Scope of project defined for Boulder retail analysis

BOULDER – The scope of work for the Boulder Valley Regional Center market demand analysis commissioned by the Boulder Urban Renewal Authority (BURA) has been agreed to by Calif.-based Economic Research Associates (ERA) and work will begin immediately.

Brad Power, executive director of BURA, said the analysis will look at opportunities the authority can advocate over the next three years and would focus more on the business district anchored by Crossroads Mall as a Boulder-centered economic entity rather than on the area as a regional retail center. “We are in transition,” he said. The regional center has moved down the highway, according to Power, and the city of Boulder needs to find where market trends lie to be commercially successful.

The market demand analysis consists of seven tasks and includes a public hearing of the draft strategy report near the end of the 14-week study. The major block of time will be spent by the ERA at the beginning of the analysis meeting with representatives of BURA, the city and major property owners in the district for orientation, brainstorming and site reconnaissance. ERA consultants and the local groups will discuss the project area’s history and vision and Boulder’s long-term plan and development and economic objectives.

The second task, scheduled for the seventh week, is the process of collecting data and market analysis regarding:

* Economic, employment, demographic and tourism trends;

* Land use policies;

* Commercial retail, office, hotel and residential trends, rents and occupancy levels;

* Land sales;

* Dining and entertainment (including movie theater) trends;

* Characteristics of competing areas, existing and planned;

* Planned and proposed major infrastructure and public facility improvements;

* Planned and proposed commercial development proposals in the market area;

* Specific characteristics of the Broomfield commercial development;

* Taxable sales trends in the study area, Boulder and the region;

* Commercial business license data in the study area and Boulder;

* Inventory of vacant space and parcels in the study area;

* Property ownership; and

* Tax increment formula and trends in the study area.

The information will allow ERA to describe redevelopment efforts in a market context.

In task three, to be completed by the tenth week of the study, the consultants will formulate three alternative market niches for the district. Mixed-use areas will be evaluated as cohesive concepts and not as an assembly of separate uses, according to ERA. The deliverable from this step will be a matrix of uses vs. a set of criteria that includes the Boulder General Plan, city and BURA objectives, property owner concerns, market context, economic issues and trends in commercial real estate development.

The last four tasks include market projections, detailed evaluation of alternative redevelopment concepts and recommendations. Market projections will address Boulder’s ability to capture regional retail and commercial-entertainment buying power, future demand for office space, lodging capacity and future hotel demand, residential demand and cultural and recreational uses.

ERA’s quantitative analysis will identify potential uses that the district’s market could support based on emerging competitive markets and Boulder’s existing commercial districts, and the firm will evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in each alternative redevelopment concept from a market and planning perspective. When the comment period is complete about week 14, ERA will prepare and deliver the final strategy report.

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