Publishers notebook

As 2011 fades into memory, let’s hope that Boulder Valley business, civic and governmental leaders make 2012 a year of progress on some important issues facing our region. From economic vitality to redevelopment of distressed properties, from issues around taxation to how electricity is provided, the Boulder Valley needs to see the ball moved forward.

In particular:

• Revitalization – i.e., redevelopment – of the Twin Peaks Mall should be at the top of Longmont’s agenda. What was once a vibrant retail destination has deteriorated into a project crying out for new thinking. Twin Peaks’ decline has mirrored similar problems at Foothills Mall in Fort Collins and the Greeley Mall, as well as the old Crossroads Mall in Boulder. But Crossroads’ rebirth as Twenty Ninth Street offers at least one path forward for Twin Peaks – not necessarily as a lifestyle center, but as another example that properties can be reborn.

• Similarly, the Diagonal Plaza in Boulder is in desperate need of redevelopment. Multiple property owners of the 33-acre project make any revival a difficult task – all the more reason that the city should convene property owners now to determine a course of action. City planning and urban-renewal officials have been studying the area for the past couple of years, but let’s make 2012 a year where those studies transform into action.

• On another front, Boulder is making admirable progress, namely the Harvest Junction development at 30th and Pearl streets. Both the city and private developers are collaborating on this new, transit-oriented development, which eventually will include retail, hotel, office, transportation and residential uses. The project promises to take a blighted – and we use that term not in its legal sense – part of town and help it become a vibrant economic engine.

• Boulder city officials should back away from two controversial tax measures, including a proposed real estate property-transfer tax and a software tax on downloads. (See related editorial.) The transfer tax would require legislative approval and would damage a real estate market that has already endured several difficult years. The software tax is one that will likely be challenged in court, as it likely violates the TABOR amendment requiring public votes on new taxes.

• Closure of the Butterball turkey-processing plant in downtown Longmont presents a challenge and opportunity for the city. Replacing 350 jobs is a difficult task in any economic climate, but the closure also represents a unique opportunity to transform the 27-acre location into a core element in downtown’s ongoing rebirth – particularly as related to the FasTracks transit project.

• Speaking of FasTracks, a new cost estimate puts the tab for extending the northwest rail corridor from Westminster to Longmont now stands at $1.4 billion, up from the previous estimate of $894.4 million. Regional Transportation District officials need to determine how the higher costs will affect the project’s anticipated 2020 completion date.

• ConocoPhillips needs to put up or shut up on its planned renewable-energy research campus in Louisville. The site, which formerly housed Storage Technology Corp./Sun Microsystems Inc., was once anticipated to employ 7,000 workers but has been in limbo with ConocoPhillips’ split into two separate companies. But company officials owe it to Louisville and the region to make a decision – fast.

Christopher Wood can be reached at 303-440-4950 or via email at cwood@bcbr.com.

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