Article Contributed on: 2/3/2010 9:23:40 AM
Dennis Carruth has a vision for a Ken-Caryl Towne Center, a mixed community town with residential, commercial and retail features on 14 acres of undeveloped land within the current business center area.
Carruth, president of Carruth Properties, thinks the idea of federal money earmarked to assist local banks in providing business loans could help an economic recovery that this and other projects need to come to fruition.
His company and others have been involved in many development projects in the area, dating back to 1973 when the land for Ken-Caryl was purchased. The land at 7711 Shaffer Parkway was acquired two years ago, and Carruth said the mixed-use commercial-residential concept quickly ran into the realities of the economic downturn.
"I'm enough of a realist to say it's got to be three years away," Carruth said.
He adds that as a developer, you naturally tend to be an optimist.
The design plans include 160 residential units and retail and commercial development of about 300,000 square feet, with building heights on the sloping parcel varying between 35 and 75 feet.
The Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, after review, recently approved rezoning the project to include multifamily residential in the mix, despite some concerns voiced over potential building heights and their impact on residents' views.
"I understand the view issue," commissioner Kathy Hartman said, "but the applicant has done a good job to maintain that. We will encourage the applicant that this is a goal to maintain so it's not offensive to neighbors to the east."
Commissioner Kevin McCasky said, "This proposal will fit nicely with the neighbors."
Carruth said in three years, the economic turnaround must see job growth, business growth -- enough to absorb some of the currently vacant office spaces -- and banks willing to free up money to get buyers and tenants.
He would love to see a farmers' market component, a health food store, fitness and nutrition merchants, yoga and massage studios and other tenants to serve a mixed-use population of about 120,000 in the Ken-Caryl area.
His hope is for enough of a turnaround for groundbreaking to occur in 2012, after market feasibility reviews and the start of a phasing in of the development. He believes the residential portion would probably come to fruition faster than most of the commercial portion.
Ned White and AIA Intergroup Architects, which has worked with Carruth since Ken-Caryl's beginnings in 1971-72, is project planner and architect.
White said the effort is to "create a real unique project down in southwest Jeffco that doesn't really exist there now, and I think there's definitely a great market for it in the future."
White said Carruth has done a great job of "staying the course," for quality in Ken-Caryl's development since the early 1970s.
"It's a real passion for him, that this is a first-class project and it shows in the results of what's out there," White said.
Daniel Smith: 303-954-2671 or
smithd@yourhub.com