Johnstown commerce is busy as a beaver
JOHNSTOWN — Well, it finally arrived.
Buc-ee’s, perhaps the largest gas station and convenience store anywhere, opened in March at Interstate 25 and Colorado Highway 60, complete with 116 gas pumps, 74,000 square feet of retail space, barbecued brisket, Key Lime fudge, caramel-coated corn pops called Beaver Nuggets, pickled quail eggs, immaculate restrooms and traffic backed up onto the freeway.
At least for a while, the Texas-based and Texas-sized attraction has overshadowed the touted cinnamon rolls at Johnson’s Corner, a truck stop with a retro restaurant and bakery on the other side of I-25.
At the crossroads of Northern Colorado, Johnstown has emerged as a go-to city. “
But these days, there are far bigger reasons why Johnstown is getting noticed.
At the crossroads of Northern Colorado, Johnstown has emerged as a go-to city. The growth at I-25 and U.S. Highway 34 is a shot in the arm for the once-sleepy agricultural town and has led to a public-private agreement for an expedited development approval process. Iimpact fees are among the lowest in the region. In fact, town officials expect more than 1 million square feet of commercial retail space and more than 1,000 housing units to be on the market soon.
Businesses are rising in the 2534-Johnstown Plaza, anchored by the 250,000-square-foot Scheels sporting-goods store along with other office, retail and hospitality projects.
The Granary will bring 922 homes to Johnstown. Timnath-based Hartford Homes and Denver-based Brightland Homes are building the subdivision off of Colorado Highway 60 and Weld County roads 13, 15 and 46.
Forestar Group Inc. is building Revere at Johnstown, a 460-acre development expected to feature about 1,500 single-family residents. Also rising is The Ridge, a 165-acre mixed-use development, as well as a three-building flexible industrial space totaling 280,323 square feet.
In February, United Properties Development LLC sold its Trade@2534 property, which included two industrial buildings in Johnstown for a total of $37.2 million to Nor Co 2534 Holdings LLC, a division of Nearon Enterprises LLC from Walnut Creek, California. Tenants include PODS, Kroger, Radial Engineering, SCP Distributors and Stevens Equipment Supply.
Even with the Colorado Department of Transportation’s expansion of the interstate from two to three lanes in each direction, planners are mulling a new “relief road” east of I-25 to take some pressure off the freeway, and that highway surely would generate even more development.
Families also are finding Johnstown, as the city attracts commuters looking to buy an affordable first home and empty nesters wanting to downsize. Johnstown spent recent years annexing parcels of real estate to become a prime Northern Colorado location.
Open and flexible space is the theme of Weld RE-5J School District’s new $110 million Roosevelt High School, part of a campus setting in Johnstown, and the Archdiocese of Denver in May purchased a 44.1-acre parcel for a 450-student Catholic high school along with a chapel, athletic field and gymnasium.
Johnstown also is home to Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital, the Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital; and Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health.