The Boulder City Council recently discussed plans to redevelop one of Boulder’s main shopping centers – and bulldoze one of the city’s most beloved bars of five decades – to create more residential space in the city.
But that decision has caused concern for many residents, prompting the council to review it further. KUNC's Emma VandenEinde spoke with BizWest editor and publisher Chris Wood to learn more.
Descendants of the Williams family proposed the redevelopment of the roughly 10-acre plot called Williams Village. Their relatives are two Boulder brothers, George and Everett Williams, who were real estate developers. Those brothers donated land that today hosts high-rise dormitories for University of Colorado Boulder students near U.S. Highway 36—and just east of the Williams Village complex.
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Wood said developers believe there could be a better use for the shopping center.
“There's potential for more development than we see there, more density than we see there today,” Wood said.
The proposed redevelopment would include more than 600 residential units, with nearly 300 of those units specifically designated to be student apartments. There would also be two parking structures, a 76,000-square-foot hotel, and another 77,000 square feet designated as commercial space.
The 10-acre site proposed for redevelopment is already home to a few businesses – like Sprouts, Dairy Queen and Cosmo’s Pizza – and some of those businesses could retain their spots in the new development, Wood said.
But a primary concern for many students and longtime residents is the fate of Dark Horse, a bar that opened in the shopping center in 1975.
“You'd be hard pressed to find one that is more iconic than the Dark Horse,” Wood said of the local bar. “It's one of those must-see places if you're visiting Boulder.”
The eclectic bar is covered wall-to-wall with antique signs, jukeboxes, wheels, license plates and more. On its website, Dark Horse states that the decor is sure to “boggle your mind and gratify your senses.” Many University of Colorado Boulder students flock to the bar to watch a game, grab a beer or enjoy a tasty burger.
“If you go on TripAdvisor or some of those sites, they might describe the exterior of the Dark Horse as ‘sketchy.’ I saw that a couple of times,” Wood said. “But inside, it is a lot of fun to go there and experience it. There's some concern that you wouldn't be able to duplicate that in a new structure.”
Developers say they will make sure there is a “Dark Horse 2.0” location, but many locals believe that a bar with so much history and art cannot be replaced. Many residents showed up at the redevelopment hearing last month to voice their concerns. Some students said they feared other popular watering holes would be removed, and other locals said the town of Boulder has already changed enough.
Williams Village isn’t the only site in Boulder that has faced redevelopment. Liquor Mart was replaced with a new student housing development, and Eads News & Smoke Shop closed to make way for a new office building.
Boulder doesn't have a lot of undeveloped land to work with, so a project like the Williams Village redevelopment is attractive to city officials and developers, who see it as an opportunity to upgrade an underperforming parcel.
“Redevelopment or infill is really the only type of development that you can do when raw land is so rare,” Wood said. “I suspect we will be seeing more of this type of redevelopment in the future.”
