Colorado Real Estate Journal - November 4, 2015
Thornton didn’t have to woo the largest shopping center retail investment trust in the country. Simon Property Trust came calling. “They chose us,” said Julie Jacoby, retail and local business administrator with the Thornton Office of Economic Development. Simon Property Trust plans to start construction next year on a $135 million, 350,000-square-foot Denver Premium Outlets center on 45 to 50 acres on the northeast corner of 136th Avenue and Interstate 25. It will take about a year to complete the development, south of Cabela’s. “It started almost two years ago,” Jacoby said. “They had been looking for a site along the I-25 corridor and they expressed an interest in this property, which is privately owned. They had been working through their due diligence and really liked this site.” Simon bought almost 95 acres in the area. “If you look at it as one unit, it will be the largest one-unit retail center in Thornton,” Jacoby said. The Thornton City Council recently approved an incentive package, which will help fund things such as extending Grant Street and utility lines to new buildings. Future sales tax and an approved shared taxing agreement from the development will cover the cost. “It’s a maximum of $25 million over 25 years,” Jacoby said. “I know people are excited about this because I've had many people come up and ask about when it was coming," according to a statement from Thornton Mayor Heidi Williams. "We're all very excited about this and it's something we are really looking forward to, and I appreciate all the hard work of Simon and city staff," Williams said. The development is estimated to have 80 to 100 retailers when it is completed. “We have not seen any leasing documents from them, but if you look at some of their recent projects in places like Tucson and St. Louis, you can probably get a good estimate of the type of retailers they will bring here,” Jacoby said. Some of the anchors in a Tucson project, for example, include Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Under Armour, Nike Factory Outlet and Old Navy. The center is expected to create about 900 jobs when completed. The Simon Property Group, with a market cap of $60 billion, is the largest shopping center real estate investment trust in the nation. Its market cap is bigger than the market caps of Macerich, General Growth Properties and Vornado Realty Trust combined.