Sopris Sun THE
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 45 • DECEMBER 17, 2009
Attention shoppers: If C’dale gets a big new grocery, what’s in store for City Market? By Trina Ortega The Sopris Sun Now that the Village at Crystal River development has undergone the scrutiny of the Planning & Zoning Commission, it moves on to consideration by the trustees, who will be looking into the larger impacts to the town, including whether a second large grocery store would ring up the demise of Carbondale’s City Market. Or what if City’s Market’s parent company, Kroger, is the proposed development’s grocer? Then what would become of the existing City Market building at Highway 133 and Main Street? “The likely question is, ‘Will it be an expanded City Market?’” said Doug Dotson, Carbondale community development director. “The developer has said that there is no guarantee that a grocery store will locate in VCR. The developer has also said that City Market has indicated a desire to expand in Carbondale.” The P&Z voted 5-2 on Dec. 10 to recommend approval of the planned unit development rezoning and mixed-use commercial/residential project at Highway 133, north of Main Street. Rich Schierburg of Peregrine Group Development
wants to rezone the property as a PUD to allow for retail/commercial space and 268 residential units, and a 59,000-foot grocery store on the 24.1-acre parcel that is considered the “gateway” to Carbondale. The proposed grocery store is the anchor tenant of the project, which aims to have 125,000 square feet of commercial. Schierburg has not made public any of the companies he’s been in negotiations with, although he had hoped to secure a commitment from a grocer by the end of the year. “It does not appear that I will be successful in doing so since the candidates I am speaking with do not want to make any commitment until they see if the project is even going to be approved,” he said. Hypothetically speaking, if City Market were to move out of the building at Highway 133 and Main Street, Dotson surmised that “more than likely” the owner of the shopping center will either lease the existing City Market space, probably for a higher dollar per square foot rate (compared to what City Market is paying now), or seek some type of redevelopment in the future. That grocery store is estimated to be about 40,000 square feet. COMPROMISES page 3
Auctioned again Cattle Creek project in foreclosure By Jeremy Heiman The Sopris Sun A property that has been the target of a series of failed development proposals will be auctioned in a public trustee’s sale Dec. 23 if payments on a $13 million loan are not brought up to date by the most recent prospective developer, Riverbend Colorado LLC. In July, Riverbend withdrew its application to build more than 1,000 dwellings on the property. Riverbend called its project Cattle Creek Colorado. Related WestPac LLC, previously reported as the owner of the property, is one partner in Riverbend LLC, said Steve Alldredge, who handles press and public relations
for Related WestPac. Since 2001, developers have proposed projects named Sanders Ranch, Cattle Creek Crossing and Bair Chase for the nearly-300acre property at the confluence of Cattle Creek and the Roaring Fork River. PlainsCapital Bank, of Dallas, TX, filed foreclosure documents in Garfield County on Aug. 26, naming Riverbend Colorado LLC as the party foreclosed upon, said Bob Slade, deputy public trustee for Garfield County. The stated reason for the foreclosure is “failure to make timely payments,” he said. Slade said the original amount of the loan was $13,875,000 and
More than 40 hardy folks gathered around a firepit and held up candles outside Town Hall on Tuesday evening in a show of support to save the historic Thompson House. The Mount Sopris Historical Society staged the candlelight vigil in anticipation of a vote by the Carbondale trustees on the Thompson Park project, which had the potential to annex the house and the surrounding acreage into the town and green-light a new residential development. Ditty Perry, Bill and Pat Fender, and Mary Lilly were among the old-timers mingling with other local folks of all ages. At the meeting, the trustees and the developer moved closer to an agreement that stands to preserve the historic house by placing it in the hands of the historical society. The two parties also approached an agreement on open space, affordable housing, traffic impacts and other issues key to the eventual approval of the development proposal. The board voted unanimously to direct town staff to prepare documents of approval. The discussion will continue on Jan. 19. Photo by Jane Bachrach
AUCTIONED page 8
Historical Society too vocal?
Fire district to keep tax windfall
A new library, a new look
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