$33 Million of Land Acquired for Mixed-Use Project

Alberta Development Partners LLC recently announced the purchase of $33 million worth of land in Aurora, creating Southlands, the largest and most progressive single retail, residential and commercial project in Colorado. Alberta and its equity partner, Pacific Coast Capital of San Francisco, completed the acquisition of seven different parcels this fall.

Southlands is planned as a lifestyle and entertainment center, town center and super regional power center. Located at E-470 and Smoky Hill Road, the Class A, retail-dominated center will offer town plazas, landmark clock towers, pop jet fountains, festivals, concerts, bistro restaurants and sidewalk cafés. Construction has begun and Phase I of the project will open in fall 2004.

The completed value of the project will exceed $250 million and will contain 1.5 million sq ft of retail space, more than 1,100 residential units and approximately 250,000 sq ft of commercial office space on its 301 acres.

Additionally, Southlands will create more than 1,000 construction jobs and an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 full- and part-time jobs at completion.

Sable Ridge Residences for Seniors Opens

Montbello/Gateway, one of Denver's fastest growing communities, recently celebrated the completion of its first apartment building designed specifically for seniors 55 years and older - Sable Ridge Residences. The 61-unit apartment building is located in Sable Ridge Plaza, a mixed-use development at Chambers Blvd. between 40th and 44th avenues, near I-70.

The architects on the project were Thomas Clark & Associates of Denver and Martin Design of Englewood and the general contractor was Maxwell Construction Inc. of Englewood.

Sable Ridge Residences has begun leasing the three-story building, with four unique floor plans ranging from one bedroom, one-bath to two-bedroom, two-bath apartments.

First-class amenities include a fitness center, billiards room, lounge with a baby grand piano and fireplace, game room and library/resource center. The building has secured access, elevator, onsite management and is pet-friendly. Secured underground parking is also available.

Weitz Builds Wild Oats Market and Pentax Headquarters

The Weitz Co. recently completed the 27,500-sq-ft Wild Oats Market in the Jefferson Marketplace at 8194 S. Kipling Parkway.

The store - the first new Wild Oats location in Colorado since 1999 - houses 150 full- and part-time employees. It is one of three Wild Oats stores set to open by mid-2004. The other two stores will be in Colorado Springs and Superior.

Each Wild Oats Market has full-service kitchens, walk-in freezers and coolers, food preparation areas for meat, seafood and produce.

Weitz also recently completed tenant finish for PENTAX U.S.A.'s new national headquarters in Golden - 40,000 sq ft of office space built by Weitz's special projects division in just 11 weeks.

Drahota Building North Court Condominiums in Boulder

Drahota Development Company LLC, an entity of Drahota Construction Co., is constructing the North Court Condominiums, part of the Holiday Neighborhood community at 28th Street and Lee Hill Road in North Boulder.

The owner, North Court LLC, expects to spend approximately $6 million for the multifamily, for-sale, whole-ownership condominiums. Once completed, there will be a total of 12 buildings with 77 units in two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Wolff Lyon Architects created the designs. The project is slated for completion in November 2004.

Haselden to Build Third Major Parking Structure in Denver

Haselden Construction was recently awarded a CM/GC contract to build the new parking garage for the Auraria Higher Education Center in downtown Denver.

Located at the corner of 9th Street and Auraria Parkway, the multi-level, 800- to 900-car parking structure will add much-needed parking capacity to the Auraria campus and improve the overall student experience. Haselden will work closely with Davis Partnership on the planning and design of the structure with construction to start in the first quarter of 2004. Haselden is currently working with AHEC and Davis Partnership during the preconstruction phase.

Orchard Falls To Be Renovated

The Orchard Falls Building at 7800 East Orchard Road in Greenwood Village has been purchased by a group of local and national investors - 7800 Orchard LLC - who plan to improve and restore the building to its original impressive state.

Renovation plans include cleaning and polishing the entire façade, a new landscape design, renovation of the water feature surrounded by the rear of the building, the opening of an elevator from the Club level to a conference facility on the fourth floor, new decor in the lobbies and the return of an outdoor sculpture garden.

The 16,000-sq-ft Metropolitan Club will offer additional services for corporate meetings and teleconferencing. Remodeling plans for the existing club are under way and include expansion to a conference facility on the upper levels of the building.

The investment group has engaged architect Dan Trinbach of Gary Lee Partners in New York City as a design consultant on the project.

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