Northern prospectors.

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

Jordon Perlmutter and his family are sitting on a real-estate fault line. Their 240-acre Larkridge Retail Center, an outdoor mall along Interstate 25 and E-470, is rising from the ground, pushed by the pressure of population growth in Berthoud, Loveland and Greeley in the north and Thornton to the south.

Every day, according to a Perlmutter representative, more than 100,000 cars pass along I-25 and U.S. Highway 7; and in the next decade, if residential developers in the area follow through with current plans, that number could increase by 50 percent.

Jay Perlmutter, a principal in the company and son of the founder, said that construction of E-470 was only part of the area's attraction for his company.

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"The growth that's planned for the area surrounding our project is another impetus. If you were to fly it with a helicopter you would easily see the growth," he said. "When you go beyond our property there are still homes planned or underway, and it doesn't really stop there."

Where once there were open flatlands and fields, the landscape is now dotted with new housing projects. The drive along I-25 between 120th Avenue and E-470 is reminiscent of a gold rush, with placards every mile hawking the latest and greatest piece of land, some with ultra-desirable "interchange access."

According to published reports by the City of Thornton, over the next decade, the city expects to absorb more than 50,000 new homes with an average of three people per home or 150,000 new residents. This would more than double the current population of 108,000, most of whom would live five miles or less from I-25.

"We've been working on this for some time, even before E-470 opened in this area," said Russ Watterson, project manager behind the Morrison Property residential development. "We knew it was close to E-470 and I-25, but subsequent to this the Perlmutter's mall was announced, and those two items really generated some interest in the area."

Watterson's project is just a few miles from I-25, E-470 and the Larkridge Retail Center.

His plans call for 363 lots ranging from 8,000 square feet to a half-acre with homes for first and second move-up buyers. His impetus for developing the parcel, which has been owned by Doug Morrison since the 1960s, is echoed by all of the developers in the area.

While the push north by many buyers is reason enough for many developers, others are betting on the aging baby-boomer generation to make their project a...