The top brokers handled a record $1.1 billion in transactions last year. For comparison, that is more than the total sales of all commercial properties sold by all brokers in the Denver-area a decade ago. It wasn't until 1997 that all sales in the metro area topped $1 billion. The Heavy Hitters numbers would have been even higher for 2005, but CB Richard Ellis is no longer a member of Dmcar, and didn't participate in the competition.

Rich Calhoun, who heads the Denver office of CB Richard Ellis, says Dmcar provides more benefits for smaller companies than large ones. "We no longer belong to Dmcar for a number of reasons," Calhoun tells GlobeSt.com. "It does not make a whole lot of financial sense for us. They offer education programs, but we have our own professional education in-house and our own education budget."

Marc Lippitt, principal of Denver-based Unique Properties, and the current president of the Dmcar board, tells GlobeStcom he thinks all commercial real estate brokerage firms should belong to Dmcar. "They get a lot of benefits," Lippitt says. "I'm told we're the biggest commercial real estate chapter in the country. We have about 2,000 members. I didn't know that until I was named president. I would have thought it would be a city bigger than Denver."