COLORADO | Front Range Development Thread #2

[Cirrus]

After more than 8 long years, the original Front Range development thread has reached 10,000 posts. It's therefore time to start a new one.

First, one quick question

At the tail end of the last thread, Zmapper suggested splitting this up into separate threads for the northern Front Range (Ft Collins, Boulder) and southern (Colorado Springs, Pueblo). What's the feeling of the group? Should we?

While we're on the subject, do people feel non-Front Range things like Grand Junction belong here? What about Denver suburbs? Do they go here or in the Denver thread?

I'm happy taking a laissez-faire approach and just letting whatever happens happen, but if the rest of you want to define the thread more stringently, or split it into multiple threads, or whatever, now's a good time to have that discussion. And if there's a strong feeling one way or the other, I'll rename/close/split/whatever this thread as needed.

[seventwenty]

First.

[seventwenty]

Drive in theaters! http://www.denverpost.com/adamsco/ci...ource=infinite

Originally Posted by Denver Post

The CEO and co-owner of the Denver Mart, John Doyle, is working to build a 300,000-square-foot theater space in the pavilion parking lot on the northwest portion of the 28-acre Denver Mart Complex at 451 E. 58th Ave. in southwest Adams County.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

At the tail end of the last thread, Zmapper suggested splitting this up into separate threads for the northern Front Range (Ft Collins, Boulder) and southern (Colorado Springs, Pueblo). What's the feeling of the group? Should we?

We shouldn't. There's crap-all happening in Colorado Springs that's interesting urban development wise and the rest of the areas are too small to justify their own threads. It's better to lump them all together and just admit that it's pretty much the unofficial Fort Collins Development Thread.

[bunt_q]

Agreed, it's working just fine the way it is. I don't think it needs to include Denver suburbs, but occasionally when it happens, it's not the end of the world. No change needed.

[seventwenty]

25-acre tech park planned in Arapahoe County

Originally Posted by DBJ

A 25-acre technology park anchored by Swiss machining and automation manufacturing company The Mikron Group will break ground Tuesday in unincorporated Arapahoe County near Dove Valley Regional Park.

Potomac Technology Park, a $16 million development, will include a 70,000-square-foot build-to-suit office and flex industrial building for Mikron Automation, which will relocate and expand its operations from Aurora. Mikron is based in Biel, Switzerland, and has locations all over the world.

. . .

Potomac Technology Park will also include 350,00 square feet of planned speculative buildings, including another flex industrial building, meaning that it can accommodate both industrial and office uses.

The project will be built in phases, said Marshall Burton, partner at Confluent Development Services LLC, the developer on Potomac Technology Park. The first phase will include the two industrial buildings, while the second phase will include a two-story, 53,800-square-foot office building.

After the construction of the first three buildings, there will be 13 remaining acres that can be developed, Burton said, though plans for that space are not yet clear.

[Denver Dweller]

http://www.greeleytribune.com/news/1...ors-to-windsor

[Zmapper]

A six-story student housing complex is coming to 310 S. College (former Perkins):
http://www.fcgov.com/developmentrevi...ollege_pdr.pdf

[seventwenty]

I changed my mind. I want a Pueblo-centric thread.

[wong21fr]

Well, I guess stuff does go on in Colorado Springs, and something good for once:

Sierra Nevada Corp. unit gets incentives to create 1,300 Colorado jobs

A new unit of Sierra Nevada Corp. will create more than 1,300 jobs at a new $88 million campus in Colorado Springs where the technology company will create jet interiors and overhaul aircraft for corporations and heads of state.
Colorado Economic Development Commission members unanimously approved $23.2 million in state incentives Thursday for the new division, called Sierra Completions. It's the largest job-growth incentives package ever awarded by the state.
The state package will be combined with $357 million in incentives given to the project by the city of Colorado Springs and by El Paso County, largely in the form of a recently approved sales-tax exemption on material that will be used in manufacturing.

Good job luring a defense contractor looking to diversify it's product lines outside of the 'ol military industrial complex. This will also help make use of COS' pathetically underused airport.

[TakeFive]

^^ Yeah, that's B.I.G.

Piggybacking on your link:

Colorado beat out South Carolina for the jobs, officials said.

EDC members were effusive in their praise for the work that company and city officials did to land the campus. Commissioner Chuck Murphy, who is from El Paso County, called it a "dream come true for Colorado Springs and southern Colorado."

Sierra Nevada officials noted also that their facility will be one of only a few aircraft completion centers in the U.S. capable of accommodating the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 747 and 787, which are among the largest wide-body aircraft in the world.

I'm really, really impressed with this win. One more quote:

Colorado's landing of the campus is important both for the direct economic impact and because the size of the effort is likely to attract supplier companies to the area as well, said Michelle Hadwiger, director of corporate development at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

I'm mid-way through reading a 20 page Executive Summary for what Arizona hopes to be a new winning strategy. It was a collaborative effort with he Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program; RW Ventures of Chicago; and Stanford Research Institute International, a globally recognized research and commercialization firm. Still, in some respects it feels like Arizona is two decades behind Colorado, which is not to say they can't play catchup over time.

I'm almost surprised that Arizona wasn't considered... or maybe they were along with several other states that got a look-see but didn't make the cuts. Arizona actually has more aerospace/defense workers than Colorado but not by a lot as this sector has shrunken quite a bit, especially as Honeywell has moved jobs to Mexico and Eastern Europe, for example.

Certainly not as impressive as South Carolina winning the new Boeing production facility but this could become the nexus for a nice industry cluster, hopefully. What's good for Co. Springs is good for the State and for Denver as the financial/sports/transportation and cultural center of the state.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Denver Dweller

http://www.greeleytribune.com/news/1...ors-to-windsor

That sounds pretty interesting. Hard to tell how real it is but it otherwise seems like a worthwhile recipient of the Colorado’s Regional Tourism Act.

[EngiNerd]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Well, I guess stuff does go on in Colorado Springs, and something good for once:

Sierra Nevada Corp. unit gets incentives to create 1,300 Colorado jobs



Good job luring a defense contractor looking to diversify it's product lines outside of the 'ol military industrial complex. This will also help make use of COS' pathetically underused airport.

Sounds like this is an entirely new subsidiary, so its likely their Centennial and Louisville centers stay as well. This is great news for COS. I'm actually surprised Front Range airport wasn't in the running for this too.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by EngiNerd

Sounds like this is an entirely new subsidiary, so its likely their Centennial and Louisville centers stay as well. This is great news for COS. I'm actually surprised Front Range airport wasn't in the running for this too.

The runways at Front Range are probably too small for the type of aircraft that they envision retrofitting.

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

The runways at Front Range are probably too small for the type of aircraft that they envision retrofitting.

Probably had at least something to do with it.

From the article:

Sierra Nevada officials noted also that their facility will be one of only a few aircraft completion centers in the U.S. capable of accommodating the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 747 and 787, which are among the largest wide-body aircraft in the world.

Front Range Airport:

2 runways, both 8,000' x 100'.
Weight bearing capacity on runway 17/35, the stronger of the 2 runways:
Single wheel: 34.0
Double wheel: 75.0


Colorado Springs Airport:
3 runways, largest being 17R/35L at 11022' x 150'.

Weight bearing capacity of 17R/35L:
Single wheel: 75.0
Double wheel: 175.0
Double tandem: 340.0
Dual double tandem: 750.0


Denver International Airport:
6 runways of at least 12,000' x 150'.

Weight bearing capacity on all runways:
PCN 92 /R/B/W/T
Single wheel: 116.0
Double wheel: 240.0
Double tandem: 515.0
Dual double tandem: 1085.0

Only 2 of those airports could land a 747, and only 1 of them was able to provide "$357 million in incentives [from] the city of Colorado Springs and by El Paso County." (per the article). The article did not mention if Denver provided any incentives for something that would fit nicely in at the airport city.

[EngiNerd]

Originally Posted by seventwenty

Probably had at least something to do with it.

From the article:



Front Range Airport:

2 runways, both 8,000' x 100'.
Weight bearing capacity on runway 17/35, the stronger of the 2 runways:
Single wheel: 34.0
Double wheel: 75.0


Colorado Springs Airport:
3 runways, largest being 17R/35L at 11022' x 150'.

Weight bearing capacity of 17R/35L:
Single wheel: 75.0
Double wheel: 175.0
Double tandem: 340.0
Dual double tandem: 750.0


Denver International Airport:
6 runways of at least 12,000' x 150'.

Weight bearing capacity on all runways:
PCN 92 /R/B/W/T
Single wheel: 116.0
Double wheel: 240.0
Double tandem: 515.0
Dual double tandem: 1085.0

Only 2 of those airports could land a 747, and only 1 of them was able to provide "$357 million in incentives [from] the city of Colorado Springs and by El Paso County." (per the article). The article did not mention if Denver provided any incentives for something that would fit nicely in at the airport city.

Thanks for that, I had always assumed Front Range was used or going to be used for big cargo planes, but I guess that isn't the case.

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by EngiNerd

Thanks for that, I had always assumed Front Range was used or going to be used for big cargo planes, but I guess that isn't the case.

It was going to be a cargo airport at one time.

Early last year aviation consultancy SH&E undertook a study here focused on identifying compatible business development strategies. Completed in August, the study articulated reasons the airport has not realized some growth goals, and identified opportunities thought to be achievable.

Air cargo and scheduled passenger service were identified as non-attainable; however, the upper end of general aviation, military, and aircraft storage were identified as target opportunities, explains Heap.

“Front Range began as a GA airport and was going to become a cargo mecca,” he says. “At one point, both FedEx and UPS had signed to be here, and FAA started putting money into the airport [in the early ‘90s].

“All of that was coming together, but due to cost overruns and other issues, cargo went back to DEN; FAA stopped developing for that.”

Even wiki says the 2011 Front Range Space Port concept had a major setback in 2012; citing financial incentives, the company backing the project moved to Texas.

Really, why would you build commercial infrastructure at Front Range when DIA's cargo area is about 10 miles away?

[EngiNerd]

Originally Posted by seventwenty

It was going to be a cargo airport at one time.



Even wiki says the 2011 Front Range Space Port concept had a major setback in 2012; citing financial incentives, the company backing the project moved to Texas.

Really, why would you build commercial infrastructure at Front Range when DIA's cargo area is about 10 miles away?

Well, if I recall, it was more than just air cargo, they also wanted to integrate a freight rail and trucking hub into it as well to make it kind of one stop transfer hub. Obviously that never happened.

[seventwenty]

Cross-post: Lone Tree passed a defects reform ordinance.

[TakeFive]

Now that the Denver Suburban thread has been officially closed - a fine idea I might add - this thread is designated as being inclusive of the Denver Suburbs. Delighted for the clarification; thank you seventwenty.

I started out earlier to figure out how much new apartment construction was going on in the Denver suburbs. I wasn't interested in Boulder County or Douglas County but rather everything in between. So far I've found is the 300 unit Alta Cherry Hills at 3650 So. Broadway which is in the completion phase and the 250 unit Meadows at Platte Canyon under construction.

In Lakewood there's The Zephyr Line Apartments near the Wadsworth light-rail stop which is to be 95 affordable apartment. There's also the 267 unit Union West apartments near the Federal light-rail station. In Arvada there's the 153 unit Park Place Olde Town project.

Centennial had a 300 unit apartment recently completed at 7700 E. Peakview. In Aurora there's.... crickets.

I could have missed some and I know there's TOD plans in Adams County but clearly there's few apartments being built outside of the City of Denver at this time.