GRAND JUNCTION PLAN TARGETS OUTDOOR-FOCUSED FIRMS.

• Author: Jackson, Margaret
• Position: STATE OF THE STATE

Grand Junction is carving out up to 15 acres in Las Colonias Park for a business park that will be home to companies focused on outdoor adventure.

Located adjacent to downtown Grand Junction along the banks of the Colorado River, the $30 million project, called Riverfront at Las Colonias Park, will blend passion for the outdoors into a business environment. Located within the 147-acre Las Colonias Park, the business park will embrace the natural environment with outdoor meeting zones scattered among the buildings and recreational amenities that include an open space park, aerial adventure course, bike trails, retail outlets and a river recreation zone. All buildings will use sustainable design practices.

"The idea with this cluster of outdoors businesses is that they're complementary to each other--they're not competing," says Greg Caton, Grand Junction's city manager. "We've gotten a tremendous amount of interest. Along the river, we're developing some restaurant-oriented pads, and we've had interest in those as well." The development, expected to break ground in March, will be funded through a public-private partnership with a projected $10 million public investment split between the business park and the recreational area, as well as a $20 million investment from the private sector.

Bonsai Design, a company that builds aerial adventure courses across the country, plans to invest $2 million into new...