Arista neighborhood breaks ground, hotel brand named

BROOMFIELD – Developers broke ground on the first phases of the residential, retail and office portions of the Arista neighborhood next to the Broomfield Event Center.

“Arista is about to come alive,” said Arista owner and master developer Tim Wiens during the Feb. 27 groundbreaking event, which attracted about 100 people.

Wiens will work with Lakewood-based Pinkard Construction Co. to help build the first phase of commercial development at Arista, which includes about 35,000 square feet of main street retail and 155,000 square feet of class A office space. To be known as Arista Place, the three-block area will feature a plaza with wide sidewalks, landscaping, seating areas, pedestrian lighting, outdoor cafes and diagonal on-street parking.

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Wiens is selling the residential portions of Arista to developers Hibernia Holdings, Trammell Crow Residential and Boulder-based Sunburst Design LLC.

Wiens recently sold five acres to Hibernia for $3.19 million, according Broomfield public records. The home builder plans to begin construction on its for-sale town homes and flats soon, with the first phase scheduled for completion by late summer.

The development is being called Venue at Arista and eventually will feature about 168 homes from about 950 to 1,500 square feet, priced at $210,000 to $310,000.

“Obviously the housing market is softening, but we’re here for the long haul,´ said Hibernia President Timothy McEntee. “We’re looking at six to 10 years for build-out. We’re not coming out and building all 168 homes today, we’re starting with 28 and we’ll go from there.”

Hibernia plans to purchase two additional properties at Arista of about five acres each.

Katie Everett and Rike Palese with Denver-based RE/MAX Classic New Home Sales are marketing the units for Hibernia.

In November 2006, Trammell Crow Residential purchased its first parcel of 7.8 acres from Wiens for about $3.5 million. The planned Alexan Arista Apartments will be luxury for-rent units ranging in size from 750 to 1,300 square feet, and renting for $800 to $1,600 per month. The project is planned for phased construction with leasing beginning this summer. Trammell Crow Residential expects to eventually build 358 units with additional property purchases.

Boulder-based Sunburst Design and New Design Logic are partnering to be the third home builder in Arista. They plan to build about 60 live/work lofts, ranging in size from 1,600 to 3,000 square feet.

At the groundbreaking event, Wiens confirmed he is partnering with Englewood-based Stonebridge Companies to build a 140-room hotel at Arista expected to open in spring 2008.

The hotel will carry the new aloft brand, a division under Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. The hotel’s design is modern and uses a lot of color schemes in the interior design. The emphasis is to create a more social setting for lodgers. Starwood also owns the Westin, Sheraton and W Hotels brands.

According to the plans submitted to the city and county of Broomfield, the 87,250-square-foot hotel will be five stories and include 13,500 square feet of retail on the main floor.

Total build-out at Arista is scheduled for completion by 2015 with about 1,000 homes and 800,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, all anchored by the 6,000-seat Broomfield Event Center in operation since late 2006.
Arista is slated to house a new Regional Transportation District park-n-Ride and better road access through a new 120th Ave. overpass of U.S. 36.

“This will be a transit-oriented development that will be successful because it solely won’t be about transit,” Wiens said. “Transit is just one component.”

Contact David Clucas at 303-440-4950 or e-mail dclucas@bcbr.com.