Northern Colorado awash in commercial developments

LOVELAND — Dozens of commercial development projects are working their way through planning departments throughout Northern Colorado, ranging from The Foundry project in downtown Loveland to continued redevelopment of the former Hewlett-Packard Co. campus in west Greeley.

Major developments were featured in two Breaking Ground sessions at BizWest’s inaugural Northern Colorado Real Estate Summit, Tuesday, at the Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center in Loveland. The all-day event focuses on commercial and residential real estate trends and attracted more than 400 attendees.

The sessions featured officials representing more than a dozen Northern Colorado communities and universities, each one highlighting major projects either under construction or in the development-review process. Some of the major projects include:

Berthoud — presented by Curt Freese, assistant city manager, town of Berthoud.

Most of Berthoud’s development is residential, with TPC Colorado, a new golf-course community opening for play in June for members, with an official opening in August. The development includes a PGA course and is slated for 1,300 residential units.

Berthoud is seeing commercial development along the Interstate 25 corridor, including a Love’s truck stop, the Berthoud Technological Center and the 1,600-acre Wilson Ranch, backed by Bill Gates-backed Front Range Holdings LLC.

Brighton — presented by Holly Prather, community development director, city of Brighton

• Prairie Center, a 1,200-acre, mixed-use development that will include 3,500 residential units, 240 acres of parks and open space and 2 million square feet of commercial when complete. A Hobby Lobby and 88-room Holiday Inn Express are under construction.
• 50th and Bridge streets: Multiple corners present development opportunities for this area that has ample nearby residential, including Brighton Commons, a shopping center offering retail shops, pad sites and a storage facility.
• Interstate 76 and U.S. Highway 85 corridors: Ground will break ground soon on the first component of the 76 commerce center, which will eventually include 1.8 million square feet of industrial space in six buildings.
• Core city: Brighton has been investing funds in its historic downtown, with additional plans for a Downtown Parklet, featuring a sidewalk extension into on-street parking spaces, as well as a downtown plaza. Brighton also recently created a historic district downtown.

Colorado State University — presented by Fred Haberecht, university planner, Colorado State University

CSU over the past 10 years has grown its physical footprint from 8 million square feet to 12 million square feet, Haberecht said, including recent investments totaling $1.4 billion. Several major projects were completed in 2017, including the new CSU Stadium, the CSU Health and Medical Center, relocation of football practice fields and completion of a pedestrian-bicycle underpass at Shields and Elizabeth streets.

Projects under construction include the Corbett/Parmelee Dining Center Renovation, the Michael Smith Natural Resources Building, Richardson Design Center, JBS Global Food Innovation Center, C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute and Horse Barn and an Anatomy/Zoology building addition.

Evans — Presented by Paula Mehle, economic-development manager, city of Evans

• Advanced Health Care, a 24-hour, inpatient, post-acute rehabilitation facility, located south of Sam’s Club near 23rd Avenue at 2477 Anchor Drive.
• IBA Dairy Depot/Cimarron Energy. Cimarron will expand into a 9,200-square-foot industrial building on 42nd Street.
• U.S. Highway 85 corridor. The city is working to enhance the corridor, with code changes and other improvements to encourage development and redevelopment in the area. Much of the area falls within a new “Opportunity Zone” submitted by the state of Colorado to federal officials. The zones allow businesses to write off some capital gains from investments made within the zones.

Fort Collins — Did not present.

Greeley — Presented by Brad Mueller, director of community development, city of Greeley.

• UCHealth Greeley Hospital, a 53-bed, 153,000-square-foot hospital, with an adjacent 112,000-square-foot health center. The project is located at 71st Avenue and U.S. Highway 34 Bypass.
• City Center West. This redevelopment of the former Hewlett-Packard Co. campus includes a 52-bed Montessori personalized memory-care center, retail, office, a charter school and residential.
• Centerplace North, including a 54-bed nursing facility, located between residential and commercial developments.
• City Center, a new city hall and fire station under construction in downtown Greeley, with completion scheduled for summer of 2018.
• Richmark Cos. is building a three-building residential and retail complex, with construction to begin later this year and with completion in 2019.
• University of Northern Colorado Campus Commons, a $76.3 million project that will function as a support hub for students. The project will include a 600-seat performance venue and a 400-seat auditorium.

Longmont — presented by Shawn Lewis, assistant city manager and acting development manager, city of Longmont

• South Main Station, a $67 million, mixed-use development that will include 315 residential units and 10,000 square feet of retail space. The project is on the former site of the Butterball turkey plant.
• 1st & Main Transit Center: This multimodal transit center would provide an eventual terminus for FasTracks, the Denver metro area’s rail line.

Loveland — presented by Kelly Jones, economic-development director, city of Loveland.

• The Foundry, a multi-block project in downtown Loveland that will include a 525-seat movie theater, 59,000 square feet of office/hotel, 15,000 square feet of retail, 155 residential units, a 460-space parking garage, and public plazas, alleyway and streetscape improvements.
• The Brands at the Ranch. This 2.2 million-square-foot mixed-use development will straddle Interstate 25, and will be located both in Loveland and Windsor.
• Northern Colorado Regional Airport, which opened as general-aviation airport in 1963, will construct an $8 million remote control tower that is designed to promote renewed scheduled passenger service at the facility, which is owned equally by the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland.
• Heartland Development, 46,000-square-foot redevelopment at Fourth and Lincoln streets. The project will include 47 rental units and retail.

Tri-Towns/Weld County — presented by Rich Werner, CEO, Upstate Colorado Economic Development

• Agilent Technologies Nucleic Acid Solutions facility, a, $175 million investment at 7051 Eagle Blvd. in Frederick. The facility is under construction and eventually will employ 175, including high-level chemical engineers.

Werner noted that the area’s industrial real estate stands at 2 percent to 3 percent vacant, indicating high demand for industrial space.

“For those of you who are building things, keep building,” Werner said.

Several projects seek to capitalize on that demand, including some on Interstate 76 and on the U.S. Highway 85 corridor, Werner said.

Wellington — presented by Cody Bird, town planner, town of Wellington

Wellington is exploring commercial and industrial development along Interstate 25, as well as the Sixth Street and Colorado Highway 1 corridors. Major projects include:

• Boxelder Business Park, where developers are building light-industrial, flex space.
• Wellington Business Center, with multitenant flex space.
• Main Street revitalization, with improvements made to encourage reinvestment in the downtown core, such as the recent Papa’s Table and Soul Squared Taproom.

Windsor — presented by Stacy Johnson, economic-development director, town of Windsor.

Windsor boasts 7,300 acres of land available for commercial development, Johnson said, with a current population of 30,000 expected to reach 100,000 at full capacity. Among the notable projects:

• Rocky Mountain Sports Park, located on the northwest corner of Weld County Road 74 and Colorado Highway 257. Originally slated to be an industrial park, the $225 million development will include baseball fields, hotels and commercial projects.
• Windsor Mill, a 28,000-square-foot redevelopment of a historic mill. The project will include restaurants and office space.
• Windsor Backlots: Brinkman will develop three to five acres with a mixed-use residential and commercial project. Conceptual drawings are expected in June or July.
• East Pointe, located on the southeast corner of Colorado Highways 392 and 257, will include retail and possibly a hotel.
• Falcon Point Business Park, near Colorado Highways 392 and 257, is seeing various construction projects, including spec buildings.
• Great Western Industrial Park. This 3,000-acre rail-served business park, complete with a foreign-trade zone — recently converted some residential land to industrial and commercial uses. New occupants could join existing businesses Vestas, OI, Cargill, Halliburton and Hexcel.
• Highlands Industrial Park, located across from the Walmart Distribution Center, is almost sold out. The 22-acre limited industrial park includes Wagner Rents, AP Restoration, Titan Machinery, Pinkee’s Rod Shop, Advanced Roofing and Elder Construction. Schuman Cos. Inc. of Fort Collins is representing Windsor Center LLC, which is building a spec building in the park.
• The Brands East. This is the Windsor portion of the massive The Brands project, with retail and limited industrial uses.

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