Mall signs Sam’s, Whole Foods as anchor tenants

Architectural rendering shows what a Whole Foods Market would look like at the Village at the Peaks outdoor mall being developed by NewMark Merrill Mountain States at the site of the Twin Peaks Mall in Longmont. Courtesy NewMark Merrill Mountain States

Business Report Staff
LONGMONT — A Sam’s Club, a Whole Foods Market and a 12-screen movie theater will anchor the $80 million redevelopment of the newly-named Village at the Peaks shopping center on the current Twin Peaks Mall site.

The Sam’s Club name was confirmed May 8 by Brad Power, Longmont’s economic development director for a planned 100,000-square-foot retail store space in the new shopping center. A Sam’s Club membership store in Louisville closed in 2010 after owner Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said the store was losing money.

A 30,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market grocery store also will help draw other new retailers to the site, Allen Ginsborg principal managing director of NewMark Merrill Mountain States, the mall’s redeveloper, said. Whole Foods Market Inc. (Nasdaq: WFM) announced the new Longmont store in its quarterly earnings report May 7.

“This is the momentum builder that gets the concept going,” Ginsborg said of the Whole Foods store. “I couldn’t be happier. It has taken six or seven months to bring this about, but it always has been the community’s desire.”

Ginsborg has not named Sam’s Club previously because of a nondisclosure agreement he signed with the tenant.

Ginsborg and his team are stepping up efforts to sign up other retailers and restaurants as tenants, based on a marketing flyer posted recently on the NewMark Merrill website. The flyer says “It may be the hottest redevelopment in Colorado in over 5 years (but we still have space for you).”

The flyer touts Regal Entertainment Group’s 12-screen, 2,500-seat movie theater and says “restaurant pads with mountain views” are available.

The Village at the Peaks will be a “super-regional destination for shopping, great restaurants and state-of-the-art entertainment,” according to the flyer.

“Our goal is to bring best-of-class retailers here,” Ginsborg said Wednesday.

The two new anchor tenant announcements come just before the International Council of Shopping Centers RECon industry event on May 19-22, in Las Vegas. Ginsborg said he has meetings scheduled with retailer representatives at the conference but declined to name them for market competitiveness reasons.

Ginsborg said he is on track with plans to open the redeveloped shopping center in fall 2014. NewMark Merrill paid $8.5 million for the existing 550,000-square-foot mall in February 2012. It is slated for demolition this fall.


BOULDER

FREEWAVE EXPANDS: FreeWave Technologies Inc., a designer and manufacturer of spread-spectrum radios, has moved into a new corporate headquarters at 5395 Pearl Parkway in Boulder.

The new space provides more room for manufacturing to support new and expanding business, a product-testing center and more space for the continued growth of its employee base.

The 45,000-square-foot facility is 80 percent larger than the previous headquarters’ size of 25,000 square feet.

“The new facility will allow us to serve our customers more efficiently and with expanded capabilities,” said Ashish Sharma, chief marketing officer at FreeWave Technologies. “We have always been a proponent of keeping our company operations centralized here in Boulder.” Sharma said the number of employees has nearly tripled during the past eight years, but the company declined to provide a specific number.


LAFAYETTE

NEW DIGS FOR BENJAMIN: AvaDan LLC acquired 3.29 acres in the Colorado Technology Center in Lafayette from California-based Hill Properties and plans to break ground on a 40,000-square-foot flex building in July.

The purchase price for the land at 425 CTC Blvd. was $429,900, according to Boulder County records.

Alan Benjamin is a principal of AvaDan and president of Benjamin West, a provider of furniture, fixtures and equipment for the hospitality industry.

Benjamin West, currently is located at 2655 Crescent Drive, Suite A, in the tech center, will be the main tenant and occupy the new building when completed in spring 2014, according to Andrew Freeman, managing broker at Boulder-based Freeman Myre Inc. Freeman was the broker for the land transaction and is the project manager for AvaDan LLC.

The building is being designed by Ware Malcomb, an architecture firm based in Irvine, California with an office in Denver. The builder is Milender White Construction Co. in Arvada.


LOUISVILLE

CONFLUENCE CONSTRUCTION: Golden-based Confluence Cos. LLC started construction on the $35.5 million North Main Apartments at Steel Ranch a 228-unit luxury apartment community in Louisville.

The first units of the resort-style community will be delivered this summer. U.S. Bank provided the $26.5 million construction loan.

The project will include 108 one-bedroom units averaging 780 square feet, 108 two-bedroom units averaging 1,000 square feet and 12 three-bedroom units at 1,300 square feet each.

Average monthly rent will be $1,325.

Outdoor amenities include a 25-yard lap pool, outdoor fire pits, pet washing and bike maintenance facilities and barbecue grills in a park setting.

A 5,000-square-foot clubhouse will have a fitness center, a yoga and Pilates studio, hospitality lounge area, cyber cafe, business center and kitchen.


COUNTIES

LOWEST FORECLOSURE RATE: Boulder County had the lowest foreclosure rate in the state for the first quarter of 2013 – with one completed foreclosure sale per 1,783 households.

Across Colorado, the average was about 1 completed foreclosure sale per 670 households in the first quarter, or more than double the Boulder County rate, according to a new report from the Colorado Division of Housing.

Boulder County had 124 foreclosure filings in the first quarter, a 15.6 percent drop from the 147 foreclosure filings for the same period a year earlier, according to the report. Broomfield County had 41 foreclosure filings in the first quarter, a 10.8 percent rise from the 37 for the same period a year earlier.

Separately, when it came to completed foreclosures (where a home is sold at auction) – Boulder County had 68 in the first quarter, a 29.2 percent drop from the 96 completed foreclosures in filed in the first quarter of 2012. Broomfield County had 18 in the first quarter of 2013, a 30.8 percent drop from the 26 filed in the same period a year earlier.

Statewide, there were 4,571 foreclosure filings in the first quarter, a 41.3 percent drop from the 7,785 foreclosure filings in the first quarter of 2012, according to the report. Separately, 2,935 homes were sold at auction in the first quarter a 30.5 percent drop from the 3,760 sold in the same period a year earlier.

None of the metro counties was among those that ranked in the top 10 for highest foreclosure rates, the report said.

As home prices continue to rise in 2013, foreclosure rates are expected to continue to drop, the report said. Employment growth, low mortgage rates and continued population growth in Colorado have helped stimulate demand for homes, according to the report, and other factors are expected to further push down foreclosure rates.