Groundbreaking held at Depot Square

BOULDER – With construction noise buzzing in the background, developers of the Depot Square mixed-use project held an official groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 19.

As part of the larger Boulder Junction area at the northeast corner of 30th and Pearl streets, Depot Square is a $50 million to $55 million development that will include a 140-room Hyatt Place Hotel, a bus rapid transit station, 71 permanently affordable apartments and a five-level parking structure built around the historic depot building, which will house a restaurant.

Scott Pedersen of Boulder-based Pedersen Development Co. told a crowd of about 150 gathered for the groundbreaking that the project is slated for completion in 18 months.

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Pedersen has been working on getting the project going for about three years. Other than the hotel, he said, he didn’t yet have any tenants to announce.

“Now that we’ve started construction and have a delivery date, our marketing effort can come back into focus,” Pederson said.

The project is part of a joint effort between the city of Boulder and the Regional Transportation District to create a transit area that incorporates a mix of uses, including a large affordable-housing component. Land to the west of Depot Square, where Pollard Motors sits now, will someday consist primarily of affordable housing.

The Boulder Junction area has been eyed by the city for at least two decades, said Susan Osborne, former Boulder mayor, as she addressed the crowd at the groundbreaking, and the current plan is a far cry from consultants’ early ideas that included a large surface-level parking lot with a simple bus turnaround. The new bus station will be a six-bay station located completely underground in the Depot Square development below the parking structure.

“We’re really proud of it,” current Boulder Mayor Matt Appelbaum told the crowd. “It took a really strong and committed partnership to pull this off.”

INDOOR SPORTS: Boulder Indoor Soccer Holdings closed recently on about 2.8 acres of vacant land at 3203 Pearl Parkway in Boulder for $1.5 million.

Peter Ambrose, a partner in the venture, confirmed the deal, but the co-owner of Boulder Indoor Soccer Inc. declined to discuss plans for the property in detail.

Boulder Indoor Soccer is building an 18,000-square-foot facility in Longmont that is scheduled to open by the end of September. The company has been eyeing expansion in Boulder. BIS has about 11,000 square feet at its facility at 2845 29th St. in Boulder.

John Koval, of Way Cool Properties and Coburn Development, represented the buyers. John Beaupre of Re/Max Northwest and Scott Rose of Scott Rose and Associates represented the seller, Denver-based The Sherman Agency Inc.

“The plans for the land are to be determined in the very near future,” Ambrose said. “We’re going to change the face of indoor athletics in Boulder.

The property sits at the heart of Boulder’s current redevelopment activity, just across the railroad tracks and to the east of the Depot Square development. Goose Creek runs along the north edge of the property.

BLOCKBUSTER EXITS: The Blockbuster video rental store at 3135 28th St. in Boulder has yet to shut its doors, but the building’s owner believes he’ll have no problem filling the space by the first of the year.

The store will close Oct. 20, according to a store official, as Blockbuster owner Dish Network Corp., continues to shutter stores nationwide.

Landlord Stephen Tebo, owner of Tebo Development Co., said he’s already had serious interest from a retail chain and a bank in the end-cap location, which is next door to Tebo Plaza near the intersection of 28th Street and Glenwood Avenue.

“There isn’t a lot of space available along 28th with that type of visibility,” Tebo said.

The store in Boulder is one of two Blockbuster stores remaining in Boulder County, with the other located at 1751 Hover St., in Longmont.

SWIM SHOP MOVES: Colorado Swim Shop LLC has moved to a 1,100-square-foot space in The Village Shopping Center at 2525 Arapahoe Ave.

Lease terms were not disclosed for the space, which is between The Joint chiropractic office and The Cheese Course gourmet cheese store. The swimsuit and accessories store formerly was at 1738 Pearl St. A Colorado Swim Shop representative was not immediately available for comment about the move, which happened in July.

Gart Properties LLC handled the five-year, two-month lease. Gart owns and manages the shopping center, which is 99 percent leased, said Christine Warren, a Gart representative. Hunter Barto of Dean Callan & Co. Inc. represented the tenant.

DENVER

BUILDING CERTIFIED: The Petroleum Building in downtown Denver has been awarded LEED Silver certification from the United States Green Building Guild.

The 198,000-square-foot building is owned by developers Tim Borst and Lou DellaCava of Boulder.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certifications are awarded to buildings based on commitment to energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. The four levels of certification are certified, silver, gold and platinum.

The Petroleum Building’s owners have invested more than $1.5 million in energy efficiency upgrades over the past two years, according to a press release. Those measures include the installation of high-efficiency natural gas boilers, offsetting 75 percent of its electricity use with wind power, and achieving Energy Star status from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The Petroleum Building, according to the release, is one of only two downtown Denver buildings built before 1960 to achieve LEED certification.

LONGMONT

TIMES-CALL BUILDING: The Longmont Times-Call’s building at 350 Terry St. is on the market.

Boulder-based Prairie Mountain Publishing Co. LLP has owned the Times-Call since 2011 and has based the paper’s business operations in Boulder since then.

Al Manzi, Prairie Mountain president and chief executive, said the paper’s editorial and sales departments would be relocated, preferably to another downtown location, once the building is sold. Manzi said the Times-Call has about 40 employees in Longmont.

The paper previously had moved its printing operations to a new facility in Berthoud in 2009, leaving much of its 48,310-square-foot building in downtown Longmont vacant and unneeded. In addition to the building, a nearly 1-acre parking lot across Terry Street to the west and a quarter-acre parking lot on the east side will be included in the sale.

Prairie Mountain Publishing, which also owns the Daily Camera and several smaller papers around the state, sold the Camera building in downtown Boulder in 2010, moving to a smaller location at 5450 Western Avenue on the east side of town.

“We don’t have a need for a giant building just as we didn’t in Boulder,” Manzi said.

“Our hope is obviously that we sell it to somebody who’s going to bring jobs to the Longmont market. It’s a prime piece of real estate downtown.”

Joshua Lindenstein can be reached at 303-630-1943 or jlindenstein@bcbr.com.