North Greeley jigsaw begins to fit together

Land acquisition and development potential for 1,200 acres of agriculture land north of Greeley has been like fitting together a giant jigsaw puzzle. It’s taken time, patience and the right players.

And now it’s all starting to come together, although it will still be some time down the road before the casual observer will notice much of anything is different.

The land was all part of the former Monfort beef empire, which was acquired by Swift & Co. when it bought out ConAgra in 1987.

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New landowners include Greeley Land Fund LLC; Ed Orr, owner of Orr Land Co.; Seeley Lake resident Brad Keirnes, and New Hope Christian Church.

Bernie Blach, CCIM broker with Realtec Inc. in Greeley, said development of the acreage provides an opportunity for Greeley, now long and narrow, to spread out and create greater efficiencies in utilities and transportation and land mass. It also “creates opportunity for development closer to (U.S.) Highway 85.”

Commitments for the land came somewhat rapidly, according to Blach, whose company oversaw the transactions. But the process slowed when “various issues came up that were beyond the control of buyer or seller. We just had to work through them to the point where everybody felt comfortable to close.”

The final piece, or parcel, to complete the puzzle’s outline will fall into place mid-September when Greeley Land Fund LLC closes on 190 acres. This will bring its total holdings to 690 acres, all of which sit north of O Street and on both sides of Weld County Road 37.

“When the acquisition is finished, our intention is to sit down with the city of Greeley and talk about annexation,´ said Tim McKenna, property manager for Greeley Land Fund. “We are thinking it will be a mixed-use piece with mostly residential with some commercial and some retail. How much and the balance we don’t know yet.”

McKenna said the group of investors in Greeley Land Fund, an offshoot of Contrarian Investors LLC headquartered in Colorado Springs, is “excited about what is going on in Northern Colorado generally and Greeley specifically. When this opportunity came up, it sort of fit our criteria to become involved in a large project in Northern Colorado.”

Orr’s 400 acres – south of Colorado Highway 392 between Weld County Roads 35 and 33 – is to the north of Greeley Land Fund’s. “Until that breaks open a little bit, it’ll be harder for our holdings to ripen,” McKenna said. “We’re in a posture where we’re glad to be in a holding pattern.”

First to be developed

In the meantime, the one portion of that parcel Orr thought would be the last to be developed is actually becoming the first. Weld County has signed off on plans for a 65-acre, nine-lot, high-end development surrounding a water recharge facility.

“We partnered with Cache Irrigation Co. and their augmentation company,” Orr said. The 12-acre lake with depths up to 15 feet will serve to recharge the Poudre River, which in turn will benefit agricultural well owners.

Orr said lot size will start at 2.5 acres and homeowners will have recreational rights to the lake. Dirt – all 250,000 yards of it – will start moving for both the lake and residential lots this fall with street paving in spring 2007.

Keirnes originally acquired the Seeley Lake farm from Swift for the purpose of controlling “our backyard and our own views as Seeley Lake residents. That objective has not changed.”

However, he explained, “in the past 24 months, we have received approvals from Weld County to create a couple of recorded exemption parcels consisting of approximately six acres each, which we intend to market in the very near future.”

Last spring Keirnes rezoned 63 acres of the original 220 acres to develop and market an upscale gated neighborhood consisting of 24 1.75-acre lots on the northeast portion of the property adjacent to Weld County Road 35. That PUD project, known as Eagle View Farms, will be developed and brought to market within coming months.

“At this time, our plans are for the balance of the property to continue to be farmed by family friends for the foreseeable future,” Keirnes said.

Sanctuary needed

In April 2004, New Hope Christian Fellowship, formerly the Greeley Assembly of God Church, moved into the former Monfort headquarters buildings on AA Street. The church owns 21 adjoining acres.

Carmen Magana, wife of senior pastor Rigo Magana, said the space in the three buildings has allowed them to open New Hope Academy, a Christian school for kindergarten through ninth grades, start a youth center and have plenty of room for parking.

“The disadvantage is there is no sanctuary,” she said.

The previous church building at 21st Avenue and Sixth Street could seat up to 600, Magana said. The current facility can accommodate 300 at one time.

Although a new sanctuary is on the wish list for the church, it first had to channel building funds to add fire sprinklers in all three buildings and to bring in a water line. The new sanctuary, when built, will be added to the west side of the main two-story building.