Retail Space In South Fort Collins Filling Up

New tenants plan to move into two long-vacant big-box stores at Harmony Road and College Avenue, boosting one of Fort Collins' major intersections and filling some of the city's 800,000 square feet of empty retail space.

Harbor Freight Tools, a longtime tenant at 105 W. Prospect Road, has signed a lease for about half the former Circuit City building, or about 14,000 square feet, on the northeast corner of Harmony Road and College Avenue. The move doubles its retail footprint and provides more visibility, said Realtor Debbie Tamlin with SullivanHayes Commercial Real Estate in Fort Collins.

Sitting empty behind Circuit City is Linens 'N Things, which closed in December 2008 when its parent company went bankrupt.

A national retailer is interested in signing a lease for much of that building, according to David Spriggs, a Realtor with Legend Retail Group of Denver, which is marketing the building. Spriggs declined to name the store.

"We've picked our horse ,and we're going with it," Spriggs said.

Harbor Freight will occupy about half of its building, leaving 14,000 square feet vacant at the Circuit City site.

Tamlin has a second retailer interested in sharing the building with Harbor Freight, although there is no signed lease yet, she said.

The move to one of the city's busiest and recently reconstructed intersections with more than 70,000 cars passing by each day is part of Harbor Freight's new business model intended to compete with home-improvement stores Lowe's and Home Depot, Tamlin said.

"They have not been a drive-by location that people think to stop and see what they have," Tamlin said.

Harbor Freight, tucked next to Chuck E Cheese at College Avenue and Prospect Road, "was more of a destination location," Tamlin said.

The new location "will give them a higher presence of mind that they're here in Fort Collins. They didn't get that before. You saw it if you took your kids to Chuck E Cheese, but that's not the time to think about buying a new drill."

If Legend Retail nabs a new tenant for Linens 'N Things, it will help fill a large percentage of retail space that has languished unoccupied for almost two years and boost retail activity at the intersection that has suffered under the weight of three large, empty buildings including Walmart, Circuit City and Linens 'N Things.

"Getting any of that vacant space retenanted along College is only going to have positive effects," said Josh Birks, the city's economic adviser. "Harbor Freight is the shifting of one place to another, so it's not as positive as some of the other national tenants considering the space, but filling vacant space ... can only do good things."

The Harmony/College intersection is a key component of the recent midtown corridor study that looked at redevelopment opportunities along College Avenue from Prospect Road to Harmony Road.

BY PAT FERRIER • PatFerrier@coloradoan.com • October 19, 2010

September Retail Sales Rise For Third Consecutive Month

Washington, D.C. ( October 15, 2010 ) The Commerce Department reported Friday that retail sales rose 0.6% in September, the third month in a row of sales gains. In August, sales rose 0.7%, the biggest advance since March.

Excluding autos, sales rose 0.4% in September after a 1% August gain. Auto sales, which had fallen 0.5% in August, rose 1.6% in September, the best showing since March.

The furniture category had a strong showing, as furniture retail sales rose 0.5%, the best showing since July. Electronic and appliance stores posted a 1.5% rise, the best since February. Sales at hardware stores rose 0.6%, the biggest increase since April.

Sales at general merchandise stores, which includes department stores and the big discounters such as Wal-Mart and Target, were flat in September. But the zero gain followed a 0.5% jump in August, which had been fueled by back-to-school shopping and discounting by many retailers.

Sales at specialty clothing stores dropped 0.2% in August after posting a 0.5% rise in July.

Even with the solid overall gain in September, economists remain concerned that consumer spending will not rebound until households have the income growth to spend at a faster pace. And the income growth will not come until businesses start hiring back laid-off workers at a faster pace.

Unemployment has been at or above 9.5% for a year and two months, the longest stretch since the Great Depression.

Retail sees promise - Strong September sales bode well for important holiday season

By Mae Anderson
The Associated Press

NEW YORK» Americans proved in September they are willing to spend, as long as the price and the product are right. Stores including Abercrombie & Fitch, Limited Brands and Macy’s posted strong September sales figures, helped by customers lured to malls by back-to-school discounting. That strength was partly offset by erratic weather in the last week of the month, including a heat wave on the West Coast and tropical storms on the East Coast.

The results are a positive sign that shoppers will be willing to spend during the upcoming holiday season. “I think the doom and gloom that many of us anticipated for the quarter appears unfounded,” said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Richard Jaffe. “Credit goes to the U.S. consumer and the U.S. retailer for sleuthing out what she wants and giving it to her.”

The International Council of Shopping Centers’ index of September retail sales rose 2.6 percent, near the low end of its forecast that ranged from 2.5 percent to 3 percent growth.

But the number is stronger than it appears, since retailers were up against year-ago results that were the first positive numbers in a year, making comparisons more difficult.

Mike Niemira, ICSC director of research and chief economist, said he expects holiday sales to rise 3 percent to 3.5 percent, slightly better than results in September, which is the third-largest sales month in terms of volume.

Still, results remain moderate compared with pre-recession performance. Analysts do not expect any major sales surge until unemployment, housing and consumer-confidence sectors markedly improve.

“Our holiday projections are not for a gangbuster season,” Niemira said.
A hot August and a late Labor Day helped push more back-to-school sales into the month.
In Denver, some young shoppers acknowledged that they had postponed some of their back-to-school purchases.

Breanna Seaton, a student at East High School, said she waited because there tend to be more sales in September.

Outside Forever 21 in downtown Denver, other shoppers agreed. “I’ve been barely starting to get stuff for school,” said Claudia Adame, a college student in Denver.

Nationally, top performers were stores that offered attractive prices or unique items that consumers feel are “must-haves.” Bright spots included teen retailers and luxury stores.

Fed's Beige Book sees 'modest' growth in Colorado region

Denver Business Journal - by Mark Harden

The economy in Colorado and six neighboring states saw "modest" growth in late July and August, the U.S. Federal Reserve reports in its latest "Beige Book" survey of the region’s business executives.

The Fed's 10th District, which includes Colorado and some or all of six neighboring states, was one of five Fed districts nationwide, most of them in the West, that saw modest growth during the six-week period covered by the latest report.

Growth was slower in eastern states, the Fed reported.

The Fed’s 10th District is based in Kansas City. Each district released its own Beige Book Wednesday.

The Beige Book is based on interviews with a sample of business executives representing key industries in each district. The reports are anecdotal and do not contain statistics, but they are widely followed and help the Fed to set national economic policy.

The latest report is based on information collected through Aug. 30.

During late July and August, consumer spending in the 10th District "increased slightly from the previous period, and high-tech and transportation firms reported moderate growth," the local Beige Book said.

Energy activity "continued to expand solidly, and agricultural conditions improved with higher crop prices. Manufacturing production was flat, and factory orders declined slightly."

The Beige Book said the downturn in commercial real estate across the 10th District "eased somewhat, while residential real estate markets weakened further."

It said that bankers "reported steady loan demand and an unchanged outlook for loan quality."

The region's business executives interviewed for the Beige Book "were moderately optimistic about future sales, but few planned to change employment or capital spending levels in the months ahead. Retail prices were largely unchanged from the previous survey, and wage pressures in most industries remained limited due to soft labor markets."

The Fed’s 10th District includes Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wyoming as well as western Missouri and northern New Mexico.

Formally known as the “Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District,” the Beige Book is published eight times a year. The nickname refers to the color of its cover.

New medical New medical office building planned for Denver's Uptown hospital

By Margaret Jackson
The Denver Post

Rapid growth in the health care industry is fueling the development of a 95,000-square- foot medical office building on the southern edge of the Uptown hospital district.

A major Denver medical practice has agreed to lease 25 percent of the building, said Glen Sibley, president of Denver-based Fleisher Smyth Brokaw, which is developing the project. He declined to disclose the practice because employees have not been notified.

"The real drivers are the growth in the health care industry because of the aging baby boomers and the anticipated expansion of health care that comes with insuring another 35 million Americans," Sibley said.

In 2008, physician office visits by people ages 45 and older accounted for a greater proportion of all office visits than in 1998 (57 percent vs. 49 percent), according to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Designed by Denver architects Mulhern Group, the building will have floor plates of up to 25,000 square feet on floors 5 through 8 and will be able to accommodate an ambulatory surgery center, imaging services and a variety of other medical services. Retail and restaurant space is planned for the ground floor. Structured parking for more than 300 cars is planned for the project.

Groundbreaking for the project at the southwest corner of East 17th Avenue and Lafayette Street is slated for the middle of next year. It is expected to take a year to complete.

The project will be the seventh medical office building for Fleisher Smyth Brokaw, which focuses on the acquisition, investment and development of office and medical office properties throughout Colorado.


Read more: New medical office building planned for Denver's Uptown hospital district - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_15944574#ixzz0yTUYvtmb

Fuller Exits Company He Founded - August 27, 2010

Denver Business Journal, By Paula Moore

John Fuller has split from the Denver commercial real estate company he started 55 years ago because of Fuller Real Estate’s new affiliation with a national brokerage firm.
Fuller said he doesn’t want to be in the national real estate business, so he’s resigned from Fuller Real Estate, sold his stock in the company and acquired full ownership of the Fuller Western Real Estate LLC ranch brokerage firm. He declined to reveal terms.

The veteran Denver commercial broker also is adding local commercial real estate sales and leasing services at Fuller Western, and hiring seasoned brokers for that venture.
“My vision is to keep Fuller Western as a boutique firm, serving clients we have served for many years,” said Fuller, who’s now chairman and CEO of Fuller Western. He founded the company in 1994.
Fuller decided to leave his former company, which he no longer controlled, because of Fuller Real Estate’s recent affiliation with St. Louis-based Cassidy Turley, a national provider of commercial real estate services. With that deal, the firm now is Cassidy Turley Fuller Real Estate, and uses Cassidy Turley branding.
“The old company is losing its identity, including the black-and-white Fuller logo … We have the Fuller brand, the name, and we want to build on that,” John Fuller said.

Greg Morris, Fuller Real Estate’s CEO for 15 years, continues as president/CEO of Cassidy Turley Fuller. When the affiliation was announced Aug. 9, Morris said in a statement that it allows his company “to take advantage of [Cassidy Turley’s] national platform and international reach … while still remaining Denver based and employee owned.”
Fuller expects to hire six to eight commercial brokers at Fuller Western. One of Fuller’s first hires was his son, John Fuller Jr., a longtime broker at Fuller Real Estate handling office, industrial, retail, land and investment properties. Another son, Burt Fuller, is Fuller Western’s president and chief operating officer; he formerly was vice president of operations there.
Veteran Denver-area commercial broker Bob Leino, who formerly was with what’s now Fuller Real Estate and has had his own company, started with Fuller Western the week of Aug. 27.

Fuller Western has relocated its main office from Cassidy Turley Fuller’s headquarters, at the Park Central building in downtown Denver, to 7901 Southpark Plaza in Littleton. The ranch brokerage, which owns the Littleton building, also has a satellite office in La Veta.

Fuller and late partner Al Strauch started Fuller Real Estate, as Fuller and Co., in 1955 as one of metro Denver’s first commercial real estate firms. Through the years, the company added branches such as Fuller Management Services, residential brokerage Fuller Town & Country Properties and Fuller Western. The companies built the total staff to 300 people and annual gross revenue to $2 billion by the mid-2000s.
“In building a company, John surrounded himself with bright, competent people,” said John Bitzer, partner at Bitzer Real Estate Partners in Denver and former managing broker at Fuller and Co. “He knew he couldn’t do it all.”

The company changed its name to Fuller Real Estate in 2006, and sold Fuller Town & Country to Sotheby’s International Realty in 2008.
Large, national commercial real estate firms have gotten bigger and more global in recent years through mergers and acquisitions. To compete with that growth, locally owned firms such as Fuller and the Frederick Ross Co. have formed alliances with networks.

Fuller previously was associated with NAI Global, a Princeton, N.J.-based network of independent commercial real estate firms with operations in more than 50 countries.
The Denver company dropped its relationship with NAI to form a closer alliance with Cassidy Turley, details of which haven’t been revealed.

Cassidy Turley formally launched in early 2010, and is the combination of eight firms that broke away from Colliers International, Grubb & Ellis Co. (NYSE: GBE) and NAI Global.
The new company has more than 60 offices across the country, and its founding firms did more than $13 billion in real estate deals in 2009.

Cherry Creek Mall Milestone

Now in its 20th year, the shopping center remains a huge draw
By Rita Wold

The Denver Post
Age is just a number for Denver’s Cherry Creek Shopping Center, whose allure for shoppers and tourists appears as strong today as at its inception.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of the mall that replaced a 1950s-era shopping center. And although outdoor shopping centers have become the hot new trend for retail development, the center remains the dominant shopping center in a six-state region.

Over the years, the center also has remained the No. 1 or No. 2 tourist destination in Denver, said Rich Grant, communications director for Visit Denver, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.

About 20 percent of the Cherry Creek mall’s transactions come from out-of-town visitors, said Nick LeMasters, general manager of the center.

“There’s a lot of wealthy people in the states around us, and there’s not a place like Cherry Creek,” Grant said. “A lot of people do shop.”

Cherry Creek aims to maintain its relevance to shoppers by having the right mix of products. To do this, LeMasters said, merchants are reevaluated annually, and targets are set to attract retailers that are in high demand.

Seven new stores have recently opened or are set to open soon, including Façonnable, a high-end French retailer, and the first S.A. Elite, a new format from Sports Authority that sells high-performance apparel.

“This center is a powerhouse of business,” said Cynthia Petrus, fashion director of the center’s Saks Fifth Avenue. “This is an extremely competitive place.”

The center includes about 1.1 million square feet of space with more than 160 shops. It houses boutiques unique to both the region and the nation. For example, Denver-based Classic Creations Eyewear opened its doors along with the mall 20 years ago and remains the only one of its kind.

“We’ve been successful here,” said Ray Ressin, the store’s owner. “We have a very loyal customer base that keeps us going even through tough times like these.”

Nordstrom joined the lineup at Cherry Creek in 2007 after years of trying to garner a spot that would be conducive to its needs.

The Cherry Creek location has exceeded expectations, said Dan Jones, general manager of the center’s Nordstrom.

“We had been looking for ways to better serve our Denver-area customers and knew this was a premier shopping destination that we needed to be a part of,” he said.

Many things have changed since the center first opened its doors.

Originally, jewelry and apparel were the primary shopping categories, LeMasters said. But recently, trends that have come to dominate include electronics and home furnishings.

The age of the shopping center comes as a surprise to many shoppers because of its appearance, LeMasters said.

“To be 20 years old and to perhaps still look like a teenager is a compliment,” LeMasters said. “We feel like we have a lot to celebrate right now.”