Land prices along U.S. 34 corridor on fast track

Move over Interstate 25, there’s a new Main Street in Northern Colorado: U.S. Highway 34.

Investors look for the U.S. 34 corridor between Greeley and Loveland to take over the region’s Main Street moniker because businesses along that stretch of roadway will be easier to access than those located along the interstate, save for interchange locations.

I-25 offers visibility, but U.S. 34 offers both visibility and accessibility, auto dealer John Chamberlain said. Chamberlain recently closed on a 36-acre parcel at Weld County Road 17 and U.S. 34 where he has plans to develop an auto mall.

U.S. 34 may be the main vein in Northern Colorado’s continued march toward a regional economy, because it connects Larimer and Weld counties. And land prices along the corridor west of Greeley to I-25 reflect that trend.

The per-acre price for ground along the corridor has jumped up steadily over the last decade as interest in the once mainly agricultural area has grown. As few as seven years ago, land along U.S. 34 west of Greeley was selling in the range of $1,200 to $2,500 an acre.

“I sold three corners of (Colorado) highway 257 and 34 in the late 1990s,´ said Lee Hamilton, a broker with Realty Executives-Fort Collins. “I sold two and a half miles of frontage on the south side of 34 and a mile and three quarters of frontage on the north side. Some of it went for $1,200 an acre, $1,500 to $2,500 an acre.”

The same ground, Hamilton said, is now on the market in the range of $15,000 to $17,000.

Land purchases in the late ’90s were mainly made by investors looking toward the future, Hamilton said. Today, developers, entrepreneurs and business owners with everything in mind from upscale retail and housing to light industrial and distribution uses are snapping up land along U.S. 34.

Land prices in the U.S. 34 corridor between Greeley and Loveland depend on a mix of factors that include location, water rights and available infrastructure, say real estate experts.

“Anywhere from a low of (about) $10,000 an acre, and in some cases even less than that, on up from there,” Nick Christensen, managing principal of Chrisland Inc., said of the price range for undeveloped ground along U.S. 34.

Chrisland recently closed a $3.6 million sale of 104 acres overlooking the Big Thompson River, a short distance south of U.S. 34. The deal amounted to $35,000 an acre for ground with some ready amenities: the land already zoned an annexed, and the developer agreed to extend roadways and utilities to the site.

Hartford Homes of Windsor purchased the parcel, which is annexed to Johnstown. The land is part of Chrisland’s 2534 development, a 500-acre mixed-use project on the southeast corner of I-25 and U.S. 34.

Gary Hoover, Hartford president, has said the parcel will feature a mix of large estate lots with million-dollar homes, patio homes priced in the vicinity of $300,000, and single-family homes ranging between $400,000 and $600,000.

A partnership including Hoover also recently purchased 310 acres on the north side of U.S. 34, just east of 2534, for $5 million, or roughly $16,000 per acre. That land is slated for commercial, retail and residential development that could include as many as 800 new homes over the next five years.

Location remains the million-dollar question along U.S. 34, west of Greeley where infrastructure can be spotty.

“I know we’ve got utilities here in Johnstown and Loveland,” Christensen said. Further east along the corridor, however, those services are not yet readily and widely available. Prices tend to ebb somewhat when infrastructure is not in place, but can be high regardless.

“I’ve noticed properties on the market for as much as $2 per square foot that are undeveloped and would require years of work to be ready to go,” Christensen said.

Such pricing, Christensen said, “makes it very difficult for a developer to come in and buy a site and have the numbers make sense.”

Christensen the $2-per-square-foot price – $86,000 per acre – is more appropriate as a starting point for developed ground, meaning it’s ready for construction.

“It’s very difficult, I think to find development ground that is priced in a way that makes any sense. I think there are still relative bargains for end users looking for retail sites or sites for a business.”

Being the first guy to see the possibilities in a chunk of raw land far from current development can be a risky proposition, John Chamberlain observed. “When you’re the first guy, if nothing happens you’re just stuck with raw dirt.”

Chamberlain won’t divulge the price he paid on his purchase of 36 acres from Martin Lind, beyond saying the purchase was made at land prices of two years ago.

“We made the deal a long time ago,” Chamberlain said, recalling that it “seemed kind of crazy two years ago.”

Lind, a Windsor-based developer, said he purchased the land at Weld County Road 17 and U.S. 34 in the mid 1990s, subdividing 160 acres into parcels from five to 50 acres in size. At the time he paid approximately $5,000 an acre, he said. Lind said he plans to keep the remaining parcels with the exception of a 30-acre chunk to which Chamberlain holds a purchase option.

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