REAL ESTATE: Lifestyle center, hospital don?t tell whole story about Centerra

LOVELAND — The 670,000-square-foot Shops at Centerra lifestyle center has understandably captured the public eye at the interchange of U.S. Highway 34 and Interstate 25.
But as politics and public relations buzz around the proposed Poag & McEwen retail center, a squadron of other projects ? retail and otherwise ? are flying under the radar at the Centerra development.
In his presentation last month at the Northern Colorado Summit, Rich Shannon, vice president of community development for Centerra set out a list of possible additions to Centerra over the next five years.
Notable among Shannon?s list:
? Centerra is ?in discussions with numerous entities? for retail development next door to the Shops at Centerra. McWhinney Enterprises, the owner of Centerra, has designated ground to the south of the lifestyle center for ?complementary retail,? Shannon said.
?The lifestyle center is going to draw something else to it quickly,? Shannon said, explaining that other retailers would want to benefit from being close to The Shops at Centerra. ?We would not be surprised if there are upwards of 150,000 square feet or more within a couple of years after the lifestyle center is open.?
The ground is large enough could accommodate up to 300,000 square feet of extra retail, he said.
Asked if the complementary retail means ?big box? stores, Shannon was discreet. ?There are a variety of options that could play out,? he said.
? Also look for more retail at the Centerra Marketplace center, located at the southwest corner of the Centerra project.
The existing Marketplace, anchored by Target and Sportsman?s Warehouse, has room for another 275,000 square feet of retail, which could be filled within five years, Shannon said.
?That what we were marketing most heavily at ICSC,? he said, referring to the annual International Convention of Shopping Centers in Las Vegas that was held in May. The ICSC is the prime opportunity for retail developers to peddle their projects to the world?s retail companies.
? McWhinney Enterprises also has designs on building a 50,000-square-foot Residence Inn, an extended-stay hotel, on its grounds. McWhinney has an ongoing partnership with hospitality developer Stonebridge Development, which also built the existing Fairfield Inn and Hampton Inn at Centerra.
The site in reserve for the Residence Inn is located a short distance north of The Group Inc. Real Estate building. The timing of the hotel will depend on the completion of the new Medical Center of the Rockies, now under construction.
? Kroll Factual Data Corp. keeps growing.
The mortgage credit reporting service, which currently occupies to 32,000-square-foot office buildings in Centerra, has expressed an interest in starting construction on sa third in the near future, Shannon said.
?Local senior management have approved the construction of a third building,? he said. Once corporate headquarters signs off on the project, McWhinney Enterprises expects to receive a letter of intent on the building.
Furthermore, Kroll Factual Data holds an option on ground for a fourth building.
? Negotiations are under way with several auto dealers to tenant an auto mall at the north end of Centerra, near Crossroads Boulevard. McWhinney Enterprises expects to announce the users as soon as this summer.
? The aforementioned Medical Center of the Rockies, for which ground was broken in April, could be just the beginning of a vast health care campus at Centerra.
The hospital itself is a $220 million, 134-bed facility that should attract the type of associated medical office development that tends to congregate around hospitals.
What?s little known is that the site of the Cloverleaf Dog Track, which adjoins the 91-acre hospital site on the south, will likely become the property of Poudre Valley Health Systems, which is building the Medical Center Center of the Rockies.
McWhinney Enterprises arranged two years ago to acquire an option on the dog track. Under terms of the option, Cloverleaf owners have until 2012 to upgrade the property to Centerra design standards ? a prospect that would cost many millions ? or sell the ground to McWhinney.
McWhinney has quietly assigned that option to Poudre Valley Health Systems, which means the hospital operator will have the right to buy the 42 acres of Cloverleaf ground.
The result would be an ?enormous medical complex,? Shannon said.
? Shannon also reminded the Summit audience of the construction of the Van de Water mixed-use project, located north of U.S. Highway 34 from Centerra.
Lowe?s, the home-improvement major rival to Home Depot in North America, plans to build a 100,000-squre-foot store at Van de Water to anchor a retail center there.
Collectively, the retail, medical and office additions in process or proposed at Centerra and Van de Water add up to about 2 million square feet of construction in the area over the next five years,