Colorado Real Estate Journal - June 17, 2015
Rachel Betz is a successful residential real estate broker in Denver and along the Front Range. But her latest venture is as the owner of a 22-acre indoor/outdoor, upscale private event center five minutes south of Idaho Springs. It is called Blackstone Rivers Ranch and will open next year. It includes a 6,000-square-foot building, designed by Denver architect Don Ruggles of D.H. Ruggles. The property, 35 miles from Denver, will include an amphitheater and will focus on riverfront weddings and private parties. Betz, a broker with Keller Williams, got the idea for the center when she was shopping for a place for a mountain wedding when she got married. She lives in a home on the property. “But I am in Denver just about every week for work,” said Betz, who in addition to selling homes and upscale condos in downtown Denver, also has a $10 million land listing for a property in Fort Collins. “I am selling a ton and just started a team last year,” she said. However, she wanted a business that would give her a break from selling real estate 365 days a year. “I had been working so much that I started looking a few years ago to create a business,” in addition to selling homes and properties, she said. At first, she looked in Northern Colorado. “It was kind of a farmland and when you looked across a meadow, you could see the mountains. “At the time, I never dreamed that I would actually be in the mountains.” That changed when she looked for a mountain venue for her own wedding. “We started looking and couldn’t find anything we liked,” Betz said. Many of the close-in mountain operations were not providing the upscale experience she was seeking. “Before I got married, I did some research and found that a lot of the places that rent out space in the mountains are not very fancy,” Betz said. But they are popular. “The demand is huge,” Betz said. “They’re booked every weekend, all summer long. It’s just difficult to find the kind of boutique style, high-end experience I was seeking.” She was thrilled when she found the site near Idaho Springs. “The land already had been zoned for commercial development, which is what we needed,” Betz said. In addition to weddings, she expects Blackstone Rivers Ranch will host events such as: • Wine and food tastings; • Leadership and survival camps for children and adults; • Fitness and wellness retreats; • Outdoor and wilderness sport experiences; • Family reunions; and • Business conferences. The natural amphitheater will allow for smaller music events and concerts, plays, and other exhibitions, with a focus on the arts. She compared it to a smaller version of the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison. “We hope that our dream of opening this center will not only bring a lot of joy to the people who choose to celebrate here, but will be a big boost for our area’s economic development,” Betz said. “We will be offering a space unlike anything that Idaho Springs currently has to offer,” she continued. “Not only that, but something not found on the Front Range within such a close proximity to downtown Denver,” Betz aid. “It is our dream,” she said. Her center is coming at a time when Idaho Springs is planning to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements that may include a Riverwalk along Clear Creek. Betz said even after Blackstone Rivers Ranch opens, she still plans to sell residential real estate. “I am probably going to throw my team a little more of the business and not do so much myself,” Betz said. Indeed, she also thinks there will be synergies between her residential brokerage and her mountain center. “One of my goals is to put together these terrific packages for our brides,” Betz said. “We will offer free upgrades and free inspections and those kinds of things when brides get married here and buy a home through my team. I think the two businesses will nicely complement each other.”