Developer pedals beyond 'walk score'.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: BUSINESS as usual

THE "WALK SCORE" HAS GAINED GROUND AS a metric in real estate, with a dwelling's proximity to restaurants, bars, movies, grocers and other destinations more important than square footage for many.

The Nichols Partnership may want to introduce a "bike score" as the Denver developer nears completion of a 61-unit, high-end apartment project in Denver's City Park West neighborhood that sounds like a heaven for cycling enthusiasts.

"We're calling the project 'Cruise,' as in cruiser bikes," says Dan Schuetz, project manager for Nichols who happens to be an elite road racer. "It's in kind of a dense, walkable, urban location. We'd like to kind of celebrate that lifestyle by encouraging people to ride around on bikes. Cruiser bikes are kind of synonymous with urban fun, and that's kind of what we're selling in the project."

Actually The Nichols Partnership is not only selling the bike theme with the project; the developer is also giving it away as in a free Electra cruiser bike for anyone who signs a one-year lease at Cruise.

"I've been told by everybody from the property-management company to other developers, 'Hey, you don't need to give away bikes to lease this building," Schuetz says. "But it's something we've committed to, and we think it's going to be a lot of Fun. I think we'll get some good PR Out of the idea and it'll just be cool."

Other cycling elements planned for the Cruise include bike-themed artwork throughout the building and a bicycle service station in the basement with bike stands, tools, lubes and tubes.

"All you need is a mechanic and you'll be good to go down there," Schuctz says.

Schuetz, 37, grew up in Wisconsin working in bike shops and started racing competitively while at the University of Wisconsin, where he carried a degree in civil engineering. After graduating he moved to Colorado and was a project engineer for the Zephyr Mountain Lodge mixed-use project in Winter Park. Later he earned a master's in real estate and finance from the University of Colorado.

"That's a heck of a place to ride a mountain bike," he says of Winter Park. "And then I went to school in Boulder, so I've been fortunate to be in locations where it's really easy and really fun to ride a bike."

While Schuetz is the most serious cyclist on The Nichols Partnership team, he's not the only enthusiast. Randy Nichols, the firm's president and founder, often rides one of the city's B-cycle rentals to work, swiping his...