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Page 22B— COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — June 17-June 30, 2015
Economic Development News
Commerce City officials recent-
ly celebrated the substantial
completion of a new, one-mile
road that extends 96th Avenue
to Tower Road, providing a new
east-west connection for resi-
dents and commuters.
The two-lane road provides
drivers another transportation
alternative across the city from
Interstate 76 to E-470.
“I am proud to watch Com-
merce City’s vision of a ‘Qual-
ity Community for a Lifetime’
become a reality,” said Mayor
Sean Ford. “Infrastructure
improvements like the 96th Ave-
nue roadway extension will help
foster new residential and com-
mercial development that will
benefit all areas of our city.”
While the east-west connection
was on the long-term “to-do”
list, it was able to be completed
sooner than anticipatedwhen the
Buffalo Highlands Metropolitan
District stepped up to become
a partner. A 6 percent loan from
the city, coupled with investor
capital, will allow national home-
builders and commercial devel-
opers to access a key corridor that
would’ve remained landlocked
for years without infrastructure,
according to the city. The dis-
trict expects to break ground on
model homes by the end of the
year. The approximately $7.4 mil-
lion project was constructed by
Scott Contracting and CEI; Edi-
fice LLC was the construction
manager.
The Downtown Denver Part-
nership recently presented its
54th annual Downtown Denver
Awards program.
“We are grateful for the oppor-
tunity to take a moment each year
to celebrate the excellent achieve-
ments that advance us toward our
vision of a world-class center city,”
saidTamiDoor, president andCEO
of the Downtown Denver Partner-
ship. “This year’s winners are city
builders who have made Denver
stronger, and they are instrumental
in establishing downtown as the
economic engine that drives the
city, state and region.”
The award winners were the
Denver Public Library and its
125th anniversary; Denver Union
Station for renovating and devel-
oping Denver Union Station in its
entirety; Emily Griffith Campus
and Downtown Expeditionary
School for converting a 52-year-
old vacant building into an edu-
cation mecca; Free MetroRide for
creating a quality, high-frequency
downtown connection for com-
muters between Denver Union
Station and Civic Center Station;
Mile High United Way Morgridge
Center for Community Change
for building and opening a new
63,000-square-foot headquarters
that serves as an anchor in Arapa-
hoe Square; Renaissance Denver
Downtown City Center Hotel for
investing in and renovating down-
town Denver’s historic Colorado
National Bank into a 230-room,
four-star hotel; and Stout Street
Health Center and Renaissance
Stout Street Lofts for constructing
a dual-purpose development that
provides vital resources, including
increasing health care access for
up to 18,000 homeless individuals
each year and providing support-
ive housing for those who were
formerly homeless.
The Economic Development
Council of Colorado at its annu-
al Spring Conference gave out
its 2014 awards for excellence in
the field of economic develop-
ment in Colorado.
This year's recipients were
chosen from seven categories.
The Volunteer(s) of the Year
award was presented to Andy
Bade and Dave Humenik
to assist the vice president of
the Longmont Area Econom-
ic Council after the president
left the organization in August
2013. The pair assisted is every
aspect of running and maintain-
ing the organization.
The Partner of the Year award
First Watch Restaurants opened
its first Colorado location at 100 E.
120th Ave. in Northglenn’s Web-
ster Lake Promenade.
The restaurant, which serves
breakfast, brunch and lunch, at
the southeast corner of Interstate
25 and 120th Avenue, is the first
of eight planned First Watch res-
taurants between Fort Collins and
Colorado Springs as part of a fran-
chise agreement with Fresh Start
Colorado LLC.
“I’ve been lucky enough to call
Colorado home for decades, and
we know that opening this new
First Watch is the start of a won-
derful thing for the Denver metro
area,” said Richard Boyle, the fran-
chise group’s managing partner,
who also served as a franchisee
for Burger King in Colorado for
around 30 years. “This city is so
full of incredible restaurants and
culture, and I’m confident that the
foodies here will love the fresh
ingredients and unique menu
items FirstWatch is bringing here.”
The Colorado locations are
scheduled to open during the
next five years and be operated by
Boyle and his business partner Bill
Schuck.
Updates…
n The Northglenn Urban
Renewal Authority awarded two
Brownfield Community Wide
Petroleum and Hazardous Mate-
rials Assessment grants totaling
$400,000 from the U.S. Environ-
mental ProtectionAgency.
These grants are to be used for
communities to assess, cleanup,
and redevelop contaminatedprop-
erties. This year, $54.3 million in
newgrantswere given to 147 com-
munities across the U.S.
In Northglenn, the focus area of
the grantswill be on theWest 104th
Avenue District in the southwest
commercial portion of the city,
where, over the next three years,
funds will be used in assessing,
identifying and conducting envi-
ronmental site assessments. In
addition, funds will be used to
complete a citywide brownfields
site inventory, prioritization of sites
to be remediated, development of
cleanup plans for contaminated
sites and development an area-
wide plan.
“Thesegrantswillbeveryhelpful
as we move forward with redevel-
opment of some of the older com-
mercial areas of Northglenn,” said
Debbie Tuttle, manager of North-
glenn Economic Development and
executive director of NURA. “As
commercial areas and buildings
age we often find they have both
internal and external environmen-
tal issues. In order to redevelop
them and attract developers and/
or end-users, environmental test-
ing and cleanup is required.”
The West 104th Avenue District
includes the larger area around
the Huron Center, a designated
blighted area, and the Northglenn
Marketplace and surrounding
areas, where smaller issues are
present. Areas outside of the West
104th Avenue District also will be
assessed.
The city of Thornton named
the winners of its 2015 Business
Recognition Awards at the 28th
annual Business Appreciation
Event. The awards and recipi-
ents were:
Entrepreneurial Spirit: Vista
Eye Care, 13695 Colorado Blvd.
This award recognizes a small
Thornton business that has
shown excellence in ingenuity,
effort, or has made a significant
impact on the community. Vista
Eye Care is a locally owned busi-
ness that recently expanded to
a new building to better assist
more clients with special needs.
Retailer of the Year: Derby
Bicycle Center, 410 E. 104th
Ave. This award recognizes a
Thornton retail business that
has shown excellent customer
For complete contact information, links and
Key Facts, visit ou
Adams County Economic Development
Arvada Economic Development Association
Aurora Economic Development Council
Boulder Economic Council
Brighton Economic Development Corporation
City and County of Broomfield
Castle Rock Economic Development Council
City of Centennial
Colorado Springs Regional Business Alliance
City of Commerce City
Denver Office of Economic Development
Denver South Economic Development Partnership
Downtown Denver Partnership Inc.
City of Englewood Community Development Dept.
Town of Erie
Federal Heights Redevelopment Agency
Grand Junction Economic Partnership
City of Greenwood Village
Jefferson County Economic Development Corp.
City of Lafayette
Lakewood Economic Development
City of Lone Tree
Longmont Area Economic Council
City of Louisville
Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation
Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp.
City of Northglenn
Northwest Douglas County EDC
Town of Parker
Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority
Rifle Regional Economic Development Corp.
City of Thornton Office of Economic Development
Town of Superior
Westminster Economic Development
City of Wheat Ridge
Wheat Ridge 2020
Town of Windsor
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