N before COVID-19 pandemic
the public on store reopenings and safety precautions implemented by merchants.
Currently, Village at the Peaks has eight vacancies, according to its website. Mccoy said that the property has retained its estimated 98% occupancy.
Key tenants for Twenty Ninth Street Mall in Boulder are Century Theatres, Colorado Athletic Club, The Home Depot, Nordstrom Rack and Zayo Group Holdings Inc, according to its 2020 property listing brochure. A Macy’s
The July 2020 revenue report for Boulder recorded that Twenty Ninth Street yearto-date sales tax is 37.3%, or $1.7 million, lower than 2019.
Joel Wagner, tax and special projects manager for Boulder, said that Twenty Ninth Street accounted for 4.1% of the city’s total sales and use tax revenue through July.
But Twenty Ninth Street has added names to its portfolio. Cava Grill opened in the former Zoe’s Kitchen. Warby Parker relocated to the shopping center after three years on Pearl Street east of the mall.
According to Twenty Ninth Street’s website, it’s expecting Madison Reed, a brand of haircare and hair-color products. Also coming soon is an Amazon 4-star store, an Amazon.com Inc. retail store that sells products that are rated at least four stars, are top sellers or are new on its website.
Flatiron Crossing and its surrounding business is an important factor in Broomfield’s retail profile, said Jeff Romine, economic vitality director and economist at the city and county of Broomfield. He added that Broomfield doesn’t look at the property alone and includes its surrounding businesses.
He estimated that normally 20% to 25% of sales-tax revenues for Broomfield are collected from that area. Romine said Flatiron Crossing and surrounding businesses employ around 1,500 to 2,000 people.
Flatiron Crossing is anchored by AMC Theatres, The Container Store, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dillard’s, Forever 21 and Macy’s according to the Macerich 2020 property listing brochure.
Nordstrom, Inc. in May announced plans to permanently close 16 store locations including its 84,000-square-foot location at Flatiron Crossing. It resulted in 167 retail jobs cut. According to a WARN notice letter filed with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment on May 11, 70% of sales come from in-person shopping and the impacts of COVID-19 forced Nordstrom to “take a critical look at the physical footprint,” of stores.
Flatiron Crossing resembles a traditional mall and is mostly enclosed. The mall reopened in June, but only after a variance request Broomfield submitted to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Under the SaferAt-home mandate at the time, only stores with external entrances could operate at 50% capacity, making many tenants ineligible to reopen.
“We worked hard to get a variance approved by the state of Colorado, so that that facility can open more completely and those businesses can begin to recover from the effects of the public health measures as well as the economic recession that we’re in,” Romine said.
Broomfield City Council reviewed preliminary drawings last year for a mixed-use development at Flatiron Crossing just south of the shuttered Nordstrom, as reported by BizWest.
“We’ve been working with
(Macerich Co.) in more detail over the past year and a half about the redevelopment of a portion of Flatiron Crossing — the addition of some residential uses, some hotel uses, some offices and some green open areas,” Broomfield deputy city manager Kevin Standbridge told Bizwest in May.
Construction would call for a 100- to 200-room hotel, 650 to 850 residential units, 415,000 square feet of office space, a five-story parking garage with 850 spaces and a 3,000-square-foot pavilion. It’s not yet clear how the Nordstrom vacancy may play into those plans.
Macy’s Inc. has been eyeing its Twenty Ninth Street location for a mixed-use redevelopment since 2017. Working with Corum Real
Estate Group Inc., Macy’s wants to reuse its real estate for a three-story office space, with 7,700 square feet reserved for retail.
“While we’ve been proud to anchor the Twenty Ninth Street mall for decades, the time has come for us to think about the future,” Macy’s director of development Jessica Fraser said at a Boulder Planning Board meeting in September. “… The retail market is changing, and COVID has only accelerated what’s already occurring.”
The board recommended approval of the plan on a 4-3 vote on Sept. 24 , but will need City Council approval.
Village at the Peak’s outdoor layout has been an asset during the pandemic, Mccoy said. The center has added more outdoor seating. It’s also resumed some events including outdoor concerts that can be observed from restaurant patios. It also has regular drive-in bingo nights.
Jessica Erickson, president and CEO of the Longmont Economic Development Partnership, said the developer’s foresight into the dying mall model kept the shopping center afloat during the downturn.
“I think it’s a credit to the mix of merchants in that center,” Erickson said. “That traditional mall model was on its way out prior to COVID and just like with a lot of things, COVID has accelerated that but I don’t think it caused that.”