Loveland URA extends Draper start, end date

LOVELAND — Members of the Loveland Urban Renewal Authority board gave a nod of approval to a request from developers of the downtown Draper project to extend the startup and completion deadlines for the project.

The approval means that the developers, BH Developers Inc., will have until March 15, 2025, to start the project and until March 15, 2027, for substantial completion. The extension still needs approval from the Loveland City Council.

BH Developers, a trade name of Burgener Holdings Inc., delayed the start of the project because of multiple factors, including the pandemic, interest rates, and supply chain issues.

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The five-story Draper project, at the corner of Fourth and Lincoln streets, will incorporate five existing buildings and, when complete, will comprise 108,925 square feet, with 96 residential units and 14,559 square feet of commercial space.

A five-story garage at the corner of Fifth Street and Jefferson Avenue, jointly developed by BH and the city with the city retaining ownership, will replace 56 parking spots on the surface parking lot in that location and replace them with 277 spaces in the parking garage. With 106 spots on the upper levels dedicated to Draper residents, the downtown will see a net increase of 115 parking spaces. 

The Draper corner was at one time home to the Heartland Cafe but before that was the location of Draper Drug. LURA commissioner Troy Krenning, quoting former city mayor Cecil Gutierrez, said the project will replace the “plywood palace” at that corner — a building that has been boarded up since 2015. “It will change the character of the downtown for the good,” Krenning said.

The extension request was approved 11-1 with Loveland Mayor Jacki Marsh voting against. She called the Draper a “beautiful project but in the wrong place. It shouldn’t be on Fourth Street,” which she characterized as the historic center of the community. She would have preferred to see the parking garage built behind the Pulliam Building west of Cleveland Avenue.

In other business, the LURA board, in its organizational meeting after last year’s city council elections, voted unanimously to name Larimer County Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally as LURA chair and voted 7-5 to name Marsh as vice chair.