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BisNow’s “Future of the Northwest Corridor”

DENVER – April 18th, 2017, Industry professionals gathered at BisNow’s first-ever “Future of the Northwest Corridor” event hosted at Arista Place in Broomfield, CO.

Attendee’s heard from a number of industry professionals who talked about the bright future of the Northwest corridor of Denver. Topics included everything from the lastest projects breaking ground, to which neighborhoods are trending for multifamily and office, why retail is more sustainable in the area, as well as the most lucrative opportunities for investment.

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A selection of speakers at the breakfast networking event included:

Tim Weins, Owner/Developer of Wiens Development

Mayor Randy Ahrens, City & County of Broomfield, CO

Bill Jencks, VP of Real Estate at Ranch Capital

Mayor Pro Tem Alberto Garcia, City of Westminster, CO

Bo Martinez, Director of Economic Development City & County of Broomfield

and many more (view here)

The Northwest corridor of Denver, which includes Broomfield, Westminster, and Boulder, is a hot commodity in Colorado, thanks to the areas proximity to DIA, Boulder and Denver. The area is attracting developers and young professionals to the area from across the nation and even internationally. Speaker Bo Martinez, director of economic development for the City and County of Broomfield, calls it the “Creative Corridor.”

According to Broomfield Mayor Randy Ahrens, Broomfield secured $650 million in overall development last year, including Arista, an entertainment-anchored, mixed-use community in the heart of the creative corridor, along U.S. 36, that is attracting professionals who want to experience the city’s new and growing vibrancy of urban living. According to Wiens Development owner/developer Tim Wiens, Arista Place will be 100 percent leased by the end of this year and Weins Development is also breaking ground on a new development in Arista, called the Turnpike Shops at Arista, a 30K SF retail property at Wadsworth Parkway and 120th.  In the past two years alone, 28 companies have come to call Broomfield home.

Where as space is hard to come by in Boulder, the same is not true of the Northwest Corridor. Subsequently, the area is attracting R&D-related businesses, tech specialists and other innovators. Not only does the Northwest Corridor offer more affordable rents than Boulder, more importantly it offers “space” that better meets the specific needs of these businesses,  such as new office and lab space, and modern warehouse facilities.

According to Westminster Mayor Pro Tem Alberto Garcia and Broomfield City and County Mayor Randy Ahrens, the outlook for growth along the U.S. 36 “Creative Corridor” is solid. Garcia explained how the ultimate goal is for Westminster to become the next urban center of the Front Range and that two projects are central in realizing that goal. The first being the first commuter rail station in the southern part of the city, Westminster Station, which is the focus of a development plan that includes a 40-acre park and a number of transit-oriented developments. The second being the new Downtown area — 108 acres in the city, and a new mixed-use area.

Speakers also addressed the ever changing technological climate. Advances in technology will also require some creative solutions and developers will need to pay close attention to tenants needs — autonomous cars in particular, could pose some challenges to the CRE industry, particularly with parking areas..

 

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