Prescriptive isn’t productive.

We’re a nationally preferred partner because our strategies are custom-built and always evolving. By acknowledging that flexibility is as necessary as familiarity, we have the opportunity to be calculated risk-takers, visionary pragmatists, and more than anything, people who listen.

We're the opposite of global.

We dedicate ourselves to situations and relationships that aren’t fulfilled by a factory model approach.

When the only strategy we’re tethered to is getting the best results for our clients, we’re empowered to take a less obvious path to achieving alpha. What does the less obvious approach look like? High-teens IRR during the last 18 years across dozens of realized investments, for starters. Also: record-setting deals, forward-thinking developments, and cutting-edge transformations.

Meet our chief investment officer

Headshot of Ned CarnerOver the last decade, Ned Carner has been behind several of Unico’s jaw-dropping moments — and not just as the unofficial office prankster. From saving a deal by collateralizing a client’s bronze moose statue to masterminding the biggest transaction in Boulder’s history, Ned has found inspiration in the unlikely and continues to shows us that creativity is the by-product of turning turning no into yes.

Click here to learn more about Ned or get in touch with him about investing with Unico; you’ll have to ask him about heli-skiing and train car ownership in person, though.

 

 

We don’t follow markets – we lead them.

We buy and build in vibrant cities that appeal to today’s well-educated employees seeking a high quality of life with a low cost of living, and culturally rich, 24-hour urban experiences with strong transit and pedestrian access to keep it all connected. These qualities attract innovative employers from leading industries offering competitive salaries, and feature positive migration trends and growth rates that outperform national averages.

Our team understands the intricacies and opportunities within these markets because we’ve owned, operated, and constructed in them for years.

Aerial view of the downtown Seattle waterfront
An aerial view of Portland at sunrise
Denver's downtown streets and skyline lights up the dark sky
Austin's cityscape, including the Congress Avenue Bridge
Aerial view of downtown Boulder and the Rocky Mountains, with Pearl Street Mall and the CU Boulder campus visible.

Seattle, Wash.

A dynamic, 24-hour coastal gateway city, Seattle is reputed as one of the most desirable metropolitan areas in the United States. Seattle’s strong fundamentals with high barriers to entry and robust economic base support its status as one of the leading investment markets in the nation. The city consistently ranks as one of the best United States cities for business due to its skilled workforce, Pacific Rim location with excellent port facilities, quality transportation infrastructure, world class educational and research institutions, and overall exceptional quality of life.

Many internationally recognized companies are headquartered in the Seattle, including Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, Costco, Expedia, Nordstrom, Zillow, and Weyerhaeuser.

Headquartered in Seattle, Unico built a legacy over six decades as one of the city’s premier owner, manager and developers. With a 6.6 million square foot portfolio and multiple active development projects, it’s hard to miss our work.

Portland, Ore.

The fifth largest city on the west coast and the largest population center between San Francisco and Seattle, Portland is reputed for its livability, nationally-recognized transit system, and status as one of the “greenest” cities in the United States. Historically one of the most stable office markets in the nation, Portland’s office sector benefits from a diverse economy and city-imposed urban growth boundary which contributes to significant supply barriers. Portland’s economy is based in the technology, healthcare, manufacturing, timber, and consumer goods industries.

Unico has been a major participant in Portland commercial real estate since 2000, when we first invested in the landmark U.S. Bancorp Tower. Through acquisitions, development and third-party management assignments, our footprint has grown to encompass more than 3.3 million square feet of office, flex, and mixed-use properties.

Notable employers include Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Lattice Semiconductor, Tektronix, and Xerox among many others. Home to the headquarters of Nike, Columbia Sportswear, and Adidas North America.

Denver, Colo.

Denver is one of most significant business centers in the Mountain West United, serving as a hub the area’s hub of employment, commerce, and culture. The local economy is led by the aerospace, bioscience, technology, and financial services industries in addition to the energy sector, which is seeing new growth from alternative sources such as wind and solar.

Situated at the base of the Rocky Mountains, Denver matches its vibrant urban experience with some of the finest and most accessible year-round recreational activities in the world. Over 11 years, Unico has amassed a portfolio of 3.4 million square feet throughout the city and nearby Boulder.

As Colorado’s capital, Denver is home to both state and local governments and draws from an employment base headlined by ten Fortune 500 companies that include DaVita Healthcare, Ball Corporation, CH2M Hill, Level3 Communications, Newmont Mining, and Liberty Media.

Austin, Texas

The state capital of Texas, Austin is home to the University of Texas flagship campus and supports a lively music scene and easy access to outdoor activities. The city plays host to the annual South by Southwest festival, a film, media, and music festival that highlights the city’s youthful vibrancy and overall quality of life.

Austin has become a major destination for technology and expanding businesses, due to the convergence of several factors. Texas, with no state income tax, offers one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation, affording businesses and employees a lower cost of living. The populace skews young and educated, bolstered by the University of Texas at Austin and an additional 50 institutions of higher learning within 100 miles, making for a highly desirable talent base.

Between its homegrown tech firms and the “Silicon Hills,” Austin manages to create STEM jobs at a higher rate than both California and New York. The city boasts homegrown companies such as Dell, Freescale Semiconductor, National Instruments, and Flextronics International. In addition to attracting over 100 corporate relocations since 2015, Austin was ranked as the #1 place in America to start a business by Forbes in 2016. The city’s economic demand drivers and high quality of life create a vibrant and desirable place to live and work.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is Utah’s capital and largest city. With mountains to one side and the Great Salt Lake to the other, the city couples the perks of a major city with the hospitality and recreational access of a mountain town. Anchored by the University of Utah and Brigham Young University, Salt Lake is Utah’s economic hub.

The city’s prosperity is driven by strong job growth in the technology, financial services, healthcare, and leisure and hospitality sectors. Companies are attracted to the area’s well-educated workforce – Salt Lake’s rate of Bachelor’s degree attainment is 28% higher than the rest of the nation – and lower cost of doing business. The broad spread of job growth also insulates the city from sudden economic downturns.

Salt Lake’s ease of doing business has attracted the eye of significant national employers such as Google, Adobe, Goldman Sachs, and L-3 Technologies, while the city’s recreational amenities, low cost of living, and strong public transit system make the area a popular place to live.

Boulder, Colo.

Part of the Denver metropolitan area, Boulder is an affluent suburb nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northern Colorado. Home of the University of Colorado, Boulder enjoys over 300 days of sunshine per year and an unmatched 45,000 acres of city-owned open space that effectively encompasses the whole city.

CU Boulder is one of the nation’s leading federally funded research institutions, and accordingly the city also plays host to a number of national research laboratories such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The city’s high educational attainment and overall quality of life afford it an unusual degree of prosperity and stability – Boulder is the most affluent medium-sized city in the nation – that is attractive to major employers. IBM, Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm, Amgen, Google, and Microsoft all maintain significant presences in the area in order to access its talent pool.