Team
An Awesome Company
A small team, deliberately. Decades of construction, development, design, and finance experience, with every discipline a project needs sitting at the same table.
Ben McFerron
Partner, Developer
Ben co-founded Premier Roofing Company in 2005 and spent fifteen years building it into a national industry leader, expanding across thirteen states, employing more than eight hundred full-time and contract workers, and generating over eighty million dollars in annual revenue.
After selling Premier Roofing in 2020 he moved to Thrive full-time, bringing that operating discipline to strategic real estate investment and development. He and Reid have completed more than twenty projects together in the Denver market since 2010.
His development philosophy is consistent and unglamorous: A+ locations, high-quality construction, and assets built to hold their value for decades.
Reid Goolsby
Partner, Developer
Reid has spent nearly two decades in residential construction and development. He began at Oakwood Homes, contributing to the completion of over five hundred single-family homes while managing purchasing operations and warranty services across Green Valley Ranch, The Meadows, and Thompson River Ranch.
In 2009 he founded Sloan Building Co., serving as a licensed General Contractor in Denver and surrounding municipalities and managing more than twenty infill projects across North Denver. He has run the trades himself, which is why nothing gets waved through on a Thrive site.
A partner at Thrive since 2019, he focuses on urban residential and multi-family projects where design and long-term value come first.
Jeff Ayres
Vice President of Development
Jeff co-founded Denver Design Build in 2010 and grew it into a recognized leader in the industry. Under his leadership the firm was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in 2016 and 2017, and to Colorado Biz's Top Private Companies list five years running.
After nine years as CEO he led the company's acquisition by Dohn Construction in 2019, then served there as Director of Business Development, managing preconstruction, estimating, and business strategy across a much larger operation.
He joined Thrive in 2023, where he expands the project pipeline, sharpens construction process, and holds the line on execution from bid through closeout.
Crystal Russell
Design Director
Crystal is a designer, entrepreneur, and respected creative leader in Denver's design industry, with more than fifteen years in interior and architectural design spanning single-home renovations to large-scale commercial work.
In 2013 she founded TVL Creative, a residential design and build firm known for its approachable, psychology-driven philosophy. Under her leadership TVL grew into a five-million-dollar company and earned recognition in more than fifteen publications, including Colorado Homes & Lifestyles' 5 Under 40, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Modern in Denver.
She joined Thrive full-time in 2023 and now leads design across every project, along with the creative direction that carries each property from concept to market.
Chris Murdy
Development & Construction Management
Chris has run every phase of development, from identifying the site through handing the finished building to operations. That full-cycle view means problems get caught at the stage where they are still inexpensive to solve.
Before Thrive he served as Managing Director of Real Estate for a family office, overseeing more than half a billion dollars of ground-up work across multifamily, office, and senior living, and answering to investors for every dollar of it.
At Thrive he manages contracts, construction administration, and the bank draw process, keeping the financial and physical sides of a project moving in step.
Collective experience
A small team with an unusually deep bench.
Construction
A licensed General Contractor's judgment on site, behind more than twenty Denver infill projects and two decades of residential building. We have run the trades ourselves, so nothing gets waved through.
Development & capital
Land, entitlement, and the pro forma, plus more than half a billion dollars of ground-up work across multifamily, office, and senior living. Contracts and bank draws are handled in house.
Design
Interior and architectural direction under the same roof, from first sketch through final specification, applied to every project we build.
Brand & marketing
Professional brand development and marketing capability in house. Some projects we brand ourselves and some we hand to a partner, but every one gets informed creative direction and keeps its intent intact from concept through to the sign on the door.
Building companies
Companies founded, scaled, and sold, with Inc. 5000 listings between them. We know what it takes to make an operation last, and we build that same durability into the buildings.
Strategy
Every project starts with a commercial question, not an aesthetic one: who is this for, what will it be worth in twenty years, and what does the neighborhood actually need from this corner.
