Boulder – City officials and business leaders are to get their first up-close look at the evolution of the former Crossroads Mall today when developer Westcor opens the site for a special tour.
More than 70 people are expected to visit the project – renamed Twenty Ninth Street – where the decrepit mall has been razed to make way for an outdoor district of shops, restaurants and offices.
“It’s pretty awesome to see how much construction has transformed the site,” said Lain Adams, senior property manager for Westcor, the Phoenix-based subsidiary of site owner Macerich Co. of Santa Monica, Calif.
The first new building – to be occupied by U.S. Bank – already is rising from the 64-acre site bordered by Arapahoe and Pearl streets and 28th and 30th streets. Crews are halfway through building a platform housing an 830-space underground parking structure. Seven buildings and an extension of 29th Street will rest atop the platform.
Such signs of progress are welcome for a redevelopment that had previously lagged. Community members and city officials publicly first called for some type of redevelopment in 1998. The project idled as the economy shifted and stakeholders battled over the best use for the site.
During that time, more stores abandoned the struggling mall. Shoppers started leaving the city to shop – especially after Broomfield’s FlatIron Crossing mall opened in 2000.
Today’s event will mark the first time Westcor updates officials with an on-site tour since demolition of the old mall started in September.
“It’s a pretty neat thing to drive around the site and look at all the progress that’s been made,” Boulder senior planner Liz Hanson said. “People are constantly telling me ‘Wow, I can’t believe all the progress that’s been made.”‘
The $130 million project is being financed by Westcor.
“It’s really the last piece in the puzzle,” said Susan Graf, president and chief executive of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. The project will help the city round out its offerings and entice visitors and residents to spend more money in the city, she said.
The city predicts Twenty Ninth Street could generate up to $4.5 million in yearly tax revenue by 2007. In 2003, Crossroads generated $915,000 in sales taxes.
Westcor has signed or re- signed multiple tenants, including the existing Foley’s department store, Home Depot, Century Theatres and Wild Oats Markets Inc., which will build both a flagship store and a new corporate headquarters on the site.
Smaller retailers who recently committed to the site include Sigrid Olsen, Lucy, Lucky Brand, White House/Black Market, Coldwater Creek, Clarks England, Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.
U.S. Bank will open by the end of the year, and Home Depot is expected to open next spring. The remaining retailers are expected to open in October 2006.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com
