BURA hiring consultant for retail study

BOULDER — The Boulder Urban Renewal Authority (BURA) is interviewing three consulting firms that specialize in economic redevelopment to do a market-demand analysis of the Boulder Valley Regional Center (BVRC) and its adjacent business areas.

A decision was expected this past week — after The Business Report’s press time, and the company selected will begin right away to complete a report in the next three to four months.

Brad Power, executive director of BURA and a member of the selection committee, said the most important qualification the winning firm will have is its familiarity with retail redevelopment and with incorporation of mixed use in commercial areas. “Experience counts,” Power said.

The three consultants being considered are Economic and Planning Systems (EPS), Denver; Economic Research Associates, San Diego; and Leland Consulting Group, Denver.

A request for proposal (RFP) was sent to multiple firms with demonstrated market-analysis experience, and five responded. Three were asked to present their proposals before the project review committee that consists of Phil Schull, chairman of the BURA board of directors; Brad Power; Rich Lopez, Boulder city councilmember; Susan Connelly, BURA board member; and Molly Winter, director of Boulder Downtown and University Hill Management Commission.

BURA precipitated the RFP because of new retail and service developments in communities near Boulder, especially the FlatIron Crossing Mall. The consensus is that the new mall, nine miles southeast of Boulder in Broomfield, will emerge as the primary regional retail center, replacing the BVRC as the choice of regional shoppers. The BVRC’s position is shifting toward serving the needs of the immediate area shoppers in Boulder Valley, or about 150,000 people. In addition, the redevelopment of the Crossroads Mall, owned by the Macerich Co. and the linchpin of the BVRC, seems stalled.

Françoise Poinsatte, city council member and its representative to the BURA board, said, “We are trying to stay ahead of the curve and be proactive; we are trying to figure out what kinds of businesses would be beneficial to the Boulder economy.”

In 1998, BURA completed the Crossroads Community Consortium, a public process that produced goals for the short- and long-term redevelopment of the BVRC, bounded by Pearl Street, Boulder Creek, 33rd Avenue and Folsom Street, and its adjacent areas, north 28th and 30th streets and south to Baseline. The market-demand analysis is expected to define the current and projected level of market support in these areas, according to Power.

The study will cost between $40,000 and $50,000, he said. “It will depend on the scope of work recommended by the consultants.” The money will come from the consulting services budget in BURA’s operating budget.

The primary goal of the analysis will be to research and identify the types of uses and activities that BURA should advocate in the BVRC in order to sustain Boulder’s economy, fund quality public services, fulfill the Crossroads Community Consortium goals and meet the city’s housing goals. “The council wants housing units included in Crossroads redevelopment,´ said Poinsatte. The analysis should fill niches that the Boulder market could uniquely and successfully support in the future, according to the RFP.

Questions to be answered in the market-demand analysis include:

* What types of retailers and service businesses are feasible given the redevelopment capacity and current and emerging competition in surrounding communities?

* What are the potential housing market scenarios when the city’s affordable housing goals and strategies are factored?

* What is the demand for mixed use development in the area?

* To what extent would additional civic, cultural and recreational facilities support commercial and residential uses?

Power also said creating a business improvement district may be a recommendation by the consultants and could be a key to the BVRC’s future development.

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