Del Camino?s popularity on the rise

DEL CAMINO — Mike Childs wasn?t headed for the Del Camino area when he decided to move his business out of Boulder, but the right facility at the right price proved a powerful draw.
Since relocating his High Country Millwork in November 2003 to the burgeoning business enclave east of Longmont on Interstate 25, Childs has found other benefits to his new location.
?We weren?t specifically looking to move to the Del Camino area, although we had intended to move along the I-25 corridor somewhere,? Childs said. ?This particular location is fantastic because it really is about halfway between Fort Collins and Denver. It?s just about a half-hour-drive either way.?
That allows Childs to tap a work force that is willing to commute along the interstate corridor. ?We found people were resistant to driving to Boulder from Denver.?
Boulder, he observed, is not on the way to anywhere. ?Boulder is beautiful, but the rents are getting higher, taxes are definitely higher and continue to be on the rise.?

Business-friendly atmosphere
Del Camino in unincorporated Weld County, on the other hand, offers lower costs and a business-friendly atmosphere. ?Weld County was fantastic as far as working with the building department. We had to do some pretty extensive work to the building to make it work for us,? Childs said.
Childs purchased an 87,000-square-foot building on the former Flextronics campus in Del Camino.
High Country Millwork, which was founded in Boulder as High Country Furniture about 35 years ago, makes high-end commercial fixtures. Focused primarily on fixtures for retailers such as Neiman-Marcus, the company also produces restaurant millwork packages for upscale eateries such as PF Chang?s and Ted?s Montana Grill.
Flextronics? exodus from its 200,000-plus-square-foot facility in the Del Camino area more than a year ago was visible evidence of a slowdown for the once-booming business area. A sluggish economy and more competition from business locations elsewhere along the I-25 corridor contributed to that slowdown.
But the pace is beginning to quicken, real estate experts say, and Del Camino?s location and lower costs are again a draw.
?We?re seeing more activity in general and more activity looking toward the I-25 corridor,? said Keith Kanemoto, broker/associate for Prudential LTM Realtors in Longmont. Kanemoto?s father, Ed, also with Prudential, developed Del Camino Center at 9900 I-25 Frontage Road east of the Interstate and the adjacent Del Camino Center South. The two business parks are 67 and 77 acres respectively and are home to a variety of business locations.
Most are corporate headquarters, Kanemoto said, and feature manufacturing and distribution activities. Specialty Products, TSN Inc., Applied Films Corp., Gerard?s French Bakery and Sopris West all make their homes in Del Camino Center business parks.
Del Camino Center, the original development, is built out, Kanemoto said, although it offers some leasing opportunities for flex and warehouse space. Del Camino Center South, meanwhile, offers 48 still-undeveloped acres.

Different business draw
Tim Callahan, with Bitzer Real Estate Partners, which markets the Flextronics property, said the I-25 corridor east of Longmont tends to draw a different type of business than those interested in west Longmont locations.
?The Maxtors of the world, the Seagates, the technology companies that have relied on a labor force coming out of Boulder have been unwilling to look at east Longmont, Del Camino and the Highway 119/I-25 corridor,? he said.
John Cody, president and CEO of the Longmont Area Economic Council, noted that some advanced technology companies find it important to be in Boulder County.
They require, among other things, proximity to the University of Colorado and other high-tech neighbors such as IBM Corp.
Del Camino offers businesses an alternative to an urban setting but access to urban amenities, Cody said. ?There continues to be growth among the primary employers out there,? he said.
He ticked off a few: ?Peak Industries has expanded recently, and I think they continue to be in a growth mode. Star Precision expanded last year and opened a new facility, and they?ve already filled that space.?
With new hotel facilities and the Southwest Weld County Services Complex in place at Del Camino and a Longmont United Hospital expansion planned east of the interstate at Firestone in the works, Del Camino is likely to experience continued growth.
Prudential Realty?s Ken Kanemoto said businesses interested in Del Camino are looking for the high exposure the area offers. ?There is a lot of traffic that goes right by there,? he said. ?There are a lot of rooftops being built and planned to be built in that area.?
Kanemoto?s Del Camino Junction business park on the northeast corner of 119 and I-25 is home to Richmond Homes offices, a Best Western Hotel and St. Vrain Sanitation District headquarters, among others. A financial-services institution and multitenant retail are on the way.
About 13 lots in the approximately 40-acre business park remain, Kanemoto said.
JR Bitzer of Bitzer Real Estate Partners said negotiations are under way with a possible tenant interested in a short-term lease on the remaining Flextronics building. The facility has approximately 130,000 square feet of light manufacturing and office space.
Retail development pending elsewhere in the area could serve to spark business development at Del Camino, Callahan said. He cited retail developments planned at the junction of E-470 and I-25 and Colorado Highway 7 and I-25 to the south, and U.S. 34 and I-25 to the north.
The ripples of development likely to spread outward from those centers could encompass the enclave east of Longmont.
Retail development in the region should help to remedy what Mike Childs called the only downside to his Del Camino location: ?no good restaurants.?

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