New urbanism model for Dakota Ridge

BOULDER — In the last week of September, Boulder-based Markel Homes began Phase I construction on Dakota Ridge Village, a $120 million, 57-acre subdivision located near U.S. 36 and Broadway in North Boulder.

According to Senior Planner Brent Bean with the city of Boulder Planning Department, a minimum of 20 percent of the development must be affordable housing, calculated by family size and income.

Michael Markel, owner of Markel Homes, a 27-year-old development company, said that 20 percent of the homes will be permanently affordable housing, but Bean said that the $150,000 starting price “sounds high.”

Cindy Pieropan, a housing planner with the city’s Planning Department, said that Markel’s lowest-priced units are “the highest priced they can be and still qualify as affordable homes.”

The city’s Permanently Affordable Housing Program requires applicants to prove that their annual average income is 64.5 percent or less of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) median income level for the Boulder area, a number that is referred to as the HUD Low-Income Limit. For a one-person household, the HUD Low-Income Limit is $36,750; for a two-person household it is $42,000; and for a three-person household it is $47,250. Preference is given to people who live within the city limits.

The $150,000 homes are two-story, three-bedroom condominium units, said Nancy Haney, a Markel representative. The other units include town houses starting at $450,000 and single-family homes costing $500,000.

Phase I properties will be completed by spring 2002, and the entire project should be completed by 2006. So far, 40 percent of the properties are under contract for sale. When all development is complete, Dakota Ridge will include 390 housing units and 24,000 square feet of retail space.

Combining housing and retail is part of Dakota Ridge’s new urbanism motif. The idea behind this anti-sprawl movement is to create small, tightly knit neighborhoods that are designed to discourage automobile use and to promote recreation and socializing among members of the community. The city’s Bean said Dakota Ridge “is based on a neo-traditional plan and a dense community. It is consistent with our goals and policies for development.”

Peter Calthorpe is a founding member of the Congress of New Urbanism, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that advocates new urbanism development. “Dakota Ridge Village is an important example of the trend to mix housing with retail and work opportunities,” Calthorpe said.

Markel Homes consulted with Calthorpe to help plan Dakota Ridge Village in the early ’90s.

“New urbanism envisions compact, walkable, human-scale communities as a means to achieving a multitude of complementary goals, including preservation of the countryside, conservation of energy and resources, affordable housing, economic efficiency and a greater sense of safety and community,” Calthorpe wrote in his 1993 book, “The Next American Metropolis.”

Markel Homes employs 20 people to perform general contracting and designing, and the company builds about 100 units each year. Michael Markel declined to comment on the company’s revenue, but he said he sees the Dakota Ridge project as a milestone for Markel Homes.

“We call this the last great neighborhood in Boulder,” Markel said. “This is a great piece of property, and it requires everyone’s best effort. That’s what we’re doing.

“This is a special project for me,” he said. “This is the last big piece of land within city limits, and it is a privilege to be involved. As someone who lives here and cares about what happens, it’s important to do this responsibly and well.”

In new urbanism style, the development will feature a grid layout of homes with front porches, tree-lined streets, bicycle and walking paths, alleyways behind housing units and small retailers. The architectural style will be borrowed from older Boulder neighborhoods, Markel said. “We’re using that as models so that (Dakota Ridge) will have a connection to the original architecture.

“It will not be a track-home development,” Markel said. “The cookie cutters are out of style. Diversity is in.”

Diversity also means stirring different types of retail businesses into the mix.

“I’ve had calls from businesses since we started working up there,” Markel Homes’ Haney said. “The largest majority of calls are from people who live in the area. A little village center will be more interesting as a result of going local.

“One wants to open a coffee shop, another wants to cut hair, another wants to open an exercise studio,” she said. “I can’t imagine a Fantastic Sam’s being interested in this little community.”

Markel himself wants to attract retail that will “basically support that subdivision. Maybe a coffee shop/restaurant, a small post office and a grocery store or day care,” he said.

Markel Homes plans to have RTD Skip buses provide service to Dakota Ridge, and each resident will have a free EcoPass. “(Residents) won’t have to drive their cars,” Markel said. “The (development) will also hook up to city trails.”

Markel Homes has donated three acres in the center of Dakota Ridge to the city of Boulder Parks Department to be developed into a public park. Markel estimates that it should take two years to complete the park, “depending on the city budget,” he said.

One local example of new urbanism design principles is Prospect New Town on the south side of Longmont. “Dakota Ridge will be like Prospect, but on a much larger scale,” Markel said. “I think there are small pockets that have been done like this, but not as big as Dakota will be.”

Haney said she believes that the development’s visual appeal is its biggest selling point. “It’s really exciting to show people our designing guidelines and what the community will look like,” she said. “There’s something about it that is like visiting your grandmother. It’s very welcoming and warm, and most people really respond to that.”

Markel primarily will advertise Dakota Ridge in Boulder media.

“We will have a prejudice to provide housing for people who work in the city by advertising and promoting through some of the city housing resources and groups to encourage them to come take a look,” he said.

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