Wholesale redevelopment of the University Hill commercial area appears to be off the table as stakeholders focus on clean up and code enforcement. At a PLAN-Boulder forum last Friday (May 14, 2010), a panel consisting of Molly Winter, executive director of the University Hill Commercial Area Management Commission, Stephen Walsh, architect and principal of the New Hill Company, Mike Boyers, a Hill commercial property owner and redeveloper, Ron Roschke, pastor of the Grace Lutheran Church and member of the Hill “Ownership Group,” and Bill Shrum, owner of Shipping on the Hill, chairman of the University Hill Commercial Area Management Commission, and member of the Hill “Ownership Group,” talked about possibilities for the redevelopment of the University Hill area.
Stoffle's sandwich shop or cafe at 1100 13th St., Boulder, in 1932 (Carnegie Branch, Boulder Public Library)
Molly described the Hill as “the zipper” between the University and the town, and, alternately as the tiny interface between the enormous “tectonic plates” of the University and the town. She said that two meetings of the Boulder Planning Board in February, 2009, generated the creation of the Hill “Ownership Group,” which has met since September, 2009. The “Ownership Group” is intended to unite the various interests that have a stake in the future of the Hill around a plan for its renewal.
At the City Council’s retreat in January, 2010, the Council asked the Ownership Group for a list of Big Ideas. Seven Big Ideas were presented to the City Council at a study session on April 27, 2010, and the Council expressed enthusiasm for two of them:
- forming a general improvement district covering both the commercial part and some of the residential part of the Hill to remove snow, trash, weeds, and graffiti; and
- creating an arts district.
The Hill “Ownership Group” is developing detailed plans to implement these two ideas, which it expects to submit to the City Council this fall. Molly cautioned that the Hill does not want to replicate the Pearl Street Mall and wants to establish its own identity.
She remarked that underground parking has been proposed by many people, but that the three existing surface lots on the Hill—two owned by the Commercial Area Management Commission and one by CU—are each too small to accommodate underground parking. Properties would have to be aggregated in order for underground parking to be built.
Stephen said that the New Hill Company acts as a consultant to redevelopers on the Hill and is not itself a profit-making entity. It produced the Hill Commercial Context Study based upon the views of nine stakeholder groups, and the Study was presented to the Boulder Planning Board some time ago. He claimed that the City Council’s recent instructions have de-railed a serious redevelopment effort for the Hill. He asserted that the current zoning designation, BMX (Business Main Street Transitional) needs to be replaced with an overlay zone that allows for higher density. This change would encourage current property owners to either sell their properties to redevelopers or redevelop the properties themselves.
There are now 60 property owners on the Hill, Stephen said, and that number should be reduced to about 20. Projects should be large enough to provide underground parking and an integrated commercial heating and cooling system. He claimed that the historic fabric of the Hill was represented by Buchanan’s, the Flatirons Theater, two old rooming houses and the facades on the east side of 13th Street, and that those should be preserved.
Mike explained that he is a member of two partnerships that own the former Kinsley’s Building and another building he called the Players’ Club, also known as Nick’s. His firms are restoring the Player’s Club to its condition circa 1959, and Kinsley’s to its original condition circa the early 1950’s. He said that his firms will charge only the going rental rate on the Hill and not raise them. They have been contacted by several “high-quality” retailers who are interested in long-term leases.
Mike said that property owners can now command handsome rents and have no incentive to refurbish their buildings or redevelop them. He asserted that “a bit more density” would allow redevelopers to offer the kind of prices that would entice the current owners to sell out. He advocated a “carrot and stick” approach—the “carrot” being higher density and the “stick” being tougher City building code enforcement. He also called for more parking through a partnership and for liquor licenses for a few “quality operators” who would stop serving liquor by 11 p.m. He surmised that a community development corporation might have to be established to buy and redevelop particularly difficult properties.
Ron called universities “laboratories of the future” and said a cultural district might enable the border between the University and the city to become a creative, exciting area. He referred to a building in Minneapolis called the Loft as a possible model. It is occupied by writers, printers, graphic designers, etc.
Bill expressed frustration about the frequent studies of the Hill in the past which led to little or no action. He reported that his Shipping on the Hill business pays rent of $32 a square foot. About a year ago his building was vacated by the Fire Department because of a suspected natural gas line break. After investigation, the Fire Department discovered that a sewer line had been broken anywhere from six months to five years before then and that methane had built up under the building and finally seeped through into the occupied areas. Bill said he and the other tenants of the building were flabbergasted when the building’s owner appeared and quickly demanded that they repair the sewer line.
Bill called for more rigorous City building code enforcement, asserting that strict code enforcement would drive out the more negligent landlords. He also noted that the three existing surface parking lots on the Hill are almost never full, and contended parking lots accessible by both right and left turns off Broadway are needed.
After the presentations by the panelists, one audience member commented that rents in the Hill may be too high for artists to pay. Nancy Blackwood emphasized the importance of left and right turn access to the Hill from Broadway. Chuck Howe bemoaned the closing of the Faculty Club at CU and insisted on the need for a good restaurant on the Hill to which faculty and staff members could take guests.
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