Greeley develops revitalization plan

The Greeley Downtown Development Authority has come up with a big plan to help revitalize the city’s long-struggling downtown, including ideas aimed at better linking the area to the University of Northern Colorado.

Foremost among the steps in the plan is the establishment and expansion of a variety of financial initiatives designed to give retailers and others a leg up.

These ideas include lease relief, which would provide staggered payment terms negotiated between the property and business owner that would allow for lower rent at the beginning of the lease period, with a provision to repay any forgiven or reduced rent as the lease period progresses.

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Another option is a DDA-backed revolving loan fund that could provide low-interest loans with flexible terms to new businesses or existing businesses that want to upgrade or expand their offerings.

The DDA has an economic development committee devoted to finding new businesses and bringing them to the area.

Although the post-recession economy is adding jobs slowly, DDA Executive Director Pam Bricker said there are already signs of growing interest in downtown Greeley.

“There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t talk to someone who is interested in bringing their business down here,” she said.

Several new businesses and restaurants have opened in the downtown district over the past year or so, including clothing and shoe stores, a yogurt store and a vodka distillery.

The DDA is looking for candidates with proven track records who might be interested in opening new locations.

“We really like the independent business owner,” Bricker said.

Bricker presented the DDA’s plans at a community meeting Thursday night at Zoe’s Café in Greeley.

The plans are based on the results of a survey and study completed earlier this year to determine how best to capitalize on the business and cultural assets of downtown Greeley.

The study was conducted by Denver-based Progressive Urban Management Associates, focusing on the area between 3rd and 18th Streets and 5th and 12th Avenues.

The strategy proposed by the PUMA study stressed the importance of embracing the UNC community, which includes more than 12,000 students and 1,600 faculty and staff and whose campus backs right up to the DDA’s survey area.

The plan emphasizes the benefits that could come with marketing Greeley as a college town, rather than a “town with a college in it.”

According to the study, national statistics show that the average student spends $360 per month in discretionary income, creating a huge potential market for businesses located downtown, just a few blocks from the center of UNC’s campus.

In addition to student spending, UNC faculty and staff generate an annual payroll of more than $100 million.

UNC and Greeley have long co-existed to a degree, but have expressed interest in becoming more involved with each other in recent years, Bricker said.

“The students want to explore the community and the community wants to embrace the students,” Bricker said.

Tremendous potential exists if downtown can become more student-friendly, she said.

Also included in the plan are dining and entertainment incentive zones meant to increase the number of retail shops and restaurants in the area. The proposed zone would encompass the area between 8th and 10th Avenues and 7th to 9th Streets.

Incentives in the zone would include expedited development review and permitting by the city.

The city also could be more flexible about rules regarding outdoor seating and other issues associated with restaurants, retail and entertainment venues.

To give visitors to the downtown area a place to stay, Bricker said she is working to lure a hotel to the downtown area. There is a major hotel chain interested in a location in downtown Greeley, Bricker said, but she declined to disclose details.
Multi-family housing will also be a big part of revitalizing downtown.

“It is critical that we offer attractive housing options near downtown,” Bricker said. “Visitors and residents of other parts of Greeley will be important to downtown’s growth, but the people who live just down the street are where the majority of the business will come from.”

Bricker also said that there are plans in the works to change the sometimes negative perception of Greeley.

“It is hard to change perceptions, but we’re looking at a whole new marketing plan to get people down here,” she said. “But that really is the trick. We have to get folks to come down and see what’s new and what’s changed in order to change anyone’s mind about Greeley.”