Morrison, the tiny town of 400 next to Red Rocks, voted this week to get a seat at the table for how it’ll expand.
The Morrison Board of Trustees voted 5-1 on Tuesday to sign an agreement with a group of developers to build a commercial hub at a gateway to the town, on land previously owned by Bandimere Speedway. Morrison will soon be conveyed a portion of the 125-acre property by Copart, the car auction company that bought the speedway in 2024.
“I am kind of like the private arm of the public will, and the town was quite specific on the type of uses it wants and the type of uses it doesn’t, and I pitched them on ‘I will do what the town wants,’” said Nick Larson, part of the development group.
Larson, along with four others, make up Red Rocks Gateway LLC. They approached the town after learning about the land deal between Morrison and Copart. The agreement gives Morrison a great deal of authority over the final plan for the site, down to what operators could take space there, he said.
“They want a mix of eclectic, independently-owned shops that hopefully will be patronized by citizens of Morrison, as well as more national brands, but not something that might be perceived as suburban sprawl,” Larson said.
The 40-year-old lawyer and developer, who runs Bear Peak Development, said the group is in its fact-finding phase, with a focus towards how it’ll source the water and build the infrastructure for a future project. Larson said the town has asked for a hotel, grocery store and a music/event venue that “complements, not competes” with Red Rocks.
Larson said he was brought into the deal by Jeremy Fey, mayor of Central City and son of famed Red Rocks concert promoter Barry Fey. The group also includes Jeremy Fey’s brother, Tyler Fey, Bryan Levitt of Nava Real Estate and Craig Campbell of Starwood Land.
The 16-acre property runs along C-470, just north of its interchange with Morrison Road. Immediately to the west, Morrison real estate developer and investor Bear Creek Development, owns 20 acres of developable land.
The company had also been in the running to develop the land. At Tuesday’s vote, trustees were tasked with deciding whether to sell Bear Creek the land for $5.5 million to develop it or maintain ownership with Red Rocks Gateway serving as development partner.
“Bear Creek seemed like the same old strip mall kind of feel and thatap not what we are wanting for that area. We want it to be a draw to people who are going to Red Rocks, something that brings business in the winter,” said Angela Bernhardt, the trustee who made the motion to go with Red Rocks Gateway.
The other nonstarter was that Bear Creek’s vision included up to 50 new residential units. Morrison is deeply skeptical of adding more homes into town limits, Bernhardt said. She referenced The Fort, a restaurant adjacent to Morrison where developers tried and failed to get it and 50 adjacent future home sites annexed into the town.
Bear Creek’s Ross Bradley, who is a fifth-generation Morrison property owner, said he’d been working on his development plans for the better part of a year.
“We had a great deal and a great team to get this done … To me it just came out of nowhere,” he said of the competing offer.
John Leonard was the only trustee to vote against the agreement with Red Rocks Gateway. He wanted more time to review both proposals, he said at the meeting.
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