International Women’s Day Spotlight: Jaimee Keene

Meet the accomplished commercial real estate professional who is breaking barriers and making strides in the industry: Jaimee Keene, Vice-President & Commercial Real Estate Broker at Benchmark Commercial.

With over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate, she has become a trusted advisor to investors, owners, and developers in the field. Jaimee specializes in investment-grade commercial real estate and medical real estate, and her work includes commercial real estate brokerage, acquisitions, dispositions, commercial appraisals, and commercial tax appeals. Her expertise has been used in connection with dispositions, financing, lending, lease negotiations, property disputes, purchase negotiations, property tax appeals, and litigation, and she is even qualified as an expert witness in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

As a graduate of an MBA program and a licensed commercial broker and appraiser, she earned the MAI designation from The Appraisal Institute earlier in her career. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed, as she was named Avison Young’s top performing broker in Colorado in 2020 and nominated as a “Woman of Influence” by CREW Denver in 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Beyond her impressive accomplishments in the industry, Jaimee is also an avid outdoor enthusiast who takes full advantage of Colorado’s active lifestyle. She loves golf, back-country skiing, hiking, camping, and mountain biking. In fact, she has even competed in three Ironman 70.3 events as her team’s relay cyclist and participated in her first mountain bike race at the Vail GoPro games in 2019. She has also coordinated industry rides with colleagues and peers in the commercial real estate space and organized a semi-annual Bikes and Brews event for colleagues and industry partners in Commercial Real Estate.

As a woman in a male-dominated industry, she has faced her fair share of challenges, and was questioned about her competence during meetings early on in her career. However, Jaimee used these experiences to further grow as a professional “ I used that as fuel to ensure I could speak intelligently about commercial properties, and kept myself informed on the market so that I could quickly dispel any notion that I wasn’t qualified to do my job”, says Jaimee. 

When asked about the qualities essential for success in commercial real estate, Jaimee emphasizes the importance of natural curiosity and paying attention to what is happening in the market. She also advises women interested in the field to find a good mentor and not be afraid to push themselves out of their comfort zone.

Looking towards the future, Jaimee hopes the industry will embrace technology and sees opportunities for technological disruptors to bring efficiencies to real estate holdings, and has embraced the online auction process as a disruptor in the commercial real estate industry. She is also dedicated to giving back to her community and has volunteered as a mentor for CREW Denver for three years, helping young women as they begin their real estate careers.