Foothills lots may be offered soon

BOULDER – After a long gestation period, a new exclusive enclave at the foot of Mount Sanitas could begin selling high-end home sites as soon as 2014.

Design guidelines for the Trailhead project are posted online by Surround Architecture, the firm that has stewarded the project through the city of Boulder’s planning process, as well as a promotional site hosted by real estate developer Moonbeam Boulder LLC.

The guidelines show the detail of 23 lots ranging in size from slightly more than 6,000 square feet to one that totals nearly 27,000 square feet. Tentative architectural drawings reveal plans for smaller “cottage” homes and larger “carriage” houses that appear to match the historic content of the adjacent Mapleton and Newlands neighborhoods, where many homes fall under the purview of Boulder’s Landmarks Board.

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While the purchase of a Trailhead lot does not mandate the use of a design by Surround Architecture, the development’s design guidelines parallel those of the city that are set forth in the area plan that governs the neighborhood.

“The point was to have a development that feels effectively like an extension of the Mapleton and Newlands developments with smaller lot sizes and a lot of front porches facing the street,´ said Karl Geiler, the case manager assigned to the Trailhead development by the city’s Planning and Development Services Department.

Despite a bulletin that reads “Now selling!” on the Moonbeam web page, its developers have declined to broadcast the availability of the lots to the general public until the site’s infrastructure is closer to completion. Despite that hesitation, interested clients already are negotiating contracts and one building permit already is in review at the city’s planning division.

Project developer Moonbeam is owned by Boulder-based real estate developer Christopher Foreman. Foreman is also listed as president of Moonbeam Investment Corp., a Chicago-based operating entity of multiple LLCs and corporations. He could not be reached for comment.

Contrary to a traditional real estate development, the Trailhead project will sell home sites, leading eventually to a small developed neighborhood in the heart of the foothills, with walkable proximity to downtown Boulder and adjacent open space. Prices for the lots are anticipated to range from $500,000 to $1.2 million.

One of the major advantages of the development to consumers is the ability to custom build a new, energy-efficient home on the west side of Boulder. Its development as a high-end neighborhood ensures that residents will be near homes with similar value and design aesthetics.

Moonbeam purchased the 5.84-acre parcel for $4.6 million three years ago. The property was home to Boulder Junior Academy, a school run by the Seventh-day Adventists. The school was demolished in 2008 and the Junior Academy Area Plan was approved by the city in 2009.

The initial timeline for the project, posted on Moonbeam’s community board, initially indicated that all infrastructure improvements would be finished by the end of December. However, historic flooding in Boulder this fall is likely to cause setbacks.

Advocates from the nonprofit organization Friends of Mount Sanitas voiced concerns about the Trailhead development including site density, traffic circulation, the construction schedule, and parking. However, the concerns largely have been mitigated in the approved site review.

“There were definitely people that were against the process but there have been more controversial projects on this site in the past,” Geiler said. “Following the adoption of the area plan, it helped to inform how this site would get developed. While there were people that were against it, I would say that it was actually less controversial because the density had actually been lowered compared to previous plans.”