The 72,000-sf Iron Flats project at Spruce and 23rd Sts. is the first project by Silk Purse LLC, which plans to team with other developers in the future, Janet R. Fogg, an Oz principal, told GlobeSt.com. Silk Purse is an urban infill development group created by Oz, which helped to design the Pearl Street Mall 18 years ago.
Iron Flats, slated for completion in 2002, will include 35,000 sf of commercial space and 27 condominium units, priced from $280,000 to $450,000 each. Unit prices could rise, says Phillip Shull, a Deneuve principal, who has been a general contractor and developer since the 1970s. "I think buyers will cut across all demographics," Shull says. "I could see everyone from young professionals to empty nesters, who want to be able to walk to stores and restaurants buy here."
Condo units will range in size from about 1,000 sf to 1,700 sf, with an average size of about 1,300 sf, he says. Nine units are targeted as live-and-work space, according to Kelly Davis, an Oz associate principal. "It's an important component that offers a lot of flexibility," she says. "With the high-speed Internet connections I could see someone build out an office to support day trading, or you could have someone who spends three days working in the unit and goes to an outside office twice a week, or even have someone set up a pottery wheel and do ceramics."
Iron Flats will contain no retail, because it is being built at the edge of the historic Whittier neighborhood and its proximity to a number of retailers, a Whole Foods grocery store and restaurants situated on Pearl St., Davis says. The project will include 82 underground parking space. As far as the office component, an unidentified company already has agreed to lease the single largest of the seven, two- and three-story buildings in the complex, Shull says.
Historically, the property was part of a railroad yard off the main line, says Shull, who owns the land and has had his headquarters on the property for the past four years. The land previously had been used as an industrial site for a sand and gravel company.
Although Boulder has a reputation of being anti-growth and development, Shull notes he has received unanimous approval from every board and council he dealt with. "I'd say the city of Boulder was very supportive," he says.
"I think we're seeing a subtle shift in attitude in Boulder," says Davis. "They've gone from anti-growth to smart growth. They encourage mixed-use type of properties like this that takes an ugly, weed-filled lot and replaces it with something that fits in with the neighborhood. That kind of growth is encouraged and facilitated.
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