WAL-MART MOVING FORWARD IN BROOMFIELD, CO

Barber’s Poultry makes way for Wal-Mart [Broomfield Enterprise (Colo.)]

After months of noisy public protest, work at two major construction projects along 120th Avenue finally is proceeding quietly.

Contractors are laying concrete foundations and putting up steel frames for the Broomfield Corners shopping center. Next door, the former owners of the land that will become a Wal-Mart Supercenter have left the property.

Getting to this point was a challenge for both projects, which their backers hope will encourage more economic development in the southeast corner of the city.

Before work on the Wal-Mart Supercenter could begin, Barber’s Poultry, had to move out. It left the property on June 27, company president David Barber said.

Barber said the company is looking forward to moving on at its new home in Denver and putting years of uncertainty behind it.

“We lost so much business the last couple of years, it’s good to finally get into a new facility and try to rebuild,” he said.

The company left after receiving nearly $15.4 million for the property, of which nearly $4.85 million came from the Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority. The money, which was paid to help Barber’s relocate, will be generated solely from sales and use tax revenues from the Wal-Mart property, which includes the supercenter and four smaller pad sites.

Although the company moved voluntarily, Barber said it was clear it was no longer wanted in Broomfield. The old warehouse was considered an eyesore, and the move to build a new structure seemed inevitable.

“We had to go sometime. It was not a matter of if, but when,” he said.

Now that Barber’s is gone, the next step is moving the cell phone towers from the top of the building. Mike Ciletti, a consultant for Wal-Mart, said engineers are working with telephone companies to decide where to rebuild the towers and how to limit disruption to mobile phone service.

Construction of a typical supercenter takes 10 to 12 months, Ciletti said. The building should be finished by the end of 2009, but the opening could be delayed until 2010 because it is company policy not to open new stores during the holiday season.

“It allows them to get the store up and running before they get crushed,” Ciletti said.

The adjacent Broomfield Corners project is proceeding after troubles of its own.

Bulldozers began moving across the site on March 31. Work was halted when an active prairie dog colony was found.

Drake Real Estate Services owns the property. General manager John Hauser told the Enterprise in April that the company had removed an existing prairie dog colony in October, but new dogs had moved in. Construction resumed in mid-April once the dogs were exterminated.

Some local activists remain upset at the company.

During citizen comment at the July 8 City Council meeting, Dottie Rawsky allegedDrake had started work before it had paid for and obtained its building permit. Work started March 31, although records show the company did not pay for its permit until April 7.

Rawsky asked if the company was going to be punished.

“If we don’t enforce these rules and if there aren’t negative repercussions, I’d like to know why we have them,” Rawsky said.

Inaction will undermine public confidence that Broomfield is holding developers accountable, she said.

“Will the city keep close watch (of the projects) and will there be negative consequences for any violations? ... So far we haven’t seen any, and this is very disappointing,” Rawsky told council.

City and County Attorney William Tuthill said there was an error handling the paperwork, but the only avenue open to the city would be pursuing a criminal case. He didn’t believe the incident merited such action.

The prairie dogs might be gone, but a new problem has emerged. Construction workers with Golden Triangle Construction, the site’s contractor, said thieves have stolen tools worth thousands of dollars from the site. A worker at the site who declined to give his name said there have been three incidents since April.

Brian Laartz, the company’s vice president for business development, said he was aware of one incident, but would not go into detail. Theft is a common problem in the construction industry, he said.

Hauser thinks construction of the first phase will be finished by September and hopes the first shops will open by the end of the year. After that, things should be quiet.

“It’s just a little retail shopping center that’s not very newsworthy,” he said.