We have an exciting and yet somewhat somber transition to share with you. Kent Darr, our senior staff writer of 11 years and the man who has been bringing you your CRE weekly e-newsletter, will be retiring on May 24. 

While we will certainly miss Kent’s fantastic writing, reporting and knowledgeable coverage of the development community, he was gracious enough to provide us with plenty of notice, which gave us the runway to work to replace him with the highest-quality reporter.

As a result, we have hired Kathy Bolten, an exceptionally experienced and talented reporter who joins us after nearly 40 years working as reporter at the Des Moines Register. Her first day will be Monday, and her primary focus will be the commercial real estate beat.

Kathy has covered anything and everything in her career as both a reporter and editor, including education, real estate and business. She has made a career out of writing the types of in-depth, nuanced stories that make a difference in the community, and we are fortunate to be able to plug in not only a talented reporter, but someone with depth and understanding of this community.

Kathy went to East High, is a Drake University graduate and currently lives in Pleasant Hill with her husband. She loves to bike, is a Chicago Cubs fan, and is looking forward to covering the many ways real estate and development are transforming our community. 

I’m excited to have you meet her, she’s ready to meet you, and I look forward to the type of sophisticated coverage she will bring for you. You can view Kathy’s LinkedIn profile here, and she can be reached at kathybolten@bpcdm.com.  

If you are attending the CRE Trends and Issues Forum on Thursday, be on the lookout for both Kathy and Kent, to both welcome Kathy, and thank Kent for all he has done to cover and chronicle the immense growth of the our city during the past decade.