COVER STORY, MARCH 2005

COLORING COLORADO WITH RETAIL
Retail developers respond to mountains of demand with dynamic projects.
Brian A. Lee

To open in fall 2006, Twenty Ninth Street is a redevelopment by Westcor of an old, enclosed mall into an 850,000-square-foot shopping and entertainment district in Boulder, Colorado.

Colorado is known for its wonderful natural scenery, but now with the mountains of new developments happening in the state, the retail scene is vying for more attention than ever. Lifestyle, power and town centers along with mixed-use projects seem to be popping up everywhere across the Centennial State.  

In September 2004, Westcor began demolition of the former Crossroads Mall in Boulder, Colorado, to make way for the construction of Twenty Ninth Street, an open-air retail district located on 62 acres in the heart of town. The grand opening of the 850,000-square-foot shopping and entertainment venue is scheduled for fall 2006.

Twenty Ninth Street will consist of three distinct components: the district’s center featuring shops, boutiques, restaurants and cafes that will be book-ended by Foley’s to the north and the new Century Theatres 16-plex movie theater to the south; the southwest part, to be anchored by a 35,000-square-foot Wild Oats Natural Marketplace; and the development’s southeast area, which will include The Home Depot. The development will also offer approximately 140,000 square feet of Class A office space, part of which will be the new corporate headquarters for Wild Oats.

Currently, the sole operating retailer at Twenty Ninth Street is Foley’s, which will remain open and accessible to shoppers throughout the entire construction process. Ruby’s Diner, Pei Wei Asian Diner and Soma Café will head up the restaurant lineup at Boulder’s new retail district.

The Twenty Ninth Street project team consists of lead designer Communication Arts, general contactor The Weitz Company, project architect SEM Architects and landscape architect DHM Design. Founded in 1964, developer Westcor was acquired by The Macerich Company in 2002, but not before becoming one of the leading shopping center owners, operators and developers in Arizona and Colorado.

South of Boulder and just west of Denver, a similar de-malling project is taking place. The city of Lakewood has partnered with Continuum Partners to create Belmar, a $750 million redevelopment of an old, enclosed mall into a 22-block town center. At completion, the mixed-use property will consist of 1.1 million square feet of retail space, 800,000 square feet of office space, approximately 1,300 residential units and a hotel. Construction of Belmar’s second phase, which will feature the largest Whole Foods Market in the Denver metro area, began in November 2004.

Forest City West is developing the $200 million NorthField at Stapleton, a 1.25 million-square-foot lifestyle and entertainment center located on the site of the former Stapleton Airport in Denver.

On the other side of Denver, Forest City West, a division of Cleveland, Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises, will develop NorthField at Stapleton, a 1.25 million-square-foot lifestyle and entertainment center. The $200 million development, which will also include 40,000 square feet of small office space, will be the third retail center in the Stapleton development. In 1998, Forest City was selected to redevelop the site of the former Stapleton airport, which spans 7.2 square miles and 4,700 acres.

Construction on NorthField at Stapleton’s Main Street component is well underway. Also, work has begun on a Super Target and an 180,000-square-foot Bass Pro Outdoor World. An 18-screen, 87,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Harkins Theatre megaplex will begin construction shortly. The first phase of the development, to include Super Target, Circuit City and Bass Pro Outdoor World, will open late this year. The remainder of NorthField at Stapleton will open in 2006. Already 50 percent of the development is pre-leased.

“NorthField at Stapleton is being built at the northern portion of Interstate 70, at the juncture of two freeways where there is also a major void in the market,” says Brian Jones, president of Forest City West. “It is part of the new area being rapidly developed residentially and commercially between Denver International Airport (DIA) and downtown Denver.”

Bass Pro Outdoor World’s coming to NorthField at Stapleton is notable not only because it is the retailer’s first entrée into the Colorado market, but it will be the only location in the region, according to Jones. “People come many miles to visit and shop at Bass Pro destination stores, which are reminiscent of an old Adirondack lodge,” he says. The lifestyle and entertainment development has also attracted a Foley’s department store, eight to 10 “mini-anchors” and more than 50 smaller shops along NorthField’s Main Street area.

Denver-based The Mulhern Group is coordinating the retail project with architects Elkus Manfredi Ltd. of Boston and Field Paoli Architects of San Francisco. “We are pleased to have a local lead architect, but we utilize ideas from more than one firm to assure that each of the 20 buildings has a distinctive look and to get the best group thinking on design,” says Jones.

It’s a good move as a retail developer to have a player in the game, so to speak, in Aurora, Colorado, the fastest growing residential market in the Denver metropolitan area and third largest city in the state. With its fingers squarely on the pulse of Colorado retail, it’s little surprise that Forest City West has a presence there.

Saddle Rock Village, a project of Forest City West and JCI Development, will be completed in 2006.

Scheduled to open in late 2006, Saddle Rock Village’s second phase, located on the south side of E-470, will consist of three major anchors and 20 additional stores.

“Saddle Rock Village is located in an area with solid development and the highest average household income in the region as a result of the completion of E-470,” says Forest City West’s Jones. “It is strategically positioned to benefit from traffic to and from Denver International Airport, the fifth busiest airport in the United States. Most importantly, the shoppers in this region were underserved with quality retail.”

JCI Development purchased the 43-acre parcel in March 2002. After securing Target as the anchor in fall 2002, JCI partnered with Forest City West. The Mulhern Group is the project architect, and Norris Dullea Company is the landscape architect. W.E. O’Neil is the general contractor for Saddle Rock Village.

Up I-25 in Johnstown, Colorado, a development group led by Chrisland Companies is developing the $50 million, 500,000-square-foot The Plaza at 2534. The shopping center, which will feature shopping, dining and entertainment, will serve as the gateway to the 500-acre mixed-use development 2534. Groundbreaking for the development took place in 2004.

The Arrabelle at Vail Square in Vail, Colorado, will incorporate varied architectural styles to evoke the ambience of European pedestrian villages.

General contractor Shaw Construction, Denver-based architect 4240 Architecture and retail planner Thomas Consultants Inc. are teaming up with the developer on the 569,300-square-foot project. Based in Avon, Colorado, Vail Resorts Development Company is a subsidiary of Vail Resorts Inc., which was founded in 1962.

“This redevelopment is arguably the most significant project in Vail since LionsHead was originally built,” says Paul Witt, spokesman for Vail Resorts Development Company. “It is an anchor of Vail’s ‘Billion Dollar Renewal,’ $1 billion in private and public funds being spent to reinforce its position as a resort industry leader.”

No commercial space at Arrabelle at Vail Square is pre-leased yet, but 64 of the 67 condominiums are under sales contract reservations. The development is scheduled to be completed in fall 2007.


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