Nordstrom closure a step toward mixed-used redevelopment at FlatIron Crossing

BROOMFIELD — While the impending permanent closure of the Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) department store location at FlatIron Crossing in Broomfield will undoubtedly result in a blow to the city and county’s sales-tax receipts, Broomfield leaders say they hope the closure helps facilitate a large-scale redevelopment effort at the mall site.

“We’ve been working with [FlatIron Crossing landlord Macerich Co.] in more detail over the past year and a half about the redevelopment of a portion of FlatIron Crossing — the addition of some residential uses, some hotel uses, some offices and some green open areas,” Broomfield deputy city manager Kevin Standbridge told BizWest.

Preliminary conceptual plans, reviewed last year by the Broomfield City Council, call for the phased construction of a 100- to 200-room hotel, 650 to 850 residential units, 415,000 square feet of office space, a five-story parking garage with 850 spaces and a 3,000-square-foot pavilion to be built just south of the existing Nordstrom site. 

“We continue to reimagine what the property can look like,” Broomfield city manager Jennifer Hoffman said Friday during a town hall teleconference with city leaders and residents.

The closure of the Nordstrom store, expected to occur by August, “will certainly accelerate those efforts.”

Despite the early buy-in by Broomfield officials, redevelopment efforts may prove tricky as the roughly 84,000-square-foot, 20-year-old Nordstrom store is owned by Nordstrom, not Macerich.

“I’m sure we will be involved with the discussion at some point [about] what Nordstrom’s plans are and how that might fit into the larger look of FlatIron Crossing,” Standbridge said.

Macerich and Nordstrom representatives did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

The FlatIron Crossing store is among 16 Nordstrom locations that will be shuttered permanently.

“Our goal is to best position ourselves to serve customers in each market where we operate. Because of the impacts COVID-19 has had on our business, we need to take a critical look at the physical footprint of our stores to determine which we will continue to operate,” a Nordstrom spokeswoman said in an email Friday. “To respond to the impacts of COVID-19 and ensure we’re able to continue serving customers well into the future, we will be closing 16 of our fleet of full-line stores, including Nordstrom Broomfield. We selected these 16 stores based on a variety of factors, including the unique needs of the market, the current state of our business and real estate agreements.”

While Standbridge was unable to disclose how reliant Broomfield is on Nordstrom or any other single retailer for sales-tax revenue, he said, “Nordtrom has had a good 20-year run at FlatIron Crossing.”

Of the closure, he added: “We’re very disappointed but not entirely surprised.”

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