Tuesday, September 20, 2011

We would like to give a special shout out to our friends at HMHArchitecture + Interiors, Levitt Architects, Studio H:T and Neenan for theirrecognition by the AIA Colorado North Chapter.

11_AIA_North_winners.pdf Download this file

Five developers on ACE park shortlist | Boulder County Business Report

Five developers on ACE park shortlist

LOVELAND - The city of Loveland and the Colorado Association of Manufacturing and Technology have five developers on the shortlist of candidates to help run the Aerospace and Clean Energy manufacturing park, according to media reports.

The city and the trade group are trying to establish the facility at the campus formerly occupied by Agilent Technologies Inc. CAMT said the center could be used by more than 70 companies and provide up to 10,000 jobs. Loveland bought a long-vacant portion of the campus for $5.5 million in June.

CAMT and Loveland initially signed an agreement with United Properties, a Minneapolis-based developer, to help create the center, but in August the developer withdrew from the project.

The city and CAMT have received requests for proposals from five developers, according to press reports. Three are from Colorado.

Local candidates include Loveland Commercial LLC, which is based in Loveland, Neenan Co., which is in Fort Collins, and the Broe Group, which is headquartered in Denver.

Cumberland & Western Resources, from Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Beck Group, which is headquartered in Dallas, are the other bidders.

Betsey Hale, Loveland's director of economic development, could not be reached for comment.

Read the article here:  http://bit.ly/r9QL8H

By Michael Davidson

© 2001 Boulder County Business Report

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Great piece in the WSJ about the recent trends in "Agriburbia"

An Apple Tree Grows in Suburbia

The hot trend in the suburbs is to mix homes and agriculture

Used to be, developers built high-end suburban communities around golf greens.

In a movement propelled by environmental concern, nostalgia for a simpler life and a dollop of marketing savvy, developers are increasingly laying out their cul-de-sacs around organic farms, cattle ranches, vineyards and other agricultural ventures. They're betting that buyers will pay a premium for views of heirloom tomatoes—and that the farms can provide a steady stream of revenue, while cutting the cost of landscaping upkeep.

Forget multimillion-dollar recreation centers—"our amenities are watching the cows graze and the leaves change," says Joe Barnes, development principal for Bundoran Farm, a 2,300-acre development set amid apple orchards and cattle pastures outside Charlottesville, Va.

To be sure, the shaky economy has taken a toll on some of these developments, including Bundoran Farms, where the developers are moving ahead with new financial backers after a co-owner of the acreage went into foreclosure. Still, Bundoran's developers say they have sold 19 lots, which run from about $250,000 to more than $1 million, in the past 10 months. And new communities centered on agricultural development are in various stages of planning and construction in cities from coast to coast, including South Burlington, Vt., Hayes, Va., Boise, Idaho, and Stockton, Calif.

"Agriculture is the new golf," says Ed McMahon, a senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit group focused on land-use planning.

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Read more at http://on.wsj.com/r9ixzX

© WSJ

Monday, September 12, 2011

ULI: Military Offers Opportunity for Entrepreneurs: http://bit.ly/qK2QC0

Military Offers Opportunity for Entrepreneurs

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The military real estate market is marching forward.

From Florida to Georgia, California to Texas, military projects are being proposed, planned, and built—providing welcome work for architects, land planners, and construction firms across the country and beyond. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines have all embarked on major housing upgrade programs in the past decade, creating a military housing construction boom.

Those in the industry say assignments for the military are one of the hot sectors in the real estate market. Like Washington, D.C., they add, the military sector seems “recession proof.”

The reason? Companies involved in military construction expect even more contract opportunities during the years ahead as the U.S. military looks more toward private development.

Read more on ULI

http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2011/September/SheridanMilitary

© ULI 2011

Nice job Jeff!

Boulder selects Jeff Arthur as new utility director - Boulder Daily Camera" http://bit.ly/n6C5bm