What the Corridor REALLY Needs is Another Shopping Center

I think what the 285 Corridor REALLY needs is another shopping center don't you? I'm waiting to hear when they are going to build another one at Shaffers Crossing. Sounds like the market is ripe for more development.

Foreclosure filed on Safeway-anchored Conifer Town Center

http://www.theflume.com/main.asp?Sectio ... cleID=8405

Rental rates and added costs

The base rent in the shopping center is $24 per square foot per year, compared with $20 per square foot per year in the King Soopers-anchored Village at Aspen Park shopping center, according to Downes. The Village at Aspen Park is a couple of miles closer to metro Denver than the Conifer Town Center, and both are just off U.S. 285.

At $11.02 per square foot per year, the triple net added costs for the Conifer Town Center are the highest in the 285 corridor, said Downes. He explained that the triple net added costs are the property taxes (the first net), property insurance (second net) and maintenance fees (third net) for the center, which are passed on to the tenants.

So, at the Conifer Town Center that would make a renter obligated to pay the base rent of $24 per square foot per year plus the additional triple net added costs of $11.02 per square foot per year, for a total of $35.02 per year. That would be about $2.92 per square foot per month, or for, say, 1,000 square feet, $2,920 per month.
Downes said he is the largest commercial broker in the area and he specializes in the 285 corridor, Evergreen, and the I-70 corridor. The Conifer Town Center hasn't been a success, he said, because the retail space along the 285 corridor has been overbuilt. There is a glut of retail space, he said, and he doesn't see that changing until the housing market turns around.

Downes doesn't see the market turning around anytime soon. The upcoming presidential election in 2012 might help, depending on what happens, he said, but he's still figuring on at least two or three years before it starts to turn around.

Do you think maybe they overbuilt commercially along the 285 Corridor? Ya think?

Do you think the people who work at Safeway and the other organizations in that shopping center will miss their jobs? I'm thinking they are mostly independently wealthy, working there for kicks and are simply waiting for another opportunity to "redistribute their wealth".

I wonder what Mr. Downes means by "the upcoming presidential election...might help, depending on what happens"? I'm thinking he wants President Obama reelected so we can have four more years of prosperity.

I don't shop up there...is there a significant price difference up there when you compare with stores in the metro area? Just curious.

I'm going to take a wild guess that IF Safeway stays where it is then their products are going to be even MORE expensive than those at King Soopers.

Also, if they stay there will likely be layoffs. Now THERE's a good idea. All I know is I hope we are taxing the hell out of our local Safeway because they ARE yet another evil corporation.

I bet they are wishing they were back at the old location...which mostly also sits empty now.

What did Wily say, "You can't make this stuff up"?

They really screwed up whem they moved over there.

The center is going into foreclosure, not Safeway. What this will probably mean is that the rents, which were most likely set by the entity loaning the money to build the complex, will be going down. I've heard this information from more than one source, and most real estate agents knew that it was going to take a foreclosure to bring rents down.

If prices are higher up there than they are in the metro area, I'll bet commuters do much of their shopping down here since everyone is pinching pennies these days. Just a guess.

I could never understand why the folks that build these strip malls or restaurants, without doing like a 1 year study first before building? Why in the heck don't we get like a Taco Bell or a Murdochs? Seems so many folks have cattle, horses, llamas, or chickens... and who in the heck doesn't like Taco Bell? Can you imagine the money that place would bring in? Kinda like the largest money maker in Bailey, the Loaf-n-Jug....wish I owned it...

If foreclosure actually leads to lower rent for the mountain businesses trying to scratch out an existence there, then I think that's great. I know that the people working those jobs REALLY need them for the most part and if they don't really need them then they should step aside so local teens can have the jobs currently being worked by adults. The article suggested that, in fact, higher rents were coming and I couldn't see how that could possibly be good for businesses that are likely already living on the edge.

As for more commercial building along our otherwise spectacular 285 Corridor, WTH? I know the elected officials can only see revenue when they approve these projects but seriously folks.....our economy is dead in the water and may be for years...perhaps even a decade. Why in the hell would the same banks who won't lend the average Joe a dime to start or expand a small business, lend millions to a developer who will likely lose his ass on a big business venture.

The same with building a bunch of new homes in our area right now. Really? We have hundreds sitting empty and/or for sale. I know builders need the work but really?

I'm no economist or business wizard, but I just don't see it. It just adds to the misery that is our current economic state.

:thumbsup: great post Lionshead

If developers want to take the chance and a bank wants to lend money, all the more power to them. The govt should stay out of the way. Home builders are speculating that things will improve. Construction costs are at decade lows right now. If you have the $$ to build, it won't get any better than this. They may be wrong, but that is their call imho.

We are getting a Big R (kind of like Murdoch's) in the Kings center. The developer there was smart. The safeway developer was an idiot. Safeway would be doing great had they just expanded on their old site.