planner.  The second book, Landscape and Utopia, brings forward the radical political challenge to capitalism and the landscapes that embodied that challenge in the utopian proposals of Ebenezer Howard, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright.  His research interests are grounded in the politics of space and in particular how these politics play out in the arid West.  He brings a firm belief in the importance of joy and delight in the built environment to all his work.

  • Sarah Semple Brown, FAIA, Architect – Appointed August 2016

As co-founder and design principal of Semple Brown Design since 1982, Sarah Semple Brown’s thoughtful, layered approach to the design process is guided by her innate ability to genuinely understand her clients and their desires.  She has made a substantial impact on the development of Denver’s built environment, and many of her projects have involved highly visible restorations and adaptive reuse interventions of historic buildings that bring great character and a sense of history to the Mile High City.  Her award-winning projects are infused with simple clean concepts, depth, warmth, and quality – and are always respectful of the site.

  • Tom Hootman, AIA, LEED AP, WELL AP, CPHC Principal, Form & Flow – Appointed April 2021

Tom Hootman is an architect, engineer, designer, and author. He is the founder of Form & Flow, a building performance design consultancy for next-generation architecture. He works with clients to achieve healthy, resilient, zero energy buildings, and regenerative outcomes with positive social, environmental, and economic impacts. Tom brings over 30 years of industry experience and has experience leading integrated design within architecture, MEP engineering, and energy modeling practices. He is an early pioneer in zero energy and has worked on over 15 zero energy projects. Tom has also authored "Net Zero Energy Design," published by Wiley.

  • ​David Keltner, AIA, LEED AP – Appointed July 2025

David Keltner is an owner and design principal at Hacker, an award-winning architecture firm based in Portland, Oregon.  He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1993 and joined Hacker in 1999.  He has more than 35 years in the field and has led design on many of the firm’s most notable buildings, including design for higher education on more than a dozen campuses including renovation of Hellems Arts and Sciences and a concept design for Carlson Gym on the CU Boulder campus.  In addition, he has experience in a broad range of project types including K-12 schools, multi-family housing, workplace, libraries, arts buildings, and theaters.  Many of these projects included design review or historic design review by local, state, and federal agencies.  In addition to being a frequent applicant to these processes, he also served five years on the City of Portland’s Design Review Commission.

  • Laurel Raines, FASLA, PLA, Founding Principal, Dig Studio Inc. – Appointed April 2023

Laurel is a co-founder of Dig Studio, a firm located in Denver, CO, Phoenix, AZ, and Spokane, WA. Laurel's range of project types are broad based, design focused, and contribute to the well-being and health of communities and the environment. Laurel has helped transform the aesthetic of Colorado landscapes from City Beautiful to new landscape City Ecological vernacular, reflective of our high plains desert.

She has led the design of park and play environments, recreation centers, performance venues and parkways throughout the region.

Involvement in the community is important to Laurel, and she sits on several boards including the Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities and as a mayoral appointee to the Cherry Creek North Design Review Board.

Laurel studied Plant and Soil Science/Ornamental Horticulture at the University of Vermont, followed by receiving a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard.

  • Kori Donaldson (ex officio) – Assistant Vice President for Budget, Planning, and Capital

Kori has almost 20 years of experience in budgeting, capital planning, and public policy. In her current role, Kori supports the University of Colorado System CFO and leadership on issues related to budgeting, financing, planning, and capital construction at all four CU campuses.  Kori coordinates with campus budget officers and campus facilities staff on issues of systemwide concern and items requiring review or approval by the Board of Regents.

Prior to joining CU in 2019, Kori worked as non-partisan staff at the Colorado State Capitol for 12 years. Kori served as lead staff for the Capital Development Committee and oversaw the analysis of all capital budget requests.  She also staffed the Finance Committees, wrote about a wide variety of infrastructure and financing topics, and estimated the cost of new legislation.

Kori also taught 6th grade in northern Colorado. She helped develop a new literacy course for future teachers at Colorado State University and taught as adjunct faculty.

Kori holds an MA in Education from the University of Northern Colorado and a BA in International Politics from Southwestern University.

Capital Budgets

Controlled Maintenance

Sustainability

Campus Contacts

Campus Facilities Management/Capital Planning Offices

External Links