Tag Archives: Denver

Denver News: Clear Creek Crossing Development

Ever since 2011, there has been an 80-acre site in Wheat Ridge that has gone unused.  It was originally to be the home of a 185,000 square foot Cabela’s store and showroom, but the retailer backed out of their decision to go forward building on that space.  For five years the land went unused until it was picked up by a Phoenix based real estate group called Evergreen Devco who are very excited about contributing to the area.

“It’s very well-located real estate being at the intersection of the two highways, and we love the visibility and access.  It’s an important piece of property for the city, and we want it to be sustainable for the community long-term,” said Evergreen’s Tyler Carlson.

Evergreen held a community meeting at the end of 2016 where they announced their tentative plans for the space, which was to be used for residential units, an office complex, and a Super Walmart.  Since then, Evergreen and the city have shared that Walmart may no longer be part of the plan.

Wheatridge’s city manager Goff said that “the biggest (change) is that Walmart is uncertain about whether they will be apart of the development now.  It’s just part of the current retail market.  The internet is taking over. Amazon is taking over.”  With that in mind, the city is looking for alternatives in case Walmart doesn’t come through.

Another change is in the amount of space intended for office and housing space.  Originally, 10 acres were to be used for housing and 30 for offices.  However, the revised plan now has 15 acres for housing and 25 for an office complex owned by a Denver area employer.

Construction is set to begin in the fall of this year, starting with “hook ramps” being built onto I-70, with buildings going up in 2018.  All that’s left is for the new plan to be approved by City Council and the city’s planning commission.

“It’s really not changing all that much from what we thought it was going to look like,” Goff said. “We’re excited it’s getting much closer to the finish line than it has been in a long time.”

Denver News: New Aurora Community Could House 60,000 People

Steamboat’s ski resort has enjoyed a rising level of commercial success ever since 2007 when Intrawest first arrived and made the $265 million purchase of the ski area.  This was nearly triple what the asking price was 6 years previously, and was a strong hint at what plans were in store for the resort.  The market noticed, and the real estate market erupted for both buyers and developers with sales hitting a record level of $1.5 billion.

When looking back on whether or not Intrawest was actually the cause for this boom, David Baldinger, owner of Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty, had this to say.  “We can’t figure out if it was just the tail end of the real estate boom or if it was Intrawest.  We think it was Intrawest, because the financial crisis was underway but Steamboat had strong volume for another year. We think it was enthusiasm for a new owner.”

The trend of a resort getting a new owner stimulating the real estate market is one the high country is very familiar with.  The same thing occurred in 2002, also involving Intrawest, and Winter Park.  Then again in 2003 with the purchase of Crested Butte.

This year Aspen Skiing Co. and KSL Capital Partners have partnered to purchase six of Intrawest’s resorts including Winter Park and Steamboat.  It is expected that this purchase won’t make the same waves as earlier ones, however, largely due to the recession.  “We had locals buying condos in luxury developments purely as an investment, but it didn’t make sense given their capability if anything changed.  Then everything changed,” said Jon Wade, the owner of the Steamboat Group real estate firm.

Intrawest’s great success came to a screeching halt with the recession in 2008 and 2009.  They were forced to sell off some of their 11 resorts just to cover the debts they accrued.  Aspen Skiing and KSL intends to learn from this and use third parties for developing real estate on their 1,100 acres of slope-side land.

“We would love to see those areas developed in a responsible manner,” KSL Capital Partners chief Eric Resnick said. “But developing that real estate is not our main driver.”  Winter park has already been enjoying a growth period, with $30.1 million in sales in February alone, and the ski resort going to new owners is expected to bolster that growth according to local real estate owners.

“These guys, Aspen and KSL, they live in a world of responding to what resort and travel customers are looking for. I think they will add new fresh thoughts to the mountain and the village,” said Walter Koezbel, owner of a 1,100 acres of residential project.  “Activity begets activity, and they will take experience they have learned from their multitude of properties and they will bring new ideas to Winter Park and Grand County. It will shine a light on what we have up here.”

Baldinger summed up the mood with his statement that “I like the idea that the people in the ski business will be focusing on the ski business and the talent in the development community can focus on the development pieces.”

Denver News: Home Renovation soar in Denver

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In 2014 and 2015, almost seven out of ten Denver homeowners made a home renovation.  That figure put Denver at the number one spot out of 25 cities for home improvements. Over the two years since then, that amount maintained its position  at 69.3 percent according to the American Housing Survey.  It is thought that the cause is rising home prices providing  more equity to homeowners to use on renovations.

The study relates this renovation increase to  job and population growth.  “Both Colorado and Utah have been attracting capital in the technology segment and rapidly adding tech workers.  People tend to do more home improvement projects when they move,” said the spokeswoman for the Home Improvement Research Institute Pam Heidel.

A difficult market could be another cause.   Homeowners may be opting to improve their homes instead of finding a new home which may not be as easy as it was previously.  Also, Denver’s shortage of appraisers could still be a continuing factor.  At the same time, low interest rates would make borrowing  less expensive.

In addition, a study by Lawnstarter suggests Denver homeowners are very satisfied with their dwellings.  They place Denver homeowners as the third happiest in the country.  The only two cities ranking higher being San Francisco and Los Angeles.  This high level of happiness could be a direct result of the increased renovations.

The amount of home renovations Denver is seeing is even pushing estimates for spending on home improvements in the west.  2017 is expected to grow 6% in the mountain region, with Colorado being the driving force.  The other top cities for home improvement include Portland, Phoenix, Kansas City, and Detroit.

Colorado News: Colorado’s Economy to Grow in 2017

construction

The Business Economic Outlook at CU Boulder predicts that Colorado’s economy will continue to grow through 2017.  Construction, tourism, and healthcare are anticipated to be the main drivers of the expected 64,000 new jobs in Colorado in the coming year.  Expected 2017 growth of 2.4 percent exceeds the 2.2 percent seen in 2016.

Colorado is likely to remain within the top 10 states for job growth, a position Colorado has held for the last 6 years.  The population is also on the rise because of the new jobs.  In fact, Colorado is predicted to become the second fastest growing population in the country this year.

Richard Wobbekind, an economist at Leeds school of Business at CU Boulder, commented on the matter.  “The growth will be across every sector except natural resources and mining and again will support the strongest period of employment growth that we’ve had since the 1990s.”  Wobbekind stated that workers in the mining sector are able to find other jobs opening up.

The construction sector is expected to see the largest increase in jobs.  Approximately 9,000 jobs are expected with more single family home construction predicted.  That would be a 5.7 percent increase over 2016.  Voters passed a large number of bonds which will fund many projects, creating the demand for jobs.

Leisure and hospitality is expected to be second to construction in growth.  This sector is estimated to increase by over 12,000 jobs, or 3.7 percent.  Health and education look to see the least growth with an increase of over 10,000 jobs is expected.  However, farmers are likely to see continued difficulty in the coming year.  A combination of weather, drought, and commodity prices predict further decrease in farmer income.  Agriculture annual income decreased from $850 million to $444 million statewide between 2014 and 2016.  Income is predicted to fall to $392 million in 2017.

 

How a shortage of appraisers is effecting the Denver home market

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Those looking to buy or sell a home soon should be aware of the trends in the Denver and Boulder markets.  Homes are being bought and sold, but completing a sale is taking longer.   The reason for this change, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR), is a widespread shortage of appraisers.  The chairman of DMAR, Anthony Rael explained these delays “as a direct result of an appraiser shortage we’ve been talking about the past several months.”

One major concern of the appraiser shortage is the exorbitant costs  the limited pool of appraisers are charging buyers.  In many cases buyers were required to pay over $1,000 to get appraised.  In Anthony Rael’s report he cited an instance where one buyer had to pay $3,000 because appraisers were so overbooked. This was a rare case in which the seller was in a pinch to get appraised before deadlines.  It is a good example of how costly the shortage can be.  The other concern is the risk to the contract as buyers usually incur transaction costs in advance of the appraisal.  Failure to perform appraisal by the deadline is one of the few ways sellers can terminate a contract to buy/sell real estate.

The effects go even further than just monetary costs.  The time it took for homes to be purchased with a conventional loan increased over 10% to 43 days.  The time it takes to purchase with a Veteran Administration (VA) loans, which went up over 25% to 49 days.  Cash transactions saw almost no change at all from the previous year.

Whether looking to buy or sell, the lack of available appraisers is likely to draw out the time it will take to close a sale.

 

Sakura Square Redevelopment Proposed

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Sakura Square in Denver Colorado has been home to many Japanese-American families and businesses for decades, and is now seeking a proposal to redevelop much of its downtown block to better serve and represent future generations.  This redevelopment would be done around some existing landmarks such as museums, martial arts studios, Japanese restaurants, and gardens.  The Tri-State Buddhist Temple would also remain where it is, but could potentially be getting a new building.  A special effort is being made to preserve well established businesses and locations, such as the Pacific Mercantile, which has been family owned and operated for over 70 years.  The owners of Sakura Square’s proposal specifically call for a “redevelopment outcome that reflects their sensitivity to sustainable and superior modern Japanese-influenced design and architecture. Quality over quantity is a focus.  When complete, the block should be a simple but iconic expression of Japanese community and culture and have a gracious presence in relationship to the street, neighborhood and community.”

The areas that would be renovated could give Sakura Square, and Denver as a whole, new office spaces, residential areas, and retail space.  This proposal comes from a night and day transformation of what Sakura Square was when first established.  As Sakura Square CEO Gary Yamashita said “When members of the temple first purchased the block 45 years ago, this area of Denver was literally Skid Row. It was bars and brothels.  We’ve had such good fortune that it’s probably some of the hottest real estate in Denver, right next to LoDo, right next to the ballpark, right next to the redevelopment in Arapahoe Square.”

The desire to keep the Square’s location in downtown Denver is more than just a monetary one, however.  Many families and businesses feel tied to that location, and have spoken out about selling the block and relocating the temple when considered in the past.  Sakura Square is the remnants of a much larger Japanese-American neighborhood that began close to 1900 when many Japanese came to Colorado as farmers.

“2016 is the 100th anniversary of the Denver Buddhist Temple. It hasn’t been at Sakura Square for all 100 years, but this is its 100th year,” Yamashita said. “We’re now looking at re-positioning ourselves for the next 100 years — Sakura Square and the temple. It’s looking into the future.”

The owners of Sakura Square have already put forth their request for developers to submit proposals for the redevelopment with a deadline set for October 19th.  From that point they will decide which proposals to pursue further and discuss more in depth plans.  Whatever the outcome, this will mark a big change in the heart of downtown Denver Colorado.