Small towns growing big in southwest Weld

Small-town living with easy access to nearby cities and affordable housing costs are among the factors drawing growing numbers of residents to southwest Weld County.

Residential housing numbers are booming as the populations of Frederick, Firestone, Fort Lupton, Dacono and Mead show continuing growth. Since 1999, those cities have grown by anywhere from 20 percent (Mead) to more than 120 percent (Dacono). Firestone?s population increased by more than 170 percent to 5,034 in 2003 from 1,833 in 1999, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

With some 17,710 residential units proposed in the multi-use development known as Del Camino, according to Weld County officials, cities in the county?s southwest corner are likely to continue to grow dramatically over the next decade.

Cheri Andersen, Firestone town administrator, said newcomers find Firestone?s small-town atmosphere a draw. At the same time, the town offers the necessary goods and services, meaning residents don?t have to travel elsewhere to shop.

Andersen said most of Firestone?s residents are working couples, and the proximity to Interstate 25 also is a draw. With the completion of the widening of I-25 south, the opening of E-470, providing access to Denver International Airport, and the opening of the Northwest Parkway, the range of possibilities for employment commuting increased considerably, she said.

Add varied housing choices and lower housing prices and the result is an enticing atmosphere.

The story is similar elsewhere in southwestern Weld County. Penman Homes, which builds upscale custom and semi-custom homes, will put up 16 homes in the area this year, three more than it built in 2004, said.

?We?re excited specifically about the Frederick-Firestone area in that we can still (build) semi-custom types of homes and hit the $350,000 to $550,000 range.?

Penman is building in the Saddleback Golf Community, and St. Vrain Ranch in Firestone and Moore Farm in Frederick.

Kreiger said Penman?s products appeal to the move-up marketplace in southwest Weld where homeowners are ?flipping homes? on average within three years.

?National production home builders and regional production home builders have been building out there that long,? he explained. ?The first people to get into that market have been able to take out appreciation in their homes and parlay it into the next step up.?

The median home price in 2004 in southwest Weld County was $247,000, according to a county demographic profile.The generally affordable home prices in southwestern Weld are what?s drawing people to the area, Kreiger said. ?When you look around the entire state, to find a mid-$200s type house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms is difficult right now.?

Kreiger said he works with people all throughout the Front Range corridor and that mid-$200s house ?is a really tough product to find. Affordable land has made the housing affordable and that?s what?s getting people up into this area.?

Kathy Larson, building permit technician for Frederick, said the city had granted 128 residential building permits as of June 30. Frederick granted a total 225 residential permits in 2004; 293 in 2003; 280 in 2002, 298 in 2001 and 408 in 2000.

Residential construction in 2005 has largely kept pace with last year?s rate at this point, she said. ?There are new subdivisions coming in, and those permits are going out pretty fast.?

In Dacono, Building Permit Technician Donna Case said the city had issued 50 residential building permits for single-family homes as of June 30. That?s close to the total of 65 issued in 2004. The 2003 total was 59.

For the three years prior, the bulk of building permits granted in Dacono were for town homes in the Sterling Townhomes project. Between 2000 and 2002, the town issued two single-family permits and 47 town home permits.

Looking ahead, Case said several projects have been approved and are now breaking ground. Building permit numbers are likely to jump as those projects come closer to fruition. Sweet Grass, for instance contains 1,262 homes, Case said.

Construction activity in Fort Lupton has been up and down over the past few years. The city grew by 8 percent between 1999 and 2003. In 2005 it issued 14 single-family permits as of June 30. It issued a total of 23 permits in 2004, nine in 2003, a whopping 260 in 2002, 96 in 2001 and 94 in 2000. Mead, meanwhile, issued 99 residential building permits in 2004 and 23 so far in 2005.

on Facebook on LinkedIn