Erie plans for business growth it’s sure will come

ERIE – If you build the housing, the businesses will come.

That’s the approach the town of Erie is taking as housing growth in the community that straddles the Boulder and Weld county lines continues to boom.

The commercial construction scene might be relatively quiet now. But town officials believe the groundwork has been laid for an imminent eruption.

What was a rural community of about 1,200 people in 1990 grew by 5,000 people by 2000, and stands at more than 20,000 today. According to the town’s comprehensive plan, build-out population is slated to hit 40,000 by 2025.

“The fact that the residential development is falling in place … retailers see that,” Fred Diehl, assistant to the town administrator, said recently. “Long-term growth opportunities are in Erie – and not at the expense of any quality of life.”

To be sure, new commercial construction has some catching up to do with the housing in Erie. Only one such project – the Boulder Valley Velodrome – is under construction, and just two others – an 18,000-square-foot industrial/flex building on Carbon Court and a Kum & Go gas station on Bonanza Drive – are in the design review process with the city.

But the people building in the town can clearly see the merits.

Frank Banta, who is developing the velodrome along with Doug Emerson, owner of Boulder’s University Cycles bike shop, said the decision to build in Erie was a relatively easy one. The population is booming and young. Land is less expensive than in other cities in Boulder County. The town has easy access to Interstate 25 and thus easy access from Denver and Fort Collins as well as Boulder County. Besides, Banta said, Erie wanted his business.

“The town of Erie was much more receptive through the development process,´ said Banta, who expects his 250-meter bike track to be open for riding in a couple months and completely finished sometime next year. “They have a welcoming attitude. They want to grow.”

Economic growth undoubtedly was on Erie officials’ minds when they decided to opt out of the intergovernmental agreement that included most of the communities in Boulder County. Diehl declined to comment on how that would affect development in the community but acknowledged that the town is interested in maximizing its retail potential at its major intersections and along routes such as U.S. Highway 287 and Colorado Highway 7.
Erie is overt about touting its business friendliness, not to mention at with whom it aims to directly compete for business activity. A section on the city’s website titled “Think outside the bubble” doesn’t mention Boulder specifically. But there’s a drawing of a man in a business suit, surrounded by a bubble and thoughts of 2B and 2C (references to Boulder’s electric utility municipalization efforts), walking a Wizard of Oz-like path to a bucolic small town.

“There is life outside the Boulder bubble,” Diehl said. “Erie has room to grow.”

In trying to lure businesses, the town has hired an economic development coordinator in the past year, as well as other staff tasked with recruiting retail and primary-employer activity. It’s also finding creative ways to work with businesses, such as allowing Echo Brewing Co. to renovate a former downtown fire station in lieu of lease payments, with an option to buy the space from the city after three years.

That growing population, though, likely remains the biggest driver for growth in business demand. Through the recession, Erie churned out more than 100 residential units per year, according to Diehl. The town budgeted for 150 residential building permits for this year and already has issued more than 160.

Steve Ward of Ward Plumbing and Heating in Boulder has gotten into the development game of late, and has Erie pegged for one of his first projects, the aforementioned 18,000-square-foot flex building. Ward is planning to build the building on spec, although he’s had no shortage of interest in the space even though he’s yet to even get building permits.

“A bunch of (potential tenants) keep calling me on it,” Ward said.

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