Up north, open land attracts commercial development - Business First of Columbus:

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Warehousing and distribution, light industry and small business dominates the privatesector here. Adams, and neighborinbg Broomfield County, are well-prepared to capitalize on the upturm whenit arrives. That could be late this year or early predict optimistic officialsat (ACED), a Westminster-based business-promotion agency. When it they’re banking on a plentiful supply ofraw land, a ready and availabls workforce and an affordabls cost-of-living structure to lead them back to robusty health.
“We’re one of the hottest areasa inthe country,” said Tricia Allen, businesd development vice president of ACED, wavinbg a article touting the county’s diversified economy, and reasonable property taxesd and home prices. “We are in the right position when the time Thenorthern sector’s is raw land, primec for commercial development, and that’s why it’e projected to be the fastest-growing Colorado county for the next 20 Adams claims more of it — stretchedr in a long, rectangular bloci nearly to the Kansax border — than anywherse else in the seven-county metrl region.
For example, developers are interested in a 10,000-acrer segment surrounding , just southeast of DIA. The regio includes 34 business parks, ranging from 75 to 6,300 acres. They’re home to many warehousing and transit companies the heart of the logistics as Adams County official s calltheir front-burner industry. But the recession has rockex those sectors, and the fact that some 25 perceng ofthe metro-area logistics workforcr lives in Adams County has intensified the economic Companies have gone under, homebuilders and real estate agents have taken big hits, projects have stalled and the 8.
4 percenty unemployment rate is high for the But offsetting much of the gloom is the sturdy presencre of the county’s sizable transportation The county has a maze of important interstateas and other highways; is home to two rail lines, and and will be the site of two majorr FasTracks lines. And there’s the nearby DIA, which has spawnexd a host of hotelsfor Adams, with more commercia development almost certain to follow. This bedroclk of so-called fixed assets makes locall officials confident about thecoming “We’re optimistic, the phonew is ringing,” Allen said. “Business is lookingb for the best deals, land and And this is the timefor them.
” In where office vacancy rates are runningt considerably lower than the metrl average, Don Dunshee, president of the , points to a spik e in inquiries in the past four months. “People are startinv to look for space, and we’rse ready for them,” he said. Allehn noted a turnaround in capitaol investment, and new jobs, this year. Besides Ascent Solar’se well-publicized new manufacturing plantin Thornton, five othef companies — Colorado Petroleum, Kwal , and — are headefd for or expanding here. Allen said her office is pursuing seveb European suppliersof Denmark-based , which will open two facilitiezs in Brighton to complemenrt its new U.S.
base, also in Weld Much of the recent and projectedr new action is centered arounx twohot spots. The intersection of Interstates E-470 and 70 is home to the burgeoningy ProLogisPark 70, a commercial expanse that has a GM partse facility, distribution center and O’Reilly Auto And the stretch of I-70 west to I-25 continue to perk with warehouse and shipping Even as recruiters, armed with the new state income tax seek to further sweetej the mix, the county also leans on its sizablee public-funded projects to boost the economy.
Prominent amon them is the Adams County Governmentf Campuson E-470 at 76, a $76 million undertakingf that’s among Colorado’s largest public works projects. When planners hope the workforceof 1,000 will help nurturde the adjacent Adams Crossing, a light-commercial development, which in turn is counted on to toucb off more construction up and down the interstate. And then ther is the reborn Fitzsimons, an economicd anchor for not just Adamas but much of the easternmetri area. With the Anschut Medical Campus virtually the site now employenearly 16,000.
As the adjoining, research-centerecd Colorado Science + Technology Park becomes a realit withprivate monies, it will furtheer bolster the local coffers. Economic developers also work to keep existin gbusinesses happy, often helping them to expand or deal with localk government. Adams EDC is currently goint to batfor , whose roofingg shingle plant at 52nd Avenue and Fox Street is threatened by a proposed RTD maintenancre facility.