NORTHGLENN —Strip malls and business centers all over Northglenn are being cleaned up and modernized in ongoing efforts by the Northglenn Urban Renewal Authority to beautify and grow the city’s businesses and shopping centers.
Some of the efforts are city-led and others are private endeavors, but what they have in common is a goal to keep the city’s commerce areas competitive with commercial growth all along the expanding northern sectors of Adams County.
“Northglenn has been very successful utilizing urban renewal tools to redevelop underperforming properties into thriving commercial centers,” said Debbie Tuttle, Northglenn Economic Development manager and Northglenn Urban Renewal Authority executive director. “NURA has used these tools to reinvest more than $25.5 million into redevelopment and revitalization projects over the past two decades. As a landlocked city, urban renewal is critical to future economic development efforts in Northglenn.”
About 87 percent of Northglenn’s commercial properties are located within urban renewal areas.
Two shopping centers located side-by-side on 104th Avenue are examples of these current mixed redevelopment efforts.
at 1016 W. 104th Ave. is undergoing a slow transformation from condemnation, but that is dependent on the signing of an anchor tenant to . The Hillcrest Shopping Center at 1400 W. 104th Ave. is undergoing exterior improvements spearheaded by the center’s new landlord.
“We repainted everything, did some parking lot work and removed a lot of the old rock faces on the outside of the center and redid the whole building in stucco and we also installed all new LED light fixtures outside,” said Phil Hiemer, the Hillcrest Center’s new property manager from Unique Management Solutions. “Our goal was to come in and clean it up, make it more inviting and attractive to bring in new customers and tenants.”
Both centers are dominated by small business owners who have waited for years for someone to do something to breathe life back into the drab appearances and rocky parking lots. The only previous improvement made at the decades-old Hillcrest Shopping Center was a new roof in 2003.
As Northglenn works to remain a competitive but distinct shopping region from the massive growth at Thornton’s Grove and Westminster’s Orchard, both located off 144th Avenue and Interstate 25, a reputation as a “ma and pop shops” town is being embraced by the city and its small business owners.
Gary and Kendra Hurtado own the Wing Cave & Grill in the Hillcrest Center. They say that improvements to Hillcrest are helpful for their business, but overall, they are comfortable with being known as a local hub where shoppers can easily access food and parking without being snared for hours in dense mall complexes.
“It’s not very easy to get in and out of there,” Kendra Hurtado said of the new shopping centers. “If you want fast, easy, convenient, you’re not going to go to a place like that. I think a lot our customers come here because of the small, family atmosphere. We know who they are, we know their names and their orders … and that’s something that is still very unique to Northglenn and this area.”
But Northglenn has been busy with its larger shopping centers, as well. Tuttle said the urban renewal authority counts among its most proud successes its ground-up work at the 10-acre , which now employs about 350 people at 120th Avenue and Grant Street, and its revitalization efforts for the Northglenn Marketplace and the Garland Center.
“The Northglenn Marketplace continues to be the highest sales tax producer in the city. From 2000 to 2015, the center generated $67.4 million in sales, use and food taxes,” Tuttle said. And “the Garland Center was a 45-year-old nonperforming center at 108th Avenue and Garland Street that was 95 percent vacant … The center was razed and a new 41,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market and Pharmacy was built. This was a $9 million project, and created more than 100 new jobs.”
And the city has more economic development and competitive strategy planning on the 2016 calendar.
“The city is currently going through a citywide sustainability study, which will evaluate Northglenn’s commercial centers,” Tuttle said. “Once the study is complete, we will look at the findings and see what steps the city and NURA can take to enhance the Marketplace and all the other commercial areas in Northglenn.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or @Mmitchelldp
