E-470 boom: planner foresees 150,000 homes from Commerce City to Thornton.

• Author: Titus, Stephen
• Position: Who owns colorado?

With war and uncertainty dominating the headlines, the risk of starting a major residential or commercial project in the hobbled Colorado economy seems exponentially more risky than just a year ago. But the newest section of E-470, reaching east from Interstate 25 at 156th Avenue and extending to 120th Avenue, has created a direct route to DIA from points north of Denver, and fertilized a 17-mile stretch of ground for something besides crops and cows.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"It's going to be huge," gushed Bill Becker, CEO of Adams County Economic Development Inc. "We're seeing plans in rough numbers for 150,000 homes along that corridor from Commerce City to Thornton. It's a pretty stunning number for our county."

Becker added that forecasts from the Denver Regional Council of Governments say Adams County will be the fastest growing area in Metro Denver over the next decade.

"And none of it would be possible without E-470," Becker said.

So far, 28 projects have been proposed or have begun construction, ranging from the massive Todd Creek mixed-use development with nearly 9,000 homes and 109,000 square feet of commercial space on 6,700 acres, to Lark Ridge which is touted as rivaling the Colorado Mills project in Lakewood.

Lark Ridge is still in the planning and approval stages with the city of Thornton, but city officials say they are excited about having what could be a landmark shopping center in their town. Todd Creek has been under way since 1997 and has about 1,000 homes built, but now that E-470 is open and the final section of road heading west from 1-25 to Boulder will be complete by the fall, expectations are high.

"When the highway (E-470) opened in the south, development exploded," said Gene Osborne, CEO of Fquinox Group, the developer behind Todd Creek. "I expect the same from the new E-470."

When the first cars traveled E-470 in the south, it was a relatively useless five-mile stump with access to 1-25 and Parker Road. It stayed that way for seven years before it was extended and linked with DIA. Since then, it has become a Who's Who of commercial development with Park Meadows Mall. Inverness Business Park, and Meridian Business Center all contributing millions of square feet of commercial space, and big-name companies such as First Data, UPS, and American Furniture Warehouse crecting major retail and office complexes.

Housing and mixed-use projects have kept pace, and developers working in the town of...