Homebuilders, merchants find opportunities in east Greeley

GREELEY – Larry Buckendorf and Jeff Demaske, partners in J&J Construction and Journey Homes, know a thing or two about building affordable starter homes.
They also know that location sells homes.
So why build in east Greeley?
The answer could be as simple as “Why not?”
Sure, west Greeley is the happening address, but east Greeley has its attributes too. Affordable land on which to develop, easy access to both U.S. Highways 34 and 85, and a population ready for new homes and new services all add up as the right recipe at the right time.
In fact, 25 percent of the building permits for Greeley in the past year were issued for east Greeley.
Mike Hoffman recalled that when he and Clifford Clift were developing Parkview, a subdivision of some 400 homes, “They were selling so fast it was scary. They were selling as fast as we could build them.”
That was three years ago. Since then, J&J Construction and Journey Homes have become the largest presence in east Greeley. East Meadows, Parkview South and Balsam Village are developments they have either overseen or built in.
They’re now in phase one of Riverview Farm at U.S. Highway 34 Bypass and 1st Avenue. Buckendorf said that through time the companies have built a strong relationship with the Hispanic community, which heavily populates the east side of Greeley.
“We have the appeal of still being one of the companies that wants to make an investment in east Greeley,” he said.
At the same time, they’ve become known for building quality starter homes at affordable prices throughout Northern Colorado. Other developments under way by the two companies are Margil Farms in Mead, Gateway Estates and Mountain Shadows in west Greeley and Buffalo Creek in Wellington.
Riverview, which will have 287 homes when the development is built out in 2006, features homes in the price range of $132,750 to $144,500. Square footage goes from 900 to 1,132. Twenty-four homes have been built to date.
Buckendorf said he isn’t too surprised that more developers aren’t tapping into the starter market on the east side of Greeley. “We’re pretty tough to compete with.” Infrastructure issues – water and sewer – have been part of the reason more development hasn’t occurred on that side of town, said Mike Hoffman. Natural barriers – railroad tracks and the Platte River – also have affected types of development. Land prices are starting to inch up as well.
Hoffman recently developed the seven-acre commercial component of Parkview. Mini warehouse units, a convenience store, a liquor store and small neighborhood strip center make up the busy intersection at 22nd Street and 1st Avenue.
He partnered with Ed Hollaway and Bill Scaff of Petroleum Management, which operates a chain of convenience stores called On the Go. “We went a little overboard for this part of the town,” he said of the store design and landscaping. The store is bordered on three sides by homes and the landscape upgrades have won over any naysayers.
“We’re heroes for the neighborhood. We’ve been open for a year this Thanksgiving.”
A grocery store was discussed for Parkview, but it would have been a small neighborhood store, not a chain supermarket as was once rumored. Grocers of any size, however, are leery of competing against two Super Wal-Marts, albeit both several miles to the west, Hoffman said.
On the other hand, East Bourbon Liquors, now the largest liquor store in Greeley, opened its doors in October and is experiencing better than expected numbers.
“His first week he was smiling ear to ear,” Hoffman said of storeowner Leonard Gonzalez. The site originally was planned for two tenants. “So far, he’s cranking out the business.”
Hoffman said 15,000 cars pass through the 22nd Street and 1st Avenue intersection daily. “We’re getting between 550 and 560 visits a day at the convenience store.”
The 14,000-square-foot strip center, north of the On the Go, will house a Mexican deli, restaurant, video store and Laundromat. A non-profit medical clinic may also locate at Parkview.
The adage that commercial follows rooftops may prove to be true in east Greeley, too, said Bernie Blach, broker/partner with Realtec Commercial Real Estate in Greeley. Most of the eastside growth has been in the southeast quadrant of the city and mostly residential.
Bloch said any new commercial or retail ventures would have local tenants. U.S. 85 gets a lot of traffic, but it’s zoned industrial. “It’s very difficult to mesh industrial and retail in the same immediate area. If growth continues to follow U.S. 34 to the east, it’s possible there will be some additional retail development out that way as more rooftops are built.”
Bloch said he sees the east side as “very much a developing market.”
One area that could see a fair share of development in the months and years ahead is the Greeley-Weld County Airport, which the city annexed this fall.
The annexation – totaling 979 acres – will allow the airfield, located on Airport Road off East 8th Street, to build additional hangars and attract aviation support businesses. As part of the annexation agreement, the city is extending water and sewer to the airport to the site.
The Denzel Annexation will add 101 acres and will feature 80 larger-lot homes built around a water ski lake off the 34 Bypass. The property owners, Greg and Amber Denzel, plan to connect a second ski lake to the one that already exists.
In the future, Thompson said Weld County is looking at turning Weld County Road 47 into a north-south arterial that connects U.S. 34 with Colorado Highway 14, similar to the Two Rivers Parkview in west Greeley. He expects that would attract additional development along Weld County Road 47.