U.S. 36 midpoint has changing face

Dallas Heltzell

BROOMFIELD — Whether it’s companies seeking to take advantage of a location that’s close to both Boulder’s research labs and Denver’s corporate connections, or young families looking to move into a larger home in a quality school district, Broomfield is working to have the answers.

Its location made commercial and residential growth inevitable for Broomfield, which declared its independence from Adams, Boulder, Jefferson and Weld counties in 2001 and formed its own consolidated city and county.

Construction is underway at the FlatIrons Crossing mall, where owner/operator Macerich is redeveloping the outdoor annex into a mixed-use 18-hour activity center, including new multifamily residential, Class-A office, hotel, additional retail and elevated food and beverage offerings. A highly activated outdoor green space will complete the development. Additional upgrades to the interior mall and new retail tenants will continue to support the retail center. Flatiron Marketplace also continues to see redevelopment as well, with an additional 1,500 multifamily and townhome units approved or under construction, and new retail and entertainment tenants.

With a second-to-none location, commercial and residential growth was inevitable for Broomfield.

Denver-based McWhinney is developing Baseline, a master-planned mixed-use community on 932 acres of land at the southwest corner of Interstate 25 and Colorado Highway 7 (Baseline Road). The developer envisions a 20- to 40-year buildout of 6 to 7 million square feet of commercial projects, including the development’s Center Street District with retail, food and beverage, and community amenities. The residential portion of Baseline is slated to include up to 9,000 homes. Baseline’s Innovation District, a light-industrial flex and office campus, will be host to Lightship, the electric RV company, which leased 32,000 square feet to house its pilot manufacturing operations beginning this year for the Lightship L1, an aerodynamic, solar and battery-powered travel trailer.

The new Broomfield Town Square project at 120th Avenue and Main Street received critical approvals for development in late 2023, which will bring more than 60,000 square feet of commercial (restaurants, retail, office, and entertainment) in Phase 1. Additionally, the site will see the reuse of a former Safeway store to create a market hall catering to food and beverage offerings, coworking space, and event space. 491 housing units, a public plaza with program and art activations, and a swimmable 4-acre lake with beach and boathouse will complete the development.

Additional work in Broomfield is now taking place at Arista, the transit-oriented mixed-use development near the southeast quadrant of U.S. Highway 36 and Wadsworth Parkway. In November 2023, the Broomfield Event Center, formally known as the 1stBank Center, went dark. Owned by the Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority, it opened in November 2008 as a multi-purpose entertainment and sports arena. It hosted minor league hockey and basketball, ice shows, concerts and other community events, but never approached the number of estimated annual events for which it was constructed. Broomfield is moving forward with demolition in 2024/2025 and expects to begin discussions on redevelopment for the site in late 2024.

The Interlocken Advanced Technology Environment continues to serve as the area’s primary office park, with a variety of real estate on 900 acres. It’s home to the headquarters of Vail Resorts Inc., and Webroot Software Inc. Oracle Corp. has a major facility in Interlocken as well, and has recently opened up several properties on their site to new tenants, including the newly expanded and renovated headquarters for Crocs Inc., creator of foam-like clogs and casual footwear, and Sierra Space, an aerospace company headquartered in Louisville.

Nuventra, a consulting firm for the pharmaceutical biotech industry, expanded its Broomfield location, and Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources Inc. moved its headquarters to Broomfield from Golden.Interlocken also includes two four-star hotels and a 27-hole championship golf course. Close to Interlocken, BAE Systems, formerly Ball Aerospace, continues to be a top employer for the region and a leader in aerospace and defense. 

Broomfield has an additional 3 million square feet of commercial and light-industrial properties under construction or approved for development or redevelopment, supporting key sectors like bioscience, aerospace, and newer industries like quantum computing. 

Finally, the Interlocken and Arista areas and Broomfield overall enjoynext-door access to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Jefferson County, with corporate jet services. The National Center for Atmospheric Research facility there supports scientific research in Colorado and around the world.