Erie selects Evergreen Devco to partner on 50-acre retail center

ERIE — The town of Erie’s urban renewal authority on Tuesday said it will provide tax-increment financing to Phoenix-based Evergreen Devco Inc. to develop a retail center at the intersection of U.S. Highway 287 and Arapahoe Road.

Through tax-increment financing, municipalities can dedicate future tax revenue of a particular business or group of businesses toward an economic-development project.

The majority of the approximately 50-acre site is located at the southeast corner of Arapahoe Road and U.S. Highway 287, with an approximately six-acre portion located on the southwest corner of the intersection.

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The town envisions a retail center suitable for large retailers, along with smaller support retailers, services and restaurants.

Principal Tyler Carlson of Evergreen’s office in Denver will lead the project.

Evergreen, which has an office in Denver, has a 40-year history of developing shopping centers, single-tenant commercial, multifamily and single-family projects and provides property management, asset management and consulting services.

Erie’s board of trustees approved the Highway 287 Urban Renewal Area Plan that includes tax-increment financing for the developer. By establishing the plan, Erie’s urban renewal authority — made up of the town’s board of trustees — will assist in improving and completing infrastructure, and advancing private investment within its boundaries.

Colorado law gives cities and towns the right to form urban renewal authorities, which empowers them with certain tools, including eminent domain and tax-increment financing, to encourage economic vitality and improve the public safety with a project’s area.

Erie’s urban renewal authority is also assisting in the development of two other retail projects.

The 20-acre King Soopers at Vista Ridge Marketplace shopping center at the corner of Colorado Highway 7 and Sheridan Avenue will be anchored by a 125,000-square-foot grocery store and gas station. It is scheduled to open in fall 2016.

Erie envisions Four Corners, a 45-acre mixed-use development on vacant land, to include a variety of housing options and about 15 acres of commercial space. The area to be developed is bordered by the Erie Parkway to the north, County Line Road to the east, Austin Avenue to the south and existing homes to the west.