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City of Wheat Ridge “Open” for Business

You may be surprised to find out that one of the metro-area’s newest brewpubs is located in Wheat Ridge, not LoDo, and that Denver’s northern neighbor is also home to one of the region’s premiere bike shops. Once a sleepy suburb, Wheat Ridge is now becoming a hub for unique businesses, 
thanks to a slew of economic development efforts.

Teller Street Gallery & Studios, one of Wheat Ridge’s new businesses.

Using a combination of tax rebates, grants and loans, Wheat Ridge has attracted a net 35 new businesses since 2011. The Stasko Agency began working with the city this past spring, helping to shine the light on Wheat Ridge’s  “open for business” agenda and its efforts to revitalize a stretch of 38th Avenue from Wadsworth Boulevard to Sheridan Boulevard.

Right Coast Pizza opened on Wheat Ridge’s “main street” in 2012.

We’re pleased to say that media outlets are starting to take note of Wheat Ridge’s initiatives. The Denver Business Journal highlighted the city’s business growth last month, while the Wheat Ridge Transcript examined the success the city has had in luring businesses from Denver. You can read that article here. The North Denver Tribune and the Colorado Real Estate Journal both turned the lens on Wheat Ridge’s revival on 38th Avenue, an area city officials have dubbed the “Ridge at 38.”

In addition to spurring business expansion through a slew of economic incentives, Wheat Ridge has also lured entrepreneurs by expanding community offerings. The list of programming includes cruiser crawls, a Wines and Dines event, an annual Wheat Fest to highlight the city’s agricultural roots and the Mid Century and Modern Home tour, which is slated for Saturday, September 7.

The interior of one of the homes that will be featured in this year’s Mid Century and Modern Home Tour

If you haven’t visited Wheat Ridge recently, we encourage you to make the trip. In the coming months, we’ll also be spreading the word about the city’s growing housing options. So, stay tuned for more updates!

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2012 – A Year of Milestones

The end of the year provides us with a great opportunity to reflect back on all the work we did in the past year. While it seems like a blur now, we accomplished quite a bit in 2012, from helping introduce the public to an array of new projects that promise to change the landscape of Denver (Cadence Union Station, RTD’s Sheridan Parking Garage); to providing the exposure our entrepreneurial clients needed to launch their services in new markets (Mudlick Mail, VideoBloom, iVote) to marking important anniversaries (Little Man Ice Cream, Paxia Authentic Mexican Cuisine).

One of our favorite projects this year involved a group of very enthusiastic preteens and more than 2,000 cans of food. To celebrate its 70th anniversary in Colorado, Swinerton Builders launched an educational initiative called Discovery Builders, in the Adams County charter school, The Academy. Over six weeks, Swinerton employees taught fifth-to-eighth grade students how to use math and science to solve real-world construction problems. Their work culminated in the construction of a 
a 14-foot tall replica of the Four Seasons Hotel (a Swinerton project) made completely out of canned food.

We were thrilled to be present for the build-out one cloudy afternoon in October and we can’t say enough about how well these students worked with their mentors to create a truly amazing model. Check out the photos below for proof of this wonderful collaboration.

The students getting their instructions for the day

Mapping it out

Hard at work

The team and the finished product

We are proud to report that all of the food used to build the Four Seasons replica was donated to Community Food Share, a food bank serving Boulder and Broomfield counties.

The Colorado Real Estate Journal highlighted the project in it’s December 19th issue and the Arvada Press which ran a story about the company’s achievements in Colorado in November. You can read it here.

Congratulations to Swinerton and all of our clients for setting and achieving such high goals and giving us plenty to talk about!

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