Harley Davidson to ride onto I-25, Prospect site

FORT COLLINS – Plans for a large new John’s Harley-Davidson building and a nearby retail site once again are coming before the planning and

zoning board.

After m onths of delay, denial of a development plan and a subsequent reversal of that decision, the two buildings would be the first construction on a

nearly 182-acre site near the northwest side of Interstate 25 and Prospect Road.

Now located at 2135 E. Mulberr y St., the motorcycle and accessory showroom simply has outgrown its existing space.

The 182 acres, owned by LGT Real Estate Advisors Inc., is called Interstate Land Business Park. A development plan for the property was denied

approval last year by the p lanning and zoning board, primarily because of traffic issues. That decision later was changed.

“After the fact, we found some staff-level information to be inaccurate, and the board reversed its decision,´ said Bob Blanchard, director of current

planning for the city.

Still, improvements to Prospect Road will have to be built by the developers.

The proposed Harley-Davidson building and nearby retail site sit on four acres and are the first filing in the Interstate Land Business Park

development. A final approval for the two retail buildings will be requested of the planning and zoning board June 10.

Harley-Davidson would occupy the larger of the two buildings, an approximately 21,220-square-foot project. The smaller 5,000-square-foot building

could be us ed for a variety of retail businesses or as offices.

John Cockson, owner of John’s Harley-Davidson, was out of town and unavailable for comment. He is under contract to LGT to purchase the land

and also would own the buildings.

“His dealership is regional in nature,´ said Stan Whitaker, vice president of LGT, noting that enthusiasts from around the region are drawn to the

business.

Cockson has been planning his new building for at least 1 1/2 years.

“He’s been very responsive to city requirements,” Whita ker said.

Smith joins Prudential Prime

Prudential Prime Properties of Fort Collins is gearing up for a push in the commercial arena with the addition of Tom Smith, a seasoned commercial

broker.

Smith moved over to Prudential in March after his firm, Smit h-Nash Commercial Real Estate Services, dissolved in the wake of his partner’s

worsening health.

“The emphasis has been on residential,” Smith said of Prudential Prime. “There always have been certain brokers who do both, but my primary

business will be t o do commercial work.”

Smith will put together a plan to bolster the real estate firm’s commercial presence. It could include hiring additional commercial brokers in the future.

“We’ll be putting together a plan,” Smith said. “I do assume there’s two or t hree other agents here who would be interested in more commercial

work. And I hope to consider other hiring in the future.”

Smith began his commercial work with Colorado Wyoming Investments, then ran Smith & Associates and finally Smith-Nash.

Colorado Bu ilding debuts

A grand reopening of the Colorado Building took place last month when contractors, new tenants, the leasing broker, owners and other guests

mingled in the lavishly redone second story of the historic building.

Amid hardwood floors, new doubl e-hung windows and wood trim is 1,858 square feet of office space that leases at $13 triple net. Chuck Bowling,

commercial broker and partner of The Group Inc., is leasing the remodeled space.

Already committed to one of the suites is qm2.com Inc., new fu ll-service Internet provider that is launching the Fort Collins City Network.

The other half of the second story, managed by Paul Heffron of Boulder, also is due for some remodeling.

“We’ll make our entry lobby look a little like theirs,” Heffron said.

Ho wever, the extensive remodeling done by the next-door neighbors won’t be done now.

“We spent about $450,000 in 1982 to update, so we won’t be doing anything else,” he said.

About half of Heffron’s space now is available after some tenants moved to the new 1st Choice Bank building at Horsetooth Road and South College

Avenue. It will lease for about $5 triple net, he said.

LePeeps enters market

LePeeps Grill is making an entry into the Fort Collins market shortly after opening a restaurant in Greeley. A 4, 290-square-foot location was leased at

Fountainhead Shopping Center, 4010 S. College Ave. ZTI Group Inc. leased the space.

Renovations are under way with a July opening expected.

Pulcinella opens another

Pulcinella Pizzeria has leased the remaining 1,218 square feet of retail space at the 42,511-square-foot Cimarron Plaza at the southwest corner of

Shields Street and Drake Road.

Tony Race, owner of the new pizzeria restaurant, is extensively redecorating the facility, which features a large outdoor dinin g area.

Current restaurants owned and operated by Race include the Pulcinella Pizzeria at the Albertson’s Center at Horsetooth Road and South College

Avenue, and Pulcinella’s Restaurant at the Shops at Drake Crossing at Drake and Taft Hill Road.

“Fort Col lins has over 30 pizza and Italian restaurants,” Race said. “By providing our customers the best quality and finest value, our business

continues to grow. We’re looking forward to serving and meeting even more Fort Collins’ residents with our newest locat ion.”

Firm lays Foundation

So cramped for space was Foundation Engineering Consulting Engineers Ltd. that its employees complained to Kevin Patterson, president and owner

of the company.

“I had a revolt,” he said. “My guys said we had to do something.”S o last month, the firm moved from its leased 2,000-square-foot space at 100 E.

Third St. in Loveland to a 10,400-square-foot building it built and owns.

Patterson initially will sublease approximately 5,000-square-feet of the new building, at 55110 Granit e. It’s located on land in Larimer County rather

than in Loveland.

“I built in the county because it’s ridiculous to build in the city,” Patterson said. “It would have cost $40,000 more to build in the city because of

capital expansion fees.”

As is, the n ew digs ran around $450,000.

“We built it ourselves and used our clients as subcontractors when we could,” he said.

Neal Bronsert of Bronsert Construction is leasing Foundation’s old space in downtown Loveland.

Red Dragon readies move

A change in the cur rent lease is chasing the owners of Red Dragon Restaurant, 233 E. 29th St., out of their location.

Hong and Tom Ha took the opportunity to purchase some land and now are building a new, larger restaurant nearby around 29th Street and Monroe

Avenue.

Projec t architect Brad Massey of Aller Lingle Architects said the new building is 4,300 square feet. Fisbeck-Sheel Construction of Greeley is the

general contractor.

“We now are in about 3,000 square feet,´ said Hong Ha. “We are trying to have more selections a nd a bigger buffet in the new one.”

The Chinese restaurant’s lunch buffet now will be extended to the dinner hour as well.

The project is costing about $700,000, but Ha said the family is satisfied that it now will own the land and building.

Operations wi ll have to shut down for one to two weeks, probably during August, while equipment is moved to the new location.

On Call breaks ground

On Call Employment Services held an official groundbreaking for its new building at 3850 N. Grant St.

Called the Becker Building, it will be 15,000 square feet, with On Call occupying the first floor. The upper floor will be build-to-suit suites for

prospective tenants.

Baldwin Construction Inc. is the project’s general contractor, and the architect is John Freeman of Arc hitecture One.

Fort Collins code revised

A new Commercial Energy Code will go into effect July 1 in Fort Collins. To educate the public, the city is presenting an Energy Code Compliance

workshop series.

Keynote speaker Douglas Mahone of the Heschong Mah one Group will address how to comply with or exceed the new code requirements, what

energy efficiency information you must provide to get a building permit and how to use the new energy code manuals, guides and compliance forms.

The workshops consist of t hree series: Lighting & Electrical Systems, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. June 3; Building Envelope, 8 a.m. to noon June 4; HVAC

Systems, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. June 4. All will be held in the Columbine Room at the Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia.

Cost for one or all works hops is $50, which includes handouts, a Fort Collins code user’s guide and the new Commercial Energy Code. For more

information call (970) 221-6395.

Got a real estate tip? Call Carol Wood at (970) 221-5400, 356-1683 or (800) 440-3506. Her fax number is (970) 221-5432. Or reach her via e-mail at

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