Real Estate: Chrisland Inc. on board to market Thunder Mountain Harley project

LOVELAND — Chrisland Inc., the new commercial real estate brokerage started in January by Nick Christensen after he broke away from McWhinney Enterprises, has landed its first high-profile listing.

Chrisland has signed on with the owners of Thunder Mountain Harley Davidson to market the land surrounding the new Harley dealership, now under construction at the northwest corner of Interstate 25 and Crossroads Boulevard.

“They are rolling out two restaurant pad sites at the corner of Crossroads and I-25, directly south of the Harley dealership,” Christensen said. “Those are very high visibility locations.”

The entire 14.6-acre site will be anchored by the 55,000-square-foot dealership, billed as the largest Harley-Davidson store in Colorado. Thunder Mountain currently operates a store in east Fort Collins.

The new Harley dealership is expected to open this summer.

“The uses we’re planning to pursue could be a brewpub or some sort of an upper-end restaurant that would be a good fit with the facility there,” Christensen said. “So, we’re going to be pretty selective on who goes there.

“In addition to a brewpub, a sports bar would be a real good fit — probably not fast food or those sorts of things.”

Another component of the Thunder Mountain complex will be an “entertainment park,” Christensen said.

Original plans for the complex, disclosed early in 2002,called for a 5,000-seat amphitheater. Christensen declined to discuss the details of the amphitheater plans.

“It will be an open-air facility for various events,” he said. “Beyond that I have to defer to Todd and Shelly.”

Owners Todd and Shelly Erdmann were not available for comment.

The Thunder Mountain complex is part of a surge of activity at the I-25-Crossroads interchange related to motor vehicle sales. A new motorcycle store is planned for the east side of the interstate, and McWhinney Enterprises has drawn up plans for an auto mall just south of Crossroads Boulevard.

Mall owner looks West

FORT COLLINS — General Growth Properties, the new owner of Foothills Mall in Fort Collins, seems to have tipped its hand about expansion plans for the mall.

Late last month General Growth acquired the Perkins Restaurant at 3300 S. College Ave. As part of its December 2003 purchase of the mall, General Growth also bought the 3 Margaritas restaurant building, 3400 S. College, and The Plaza at Foothills Mall, 124 E. Monroe Drive.

The Perkins acquisition gives General Growth a broad frontage on the east side of College Avenue between Foothills Parkway and Monroe. Theoretically, the accumulation of frontage allows the mall to grow westward to College.

Even former Perkins owner Eric Spanier acknowledged the mall’s expansion is a better use of South College frontage than his restaurant. He said the sale was under friendly circumstances. The restaurant “was underutilizing some of the key real estate in Fort Collins, quite frankly.”

The speed of General Growth’s expansion remains uncertain. However, architects for the mall owner were in town late last month to get the lay of the land, according to Fort Collins City Manager John Fischbach. General Growth has also inquired about possible city financial support for the project, which is likely to run in the tens of millions of dollars.

Editor Robert Baun can be reached at (970) 221-5400, (970) 356-1683 or via e-mail at bbaun@ncbr.com. His fax number is (970) 221-5432.

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