Northern Corridor Article

This article was written for an agency that represented the Denver Parade of Homes

Northeastern Corridor Set to Pace Metro Development

by Lance Ritchlin

If there’s such a thing as a perfect storm of economic development, it’s gathering now in the northeastern quadrant of the metro area. There, happenstance and years of planning are combining to create the potential for dynamic residential, retail and commercial growth. For example:

• Inexpensive development land is in short supply on the Front Range. The northeastern sector has plenty.

• Denver International Airport continues to stimulate development in the northeastern quadrant.

• The DIA Partnership, which represents an area including Brighton, Commerce City and parts of Aurora and Denver, is a driving economic force.

• The planned Prairie Gateway Project will have at its center a new stadium complex for the Colorado Rapids professional soccer team. Rapids owner Kroenke Sports Enterprises has agreed to serve as master developer of more than 600,000 square feet of commercial and retail development.

• Rocky Mountain Arsenal, once an impediment to development, has been converted to Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge.

• In recent years, vital transportation links have been completed, such as improvements to the U.S. 36 business corridor, the E-470 beltway link and extension of the Northeast Parkway to U.S. 36.

• In-fill developments at Fitzsimons, Lowry and Stapleton will generate an estimated 70,000 jobs, 27 million square feet of commercial space and 17,000 residential units. Build-out is expected to push development to the north and east. Forecasts place population in the area 430,000 by 2015.

Nowhere in the northeastern corridor has development made more of an impact than in Commerce City. Development there is exemplified by Reunion, a 3,000-acre master-planned community by Shea Homes at 104th Avenue and Tower Road. Other builders in Reunion include Berkeley Homes, Richmond American Homes, Morrison Homes and US Home. Construction of 2,300 platted, single-family units began in 2001.

“It isn’t your mother’s or your father’s Commerce City,” said Marty Zemcik, commercial development manager for Shea Homes, which is developing Reunion in the mold of its successful Highlands Ranch. He believes people are only beginning to appreciate Commerce City’s high-plains heritage.

Zemcik said Reunion enjoys the advantages of beautiful views of Long’s Peak and a huge open-space buffer around DIA that will keep out airport noise.

“The people who have bought homes in Reunion have really come from all over the metro area,” said Zemcik.

Meet the Neighbors

Ursula Georgi and Cathy Orono moved to Reunion’s Southlawn Park filing in October 2004, while their new home was still being framed.

“We were the first ones who bought in Southlawn,” Georgi said. “I liked the investment, and I figured to get in early-early.”

A flight attendant, Georgi appreciated her 15-minute commute to Denver International Airport. She said the idea of a master-planned community appealed to her, partly because she had spent six years in a subdivision where residents had grown lax about maintaining their houses. She liked that the $6 million recreation center—reminiscent of an old barn—was in place when she and Orono moved in.

Orono, who works for the City and County of Denver, has a practical eye for oversized garages, crown molding and the nostalgic look of Reunion homes. “Having lots of different-colored houses is important to me,” Orono said.

But she said there was a sentimental side to her home purchase, as well: “The biggest thing about this house we bought was there’s a place for the Christmas tree.”

Last year, Berkeley Homes reached build-out at the North Range Village subdivision at 104th and Potomac. Now Berkeley is one of the builders at Reunion.

“The nice thing about the 104th corridor is, you can buy a home at a reasonable price and still be close to major employment centers,” said Jennifer Hall, director of marketing for Berkeley Homes. Look at Highlands Ranch, she suggested. “I believe that same transformation is going to happen in the northeastern pocket.”

Colorado’s Best-Kept Secret

Kathy McIntyre is a Golden, Colo., native, CPA and mother of four, who only recently became editor of the weekly Commerce City Gateway, which she helped start. McIntyre fell in love with Commerce City in 1975, after a fire claimed her home and endangered her sons.

“This community poured out support,” she said. Neighbors brought furniture and boxes of toys and food. “I had to beg them to stop. That’s what Commerce City is all about. The fabric that bonds this community together is the best-kept secret in Colorado.”

McIntyre moved around a lot but finally returned to Commerce City, where she bought house no. 14 in Reunion. Anxious to lay down roots, she took it upon herself to form a one-woman welcoming committee for new residents.

“We have a lot of pilots, a lot of flight attendants, a lot of baggage handlers,” she said. “We shovel each other’s sidewalks. We watch out for each other’s children and pets.”

“Reunion” Takes on New Meaning

The neighbors have wine and cheese get-togethers now at the welcome center at sunset. The developer stages hometown events such as a fall festival and 4th of July celebration. There are plans for a 52-acre park modeled after Washington Park in Denver. One of McIntyre’s sons has joined her in the area; another son is moving there soon.

Many of her neighbors are people who were originally forced off their property to make way for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. “A lot of the people who live in Reunion are actually the sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters of the original residents,” McIntyre said. “They could have left, but they stayed here because they loved each other and they loved this land. It’s one of the most incredible pieces of property in Colorado.”

“People are trying to escape the craziness,” McIntyre said. The wildlife refuge, created on the arsenal land that was once a sore point with local residents, now boasts 300 species, including some baby bald eagles.

McIntyre has a message for the rest of metro Denver: “You’d better watch out for Commerce City.”