Durango BID Board of Directors - Bob Allen

Bob Allen

If Downtown Durango were ever to select a proverbial dream team, Bob Allen would be one of the first called. Arguably, no one in the region has more statistical knowledge of Durango (either in his brain or at his fingertips) than this commercial appraiser who maintains a passion about sustaining Durango’s Historic Downtown.

Bob arrived in Durango in 1981, straight from college in Central New York, first working for his brother, an engineer, but soon moving on to apprentice for a local real estate appraiser, Troy Lewis. At the time, most appraisers learned on the job – and for Bob, it was the start of a substantive career.

By 1989, with no business to speak of on the books, Lewis sold his firm to what Bob admits “were the last guys standing in the office,” and that was the beginning of Allen & Associates.

Today one of the most well-known commercial appraisers around, Bob is also essentially the go-to guy for real estate and economic information. He is the keeper of the data, the one-stop resource for what’s going on in the county and where the dollars are falling, trending or otherwise making themselves known around town.

Bob lays claim to perhaps the most comprehensive real estate database in the county, amassed over the decades. Annually he provides a regional trends analysis as a public forum for the Wells Group, but individuals and businesses (including all that even peripherally need to keep abreast of the local markets) also subscribe for a monthly on-line update (www.laplatainfo.com).

With much real estate speculation going on in the region, and many new folks coming to town and looking for investment, Allen & Associates can provide the information not easily or otherwise available. Bob may not always tell everyone exactly what they want to hear, but given Bob’s longevity, connections and analytical ability, one would have to look long and hard for better advice.

“I think in the end, people come to me because they know they’re going to get a straight answer,” says Bob of both his commercial appraisal and consulting services. “People want you to see it high. People want you to see it low. I try to be blind to that… I call it like I see it.”