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Jay Soneff has spent his career navigating real estate cycles — booms that feel unstoppable and downturns that expose who’s built to last. A third-generation Denver native and longtime commercial real estate operator, Soneff has seen firsthand how markets evolve, how capital moves, and how experience compounds over time.
In this conversation, Bryan Welker sits down with Soneff, chairman and CEO of The Commercial Co-Op, to explore those lessons and the thinking behind a platform built for today’s commercial real estate environment. He’s joined by Marsha Laurienti, the company’s chief financial officer, and Isaiah Mayfield, its sales manager, whose perspectives help contextualize how the platform operates day-to-day and why it was built the way it was. Soneff is also the president of Jamis Companies, a commercial real estate brokerage, and Soneff’s Master Garage, a second-generation classic and vintage American car sales and services business resurrected because of his love of American Muscle cars.
Bryan: I always like to start from the beginning. Where did you grow up, Jay?
Jay: I’m third-generation Denver. I went to Kennedy High School.
Bryan: What was that like — growing up in Denver?
Jay: It was a great experience. I’m a boomer, so people got along. There wasn’t much focus on class or division. I married my elementary school sweetheart — we’ve been married 46 years. I played sports, went to CU on a baseball scholarship, and stayed rooted in the community.
Bryan: You started your own commercial real estate company in the early 1980s. What was Denver like at that moment?
Jay: It was booming. Foreign capital was pouring into downtown — Canadians, Germans, and Chinese investors. I was assembling parcels for developers at prices that were unheard of at the time. Everybody was making money, and everyone thought it would keep going.
Family connections helped. Many of the property owners were legacy families who had owned land for decades and were finally ready to sell. Timing mattered.
Bryan: And then it all turned?
Jay: Oil collapsed in the early ’80s and wiped out downtown Denver and Calgary almost overnight. That was my first real lesson in cycles. Real estate doesn’t only move in one direction.
A lot of people made bad decisions trying to avoid capital gains taxes through 1031 exchanges. They sold great properties just to buy inferior ones. When the market turned, they were stuck with overpriced assets and high taxes. I learned then that if you can’t trade up into a better asset, [it’s better to] pay the tax.
After the downturn, I completed my MBA from the University of Denver in finance and construction management to be better prepared for the US economic cycles.
Bryan: Denver has changed a lot. How do you see the city today?
Jay: I’m concerned. Denver used to be one of the best places in the country to start a business. It isn’t anymore. There’s been a shift away from attracting business toward expanding social services, and the revenue hasn’t kept up. You see it in places like the 16th Street Mall, where leadership allowed it to deteriorate so badly that it eventually failed due to panhandlers and crime. Cities need leadership that understands how businesses actually make money. Leadership needs to ignore the pressure to spend capital on non-revenue-generating programs.
Bryan: Who were the most influential mentors early in your career?
Jay: I had two — really three — fantastic mentors early on. The very day I started selling real estate, I joined a small residential firm where the lead broker was a woman named Pat Richards. She was Realtor of the Year, and she was an incredible teacher. From her, I learned work ethic and the importance of giving superior service.
My second great mentor was Bernard Blecker, who was probably the largest property owner in downtown Denver at the time. He helped me immensely when I was assembling parcels. Bernard taught me that Saturdays and Sundays are workdays — which drives a lot of people crazy when you say it — but more importantly, he taught me how to think ahead. He could look at a block and say, “In two years, this is what’s going to happen here.” He had an instinct for how development fit together. He had that nose for it. I had to learn it.
And my third mentor was my dad. He taught me a good work ethic without becoming a workaholic. We had a great family life, but there was nothing he wasn’t curious about — real estate, cars, business. Business was almost a hobby for him, though I recently read that if something doesn’t make money, it’s a hobby, and if it does, it’s a business. He lived that balance.
Bryan: How did those experiences shape what you look for in people today?
Jay: I trust my team, give them real responsibility, and expect honesty. I look for people who are willing to work, think ahead, and take ownership. That’s how people grow.
Bryan: For someone who’s never heard of The Commercial Co-Op, how would you describe the business?
Mayfield: The Commercial Co-Op is an all-in-one platform for commercial real estate brokers. It’s a unified tool where brokers can list properties, communicate with other brokers, and market their listings — all in one place.
Bryan: Why build this platform now?
Jay: Commercial real estate tech is expensive, fragmented, and — frankly — confusing. Brokers today are forced to juggle five or six different platforms just to do the basics of their job: marketing listings, building offering memorandums and brochures, communicating with other brokers, and analyzing investments.
When people hear “tech,” what we’re really talking about are the core tools a broker needs to operate professionally. First and foremost, you have to market your listings. That’s always priority number one. Then you need the ability to build high-quality marketing materials. And increasingly, as the industry has become more sophisticated, you need to be able to properly analyze a real estate investment to compare alternative properties.
Most brokers — and I’m not knocking them, because for a long time the market allowed this — don’t spend enough time truly understanding the investment side of what they’re selling. When the market was strong, you could slide. Over the last couple of years, that’s no longer the case. There are fewer brokers making money, fewer deals happening, and survival now depends on who’s willing to work harder and be more disciplined.
Marsha and I built The Commercial Co-Op because we were living this problem ourselves as brokers. We wanted one unified platform that forces a higher level of professionalism — one that requires brokers to actually understand what they’re presenting to clients. That benefits the broker, but more importantly, it benefits the client.
Bryan: Who is this platform built for?
Jay: The industry has changed. You have traditional commercial brokers, residential brokers, and then a growing group of hybrids — residential brokers who are doing some commercial work just to survive. Very few full-time commercial brokers are doing residential, but a lot of residential brokers are dabbling in commercial, and they simply can’t afford the tools that full-time commercial shops use.
The Commercial Co-Op fills that gap. At our price point, it allows residential or hybrid brokers to operate more professionally in the commercial world without having to spend thousands of dollars a month on tech.
Bryan: Marsha, how does this actually work on the cost side?
Laurienti: Most brokers are currently paying close to $2,000 a month across multiple platforms just to do the bare minimum. They’re entering the same listing information over and over again into different systems.
Our platform combines what most agents are already using — five or six different tools — into one system. You enter your information once, and it feeds everything: marketing, analysis, communication, and reporting. It’s a subscription model that starts around $149 a month, and brokers can choose only the components they need. Larger firms might only want the message board or brochure builder. Others want the full platform.
Bryan: And there’s a teaching element built into this as well.
Jay: That part is critical. One of the things I’m most proud of is the financial calculator we built into the platform. It forces brokers — especially younger brokers — to understand how an investment actually works. As they’re entering the data, they’re learning how to think about cash flow, returns, and long-term value.
The platform also has a forecasting tool so the broker can analyze the potential upside of the property. It shifts the mindset to building a long-term relationship with a client by actually understanding the asset so well that the broker can give valuable advice, too.
Right now, the brokers who are going to survive are the ones who work harder, think deeper, and offer real value. The Commercial Co-Op isn’t about shortcuts. It’s about raising the standard and giving brokers the tools they need to do this work the right way, and it is affordable.
Bryan: Final question. What advice would you give a young entrepreneur today?
Jay: Number one, your personal life has to be solid — business will test it. And number two, you have to believe in what you’re building and be willing to push through any setback. And honesty matters; people can see if you’re not being authentic.
Markets rise and fall. Cities change. What endures are the people who’ve learned how to read cycles, resist shortcuts, and build systems that last beyond a single market moment. Jay Soneff’s career — and the strategy behind The Commercial Co-Op — reflects a belief that professionalism, discipline, and patience still matter.
Bryan Welker lives and breathes business and marketing in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. He is President, Co-founder, and CRO of WDR Aspen, a boutique marketing agency that develops tailored marketing solutions. Who should we interview next? Reach out and let us know bryan@wdraspen.com.