Paying it Forward
by Osman Parvez ---- What happens when founders give back to the community? The virtuous cycle continues. From the Denver Business Journal: A University of Colorado professor has donated $20 million toward construction of a biotechnology center near the Boulder campus -- one of the largest single private gifts ever made to CU. CU, which announced the gift Tuesday, said the donation from professor Marvin Caruthers was the largest sum ever donated by a CU faculty member to the university. Caruthers is a noted biotechnology inventor who has taught in CU's chemistry and biochemistry department for 34 years. In July [...]
Actually, It’s Easy to Be Green
by Osman Parvez ---- A nice thing about living in Boulder is the range of efforts to promote environmental sustainability. At our neighborhood association meeting Monday night, we enjoyed a presentation by Yael Gichon, an education and outreach specialist from the City of Boulder, Environmental Affairs office. Here are a few programs and websites that you should be aware of. Climate Smart: a Boulder County effort to help individuals, families and businesses increase their energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. ClimateSmart helps connect people and businesses to various programs designed by the city of Boulder's Office of Environmental Affairs, [...]
If Only Colbert Was Running for City Council
by Osman Parvez ---- There are currently 21 candidates running for City Council in Boulder. 21 for 7 open slots! Not only is this unusually high, but what other small city in America gets local election coverage in the Daily Kos (a popular political blog which receives up to 5 million visits a week)? In the past few months, there have been opportunities to meet candidates and consider the issues. From forums and debates, we know a little about what they think. We know who has endorsed their candidacy. We even know precisely where they live - on a Google [...]
Transit Village Wins City Council Approval
by Osman Parvez ---- From the Daily Camera The Boulder City Council approved a plan for zoning changes and street layout for the 160 acres of privately owned land surrounding a parcel of city-owned property at 30th and Pearl streets. That parcel, the 11-acre Transit Village site, will be the home of bus rapid transit and commuter rail expected to arrive in Boulder in the next decade. The chart below shows the comparisons between the transit village area today, in the future under current trends, and in the future under the Area Plan. It also compares the jobs to population [...]
Washington School Update
by Osman Parvez ---- The Washington School Cohousing Project was granted conditional approval from the Planning Board on Friday. ~300 people showed up for the meeting which lasted 8 hours. From The Daily Camera: The decision to approve the plan with a series of conditions — including a requirement that the developer provide more open space — may not be the final one. The City Council could decide to review, and possibly revise or even overturn, the Planning Board's decision. and Among the most significant [conditions] is the development will be required to provide more open space to the neighborhood. [...]
A Storm Brewing on Washington Street
by Osman Parvez ---- It was about a year ago when I sat in a workshop directed at buyers of property at the Washington Street School development. I joined an interesting exercise directed at developing a vision for what this community would look like. Although I eventually passed on the project, little did I imagine the storm brewing today. The development is aimed at turning the former school property into a cohousing community, under the direction of Jim Leach and Wonderland Hills Development Corporation. The project, which gained some preliminary approvals from the City and has been in process for [...]
The Washington Street School Debate Rages
by Osman Parvez ---- Here's more open dialogue occurring around the Washington Street School Re-Development Project. This continues from my previous post. From Greg Sherwin: Hi John and Washington School Neighbors, Thank you, John, for taking the time to share your “neighborhood” perspective about Wonderland Hills, BVSD, the City government and yourselves as Washington School neighbors. I am receiving an education. The gift that you have given me, and ultimately perhaps yourselves, is detailing your reasoning for your chosen course of action to try and kill this Wonderland Hills proposed development of this site. I can now offer another perspective [...]
Pop Top Experience: An Interview with Camille Hook
by Osman Parvez ---- As you know from a few of our other posts, Martin Acres continues to buzz with construction and remodeling activity. Recently, I had an opportunity to interview Camille Hook, a local resident who completed her "pop top" project last Summer. Martin Acres is a small, well established neighborhood in South Boulder. It's a place where kids play on the street, the neighborhood park hosts picnics and birthday parties, and many folks know each other. It's also an entry point to buying a home in Boulder with prices that begin around the $300,000 mark. Changes are happening [...]
Google Maps: Martin Acres Pop Tops and Renovations
by Osman Parvez ---- As you know from our last post, "Up, Up, and Away!," we're sharing the story of a project undertaken by clients (and friends). They're popping the top and substantially renovating a home in Martin Acres, a neighborhood of Boulder. Recently, we started mapping other homes in this neighborhood that have been substantially remodeled. The Google map linked below will take you to the new Martin Acres Renovation and Poptop Map. I'm assuming most of you are familiar with Google Maps. You can zoom in/out, view a satellite image, or a hybrid image of map and satellite. [...]
Up, Up and Away!
by Osman Parvez ---- When I mention the subdivision of Martin Acres (a.k.a Martian Acres) most people in Boulder know the area to which I am referring. It's that South Boulder neighborhood with more than its fair share of 1960's, 1000 square foot, 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, brick ranches. Love at first sight is rare in a "mid century modern" area such as this one, that was once heavily rented to CU students. But Martin Acres is more than meets the eye and it's on the move... Homes in this Boulder entry level neighborhood are in demand. Average days on [...]
Unstoppable: Population Growth and Development
by Osman Parvez ---- You've probably noticed that I often write about issues other than the typical residential real estate rah, rah. One area I pay attention to is development. I posted a new feature a couple of days ago: The Boulder Development Map. It shows the location of many new developments in Boulder as well as expected locations for future FasTracks transit stations. Why is development so important? Simple. Take a look at the following chart showing historic and forecasted future population in Colorado. Colorado is a state with very positive immigration trends. From 1990 to 2000, we were [...]
Cracked Oats
by Osman Parvez ---- Well, maybe not after all. It looks like the acquisition of Wild Oats by Whole Foods will be challenged because the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) believes it will reduce competition and quality and drive up prices. According to the Wall Street Journal, "In its investigation, the FTC uncovered evidence that Whole Foods saw the deal as a way simply to eliminate its main rival in dozens of cities, lawyers close to the case said." Sounds like someone at Whole Foods forwarded an email, doesn't it? I wrote about the proposed merger February and the post drew [...]
Boulder Development Map
by Osman Parvez ---- Although I planned to hike and camp this weekend, rain in the mountains and a leaky tent convinced us to cut the trip short. The good news is that the break allowed time to catch up on the latest Boulder real estate development projects. I rode around town on my bike, running errands and stopping by construction sites. The result is a custom Google map with photos highlighting projects. Green - Projects in some stage of the planning process. Purple - Projects underway. Blue - Complete or mostly complete projects. Click HERE to visit the new [...]
The Peloton Breaks Ground
by Osman Parvez ---- There's another giant construction crane in Boulder, but this one's not downtown. Development of the $150MM Peloton development at 33rd and Arapahoe is picking up steam. If you haven't noticed the massive crane, you can't miss the advertising carpet bombing. Our local NPR station is sponsored by the Peloton. City buses carry the slogan of a "new way to live in Boulder" and salespeople were chatting with potential buyers at the Boulder Creek Festival. Through a haze of hyperventilation and hallucinations, I'm pretty sure I even saw the Peloton's advertising while running the Bolder Boulder. The [...]
Boulder Transit Village Update
by Osman Parvez ---- Beginning today, you can download the latest update to the Transit Village Area Plan. Check bouldertransitvillage.net. You can also get hard copies by calling (303) 441-3274. (note, as of this writing the plan has not been posted yet. Check back. It *is* scheduled to be posted today). Have questions on Transit Village? This coming Wednesday (May 30th), from 5-7pm the City is hosting an open house on Transit Village at the West Senior Center (909 Arapahoe Ave). It's a good opportunity to meet planners. The public comment period on the latest draft ends June 15th. If [...]
