Boomtown revival: waking economy stirs Castle Rock developers.

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

WITH SIGNS POINTING TOWARD an economic revival, developers in the heart of Douglas County are poised for a return to the boom days, or something resembling them, back when bulldozers, builders and real estate agents couldn't move fast enough to accommodate a record-setting surge of newcomers.

Developers see a recovering demand for new homes, not on the same scale as the roaring '90s, but driven by the same market forces: professionals who typically work in Denver or Colorado Springs but don't mind the 20-minute commute to either of Colorado's two largest cities.

Given that Douglas County was the fastest-growing county in the nation in the '90s, with 191 percent growth during the decade, the mere mention of "recovery" is enough to excite any builder.

Confidence among developers is especially evident in the 33-square-mile boundary of Castle Rock, the county seat, which exploded from a population of 3,900 in 1980 to its current 30,000 and now appears primed to accommodate more residents.

"It's been a couple of years getting things to where they are today," said Gary Kranse, development manager for the Town of Castle Rock. "A lot of the projects getting ready to hit the ground have been in the process over the last three or four years."

Some have been underway much longer. Plum Creek, for example, broke ground in the early '80s when the population of Castle Rock was less than 5,000, before the development's ownership changed hands in 1992. The new owners, The Davis Group, are on track for 1,812 housing units--a wide mix of apartments, duplexes and single-family homes--that could be built out by 2008.

"We have a lot of builders anticipating a recovery in the economy and housing market," said Peter Rinehart, vice president of land development at Plum Creek. "Builders will come and say they want to be part of the housing market in the next five years, so 'I better get some land.'"

Castle Rock's proximity to the southern loop of E-470 where it intersects with Interstate 25 and the town's handy location midway between Denver and Colorado Springs has made it a popular bedroom community. But it's the Castle Rock outlet mall that put the town on the map.

Town Manager Mark Stevens says that The Outlets at Castle Rock and surrounding retail district have been the town's leading source of retail tax revenue since the mid 1990s. Though the town has existed for 130 years, its biggest boom coincided with the mall's creation in 1992. Today about 25 percent of...