Broomfield vehicle storage to expand as redevelopment awaits

BROOMFIELD — The owners — a local development company — of a Broomfield property where the Storage Farm vehicle-storage facility operates recently won approval to expand that business’ capacity, a move they say will help them bring in some income while they wait for more-favorable conditions to redevelop the site. 

The eight-acre site at 16000 Huron Street — owned by 16000 Huron LLC, a holding company registered to the Louisville address of developer Boulder Creek Neighborhoods — has 66 oversized parking spaces for boats, recreational vehicles and trailers. A use-review approval granted this week by Broomfield City Council allows for an additional 44 spaces to be added.

As property taxes have increased, “we just need a small incremental expansion to help carry the property” until utilities and transportation infrastructure is in place in the surrounding area and the property has “much better viability for development,” Boulder Creek director of entitlements Mike Cooper told city officials. 

The Huron Street property, which is near the Baseline mega-development and is adjacent to producing oil and gas wells, “was originally acquired with the intention of residential development or mixed use-residential development,” Cooper said, but Broomfield’s adoption of new well setback regulations about three years ago caused a shift if strategy. “The site will ultimately be a light-industrial use or a commercial use.”

The property will “likely serve as an extension of the Baseline industrial district,” he said. 

Broomfield real estate records show that 16000 Huron LLC bought the property in 2021 from the Wennstedt family for $2.7 million.

There were concerns this week from Broomfield officials about allowing an outdoor storage facility to expand, given the property’s location along a main entry corridor to the city and the Baseline district.

“Outdoor storage does not advance the well-designed and cohesive image desired for this area, and is not the most aesthetically pleasing operation,” according to a Broomfield planning memo.

Staff and project representatives stressed that the storage business is not expected to be permanent. 

Cooper said the hope is to start building on the site within about three to five years.