Page 22
— Retail Properties Quarterly — May 2016
R
iver North, Lower Downtown
and Highlands are all thriving
community hubs that once
were blighted backwaters in
Denver. Denver’s invasion of
millennials searching for cool, cre-
ative places to live and work propelled
these once-overlooked communities
into today’s spotlight. Mix well-edu-
cated young professionals with dis-
posable income into a neighborhood
and voila – retail sprouts up to feed
their needs.
But surely, this magic of new com-
munity only happens in urban cores,
and not in the suburbs. In the ’burbs,
people spend their free time getting
kids ready for school, racing from one
sporting event to another, fighting to
carve out time to exercise and serve
up a decent family meal, right? Not so,
I say!
For years, residents of Longmont
had few choices but to drive to Boul-
der or neighboring communities to
dine, celebrate and be entertained.
But this is no longer the case after
the opening of the
500,000-square-foot
Village at the Peaks.
The development
sits on the ruins of
a dead mall and has
made Longmont
residents buzz with
new community
pride and a reinvig-
orated identity.
This sounds
good, but how
do you create an
authentic sense of
community where
it has declined or
died?We do it by focusing on these
basics: Do the homework, create the
partnerships, attract merchants who
fit the community’s vision, and cre-
ate authentic spaces where fun and
memories happen organically.
1. Do your homework.
Not only did
Longmont citizens need to replace
the retail void from a dead mall, but
also they wanted a gathering place
to call their own.
In order to understand the residents’
dreams, ideas and concerns about our
project, we set out to gather data from
thousands of them.We held five open
houses over six months, conducted a
statistically relevant preference poll,
and met with the Chamber, Rotary
and individual residents.
Listening carefully, refining our
understanding and exploring new
ideas were all part of the relentless
quest to create an authentic commu-
nity vision for the projects.We tested
design, amenities, needs and desires
across multiple spectrums of the com-
munity to include varied ethnic, age,
educational and income levels.We
synthesized this invaluable commu-
nity feedback into revised plans and
went back through the process over
and over as we began creating design,
layout and amenity plans.
2. Create key partnerships.
Don’t try
to go it alone. A $90 million redevelop-
ment would only succeed if a wide
community cross section embraced
it.We began with a city council gut
check. Not only did the Longmont
City Council share our vision, but also
they backed it up when it was time to
make some difficult and potentially
unpopular decisions.
We also engaged key influencers,
from the school district to nonprofits,
who are part of the fabric of the com-
munity to help us envision an authen-
tic experience true to Longmont’s
culture.
3. Merchandise to the vision.
The
goal as developers is not merely filling
space or maximizing rents. It’s target-
ing the key merchants who buy into
the vision, support its fulfillment and
create the synergy that leads to con-
sistently high sales volumes.
Our anchor trifecta was based on
direct community polling, which
revealed the top desires to be a
natural grocery store, modern movie
theater and large-format discounter.
So, we targetedWhole Foods, Regal
Cinema and Sam’s Club. Once these
anchors committed, we focused on
retailers that mirrored what the com-
munity valued and provided premium
experiences in their categories.
A full-service Gold’s Gym, Sports
Authority and Ripple Effect Karate
Studio answered the call for support
of active lifestyles. Chuck & Don’s
caters to the needs of pet-centric
Longmont residents’ furry family
members. The locally owned fine wine
merchant,Wyatt’s, and Boulder-based
Ozo Coffee are providing the quality
and selection that Longmont request-
ed. The dining venues were selected
to provide experiences to keep Long-
monters in their own town, including
Colorado’s first Le Madeleine Country
French Café.We sprinkled in family
oriented services like VisionWorks,
Mathnasium and Brain Balance. It
is believed this tenant mix creates a
more Internet-resistant assortment of
merchandise and experiences.
4. Create authentic spaces.
The proj-
ect has stunning views of the Front
Range frommultiple vantage points,
because we learned early on that
Longmont citizens identify with the
rugged beauty of the Rockies. The
Mulhern Group helped us translate
this into a design themed around
the look and feel of America’s great
national parks by incorporating post-
and-beam wooden entries, extensive
stone-faced facades, two large fire-
places, custom lanterns, a steel span
arch announcing the village, a water
feature and more than 100 tons of
boulders.
The community’s desire for authen-
tic experiences and spaces are being
answered and the response has
been amazing. Village at the Peaks is
becoming a cornerstone for life and
memory-making events, which have
been attended by thousands of Long-
mont residents. From weddings to
new merchant celebrations to hours
spent cozying up at our fireplaces,
Longmont now has a community liv-
ing space to call home.
To top it off, many of the merchants
are celebrating their best or second-
best opening in the state, and com-
munity partners are asking how to
use the village for their events and
activities.
The process isn’t easy, but it does
work.We discovered that cool com-
munity experiences aren’t just for
urbanites. Studying, listening and
engaging Longmont residents led
to the whole of the project being far
greater than the sum of its parts. The
’burbs are hungry for cool places they
can call their own. It’s up to us to
understand and create them.
s
Allen Ginsborg
Managing director
and principal,
mountain states,
NewMark Merrill
Cos., Longmont
Since 1997, retail construction has been the foundation of our growth. Thousands of projects later, we can
leverage our consistent processes and lessons-learned to optimize your project success.
Whether you are a developer, broker or retailer, Catamount has the experience to expertly coordinate the
unique details of successful retail construction, allowing you to focus on your business success.
CONTACT CATAMOUNT CONSTRUCTORS
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