Grand Station project offers building challenges

The recently announced Grand Station at Centerra is giving two Northern Colorado-based companies a front-row seat in a project on the cutting edge of urban development.

“People are going to be captivated by how this place feels,´ said Ed Goodman, head of corporate development for TST Inc. Consulting Engineers in Fort Collins. “This type of design takes the best of the old urban neighborhoods and asks, ‘Why do people love them so much, and how can we take the same concepts and do them today?'”

 McWhinney Enterprises in Loveland announced in March plans for Grand Station, a 60-acre, 1-million-square-foot development that will feature a double-decker street car ushering visitors around Grand Square, a gathering place with a stage, fire pit and water fountain. The square will be surrounded by shops, restaurants and residential units.

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TST is doing the engineering work on the development to be located east of the Promenade Shops near Interstate 25 and U.S. 34. Groundbreaking is scheduled for this fall, with an expected opening in fall 2009.

Greeley-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co. will be the general contractor on the project. The company is working on a similar project right now in Phoenix, said Mike Shoulders, operations manager for Hensel Phelps.

The construction company has built a variety of large projects in Northern Colorado, across the nation and internationally.

“To have a job this size in our own backyard isn’t a foreign experience,” Shoulders said. “But it is great. We cut our teeth in this area, so it’s great to be part of something here that’s going to be such a fun, creative place.”

Development Design Group, based in Baltimore, is the design architect on the project. Boulder-based Fox Higgins will be the traffic consultant, and Elgin, Ill.-based Walker Parking is the parking consultant.

McWhinney public relations manager Korrie Johnston said the company has no final estimate of the cost of the project.

Vertical integration

Grand Station will encompass retail and residential units – described by Johnston as lofts in the mid to upper price range – plus offices, hotels and a health club, all built together with narrow, pedestrian-friendly streets. Three hotels – The Hotel Valencia, Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn – and Club One, a fitness and wellness club, have already signed onto the project.

Goodman calls it “one of the best examples of vertically integrated urban design.” Vertically integrated means there will be mixed use – for example, commercial and residential – on different floors in one building. The first floor may be a retail shop. The second and third floors could be offices, and the fourth and fifth floors may be apartments, luxury lofts or hotel space.

The idea is to create a place that looks and feels like the country’s beloved urban areas in cities like San Francisco and New York, Goodman said.

TST got a grant last fall from the state of Colorado to study the newest urban areas and what makes them special. Goodman said these communities have two distinct styles: They include blighted areas revitalized by new development, such as Denver’s LoDo, as well as brand new developments, some of them in areas that were considered rural only a few years ago, such as what’s planned for Grand Station.

“It’s a space where people will be able to live, work, shop and play without ever leaving,” Goodman said. “People won’t have to rely on their cars to get around. It’s not going to be like driving off to the suburban strip mall.”

Challenges ahead

The design, engineering and construction team have decided to build Grand Station so that it can be LEED certified. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a national standard for environmentally responsible, sustainable buildings, as designated by the U.S. Green Building Council. Rangeview Three, an office building at Centerra, is also LEED certified.

The tall buildings, narrow streets and wide, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks make this project a challenge for TST. The city of Loveland’s codes cater to wider streets and narrow sidewalks, typical of suburban design. That means the city and the engineers have to think differently about how to fit more into a smaller space at Grand Station, Goodman said.

Another difference in this project is the materials.

“It’s not just asphalt and concrete anymore,” Goodman said. “We’re using stones and bricks, too. It’s actually much more artistic and therefore a much bigger investment at the outset.

“But that means Grand Station isn’t going to look dated after 15 years. The idea is to create much more of a legacy with projects like this.”