CREJ

1 / 28

INSIDE
by Michelle Z. Askeland
When golf-ball-sized hail hit Lake-
wood and the surrounding areas May
8, the storm shattered records as the
costliest hailstorm in the state’s his-
tory, with auto and home insurance
claims of $1.4 billion, according to the
Rocky Mountain Insurance Informa-
tion Association. One of the most
publicized structures damaged was
Colorado Mills, a 1.1 million-square-
foot shopping center near Interstate
70West and Sixth Avenue. Many recall
the viral videos of the flooding.
“Colorado Mills sustained extensive
damage to the entire center from a
historic hailstorm,” said Les Morris,
spokesperson for Simon Property
Group, which owns the shopping
center. “Subsequent to the storm, the
center evacuated and closed its doors
to the public while multimonth resto-
ration work took place.”
Immediately following the storm,
Simon Property Group assessed the
damage and hired a company to han-
dle cleanup. Simon, a publicly traded
company, which owns retail proper-
ties in 37 U.S. states and Puerto Rico,
declined to comment on the cost of
the damage.
Once the cleanup was completed,
Simon partnered with The Beck
Group, an integrated architecture and
construction firm, to manage the proj-
ect and design-build teams.
Nine months later, the majority of
Colorado Mills is open, and crews are
wrapping up a massive construction
project that required, at times, more
than 550 tradesmen.
In the span of roughly four months,
from when new construction started
July 31 to the majority of the mall
reopening on Nov. 21, the scope and
pace of the project was unprecedent-
ed. Compared to a standard project
of this size, John Chisholm, Denver’s
operations manager with The Beck
Group and the integrated project
leader for the Colorado Mills restora-
tion project, estimates that the work
was finished in half the time typically
required.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,”
Chisholm. “I mean, we didn’t do any-
thing different than we’ve done in the
The Beck Group
As flooring, ceiling tiles, roofing and drywall all needed to be replaced, the reopened Colorado Mills features a refreshed, contemporary look while still preserving some of its legacy features.