Reve Nearing Completion

Nothing is better than witnessing challenging projects come to fruition. After a multi-year planning and entitlement process, Southern Land Company’s Reve development project is in the final stages of construction. Last month, The Trestle team along with the City’s new Planning and Development Services director, was fortunate enough to walk the construction zone and view the amazing units and quality of development this project provides the Boulder community.

Trestle Strategy Group guided Southern Land Company and the project team through a rigorous entitlement process involving rezoning, conceptual planning, site review, and multiple other foreseen and unforeseen hurdles along the way. Strong relationships and communications channels were nurtured with key city staff employees and decision makers to ensure the project was a success for both the Tennessee based development company and the City of Boulder.

The 6-acre project features 244 units and over 130,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, while straddling the Left Hand Ditch. The ditch is a key focal point of the design, drawing people into the center of the development where they will be immersed into one of the City’s most activated places. Be sure to check it out soon!

Partner Feature - Marina LaGrave highlights the importance of language and cultural competence in community building

Marina LaGrave, whom Trestle has been partnering with on many projects over the last several years, explains in a Daily Camera portrait why language access and cultural competence are critical aspects when working to build inclusive communities. 

As explained in the article, Marina wears different hats: she is an interventionist at Columbine Elementary School in Boulder - where Danica met her when her kids were students there; she is an interpreter and translator for the City of Boulder; and she is the founder of CLACE - the Latin American Center for Arts, Science and Education. As such, we have had the pleasure of collaborating with Marina on many projects, including: 

• The Ponderosa Community Stabilization project: over the past 5 years, Marina has been instrumental in engaging the Latinx community of the Ponderosa Mobile Home park. She continues to serve as a cultural liaison between the City, the project team, and the Spanish-speaking residents, thanks to the fact that she has been able to gain all parties’ trust by patiently listening to and answering any and all questions. 

• The Cultural Responsiveness and Inclusion Strategic Plan (CRISP) for the Boulder County Parks and Open Space (POS) department: over the last year, we have been working with Marina and her colleague Bob Russel on the CRISP for the BoCo POS department. Marina has been working relentlessly to connect the POS department with Latinx leaders in the region, and think creatively about how to co-create active and lasting partnerships between the Latinx community and the POS department.

• The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact Study: for this 2-month, fast-track project, we are partnering with Marina to recruit Latinx community leaders and activists to co-create a process to interview members of the Latinx community and gather stories on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting them. Thanks to Marina’s extensive network and community connections, we were able to hear from 115 community members and help identify barriers in accessing County services and gaps in those services.

From left to right: Marine, Marina, and Danica at a Ponderosa Community Block Party in June 2019

As we practice adaptive leadership in all those projects, we keep learning from Marina on such important topics as co-creation, cultural competence, and inclusivity. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with her and are looking forward to many more opportunities to do so.  

University Hill Hotel - A Revitalizing Project

Since 2014 the City of Boulder has been studying various opportunities for reinvestment and economic revitalization for the University Hill Commercial Area. After additional studies, Nichols Partnership has proposed to redevelop a key area of the hill and transform it into a mixed use development featuring a hotel, retail space, and various restaurant/cafe spaces. This key area was identified by the City as an ‘opportunity site’ and a catalyst site’ having the potential to stimulate the stagnant commercial neighborhood.

Over the past year, Trestle Strategy Group has been guiding the University Hill Hotel redevelopment project through the City of Boulder’s entitlement process. With concept review completed in Q1 2020, the project is in the middle of a site and use review with the goal of progressing to the next step in Q1 2021.

Situated on 1.43 acres, SAR Architecture and the project team has designed a 55 foot tall development including over 180 hotel rooms and nearly 10,000 SF of commercial space, while maintaining 30% open space. Two connected plazas flow into the project and are designed for day to day gatherings and for larger events. These plazas are intended to be the center of public-life for the Hill.

This vibrant mixed-use development will revitalize the University Hill Commercial Area by stabilizing a year-round economy through the creation of a destination focused on the visitor experience. Additional community benefit generated by the project includes energy efficient buildings, a tenant relocation program, transportation demand management practices, and partnerships with CU including student opportunities.

Renderings provided by SAR Architecture.

Pipes and Pavement at the Ponderosa Mobile Home Park Community

Last month the first streets in the Ponderosa Mobile Home Park were paved over the brand new water and sewer infrastructure! This is a huge milestone for the community, and for the community stabilization project Trestle Strategy Group has been working on since 2015. 

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Dirt roads at Ponderosa Mobile Home Park

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New paved road at Ponderosa

Ponderosa Mobile Home Park is located along Broadway in North Boulder. Trestle Strategy Group has been working with the City of Boulder and the Ponderosa community through many phases of the project:

• Land acquisition: the City purchased the park in August 2017;

• Annexation: the park was annexed into the City in October 2019; 

• Infrastructure and housing plans development: the site plan and technical documents were approved by City Council in October 2019;

• Infrastructure replacement - sewer, water, gas, electric, stormwater detention, water quality, roads and sidewalks.

Throughout this very complex process, Trestle Strategy Group focused on innovative, equitable, and customized community involvement, the primary goal being to minimize resident displacement and disruption to the community. Through the end of last year, this substantial community outreach and engagement process was centered around the Resident Leadership Committee, a group of 7 nominated community leaders living within the Ponderosa community, who were sharing information, ideas, and concerns between the City and the residents. 

The RLC was set up so Ponderosa residents could co-create the vision and infrastructure and housing plan for the community, work on issues that are important to residents’ daily lives, and empower residents to develop a lasting leadership group in the community. Numerous community meetings, in various formats, all bilingual, were held throughout the process to ensure residents were informed, could get all their questions answered, and could weigh in on important decisions: 

• 10 Community Workshops 

• 2 Neighborhood Block Parties

• 22 RLC Meetings

• 15+ City Q&A Meetings

• 40+ One-on-One meetings

• 1 Good neighbor meeting

• 4 Habitat for Humanity home tours

• 2 Habitat for Humanity workshop on homeownership and financing

• Training opportunities for residents

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Housing & Community Workshop

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Site Design Workshop

In addition, we kept communication channels open, and ensured residents had access to up-to-date information, both in English and Spanish, through a variety of tools to fit their needs: 

• Community website

• 5 printed resident guides (Q&A)

• 18 community newsletters mailed to all 68 households

• Text updates

• Bulletin Board, community signage

• Videos

• An exceptional property manager, G2 Consulting

More recently, residents formed a more formal Homeowners Association (HOA) so they can stay organized as the construction work progresses and the first Habitat homes are built, starting in 2021.

While the planning process hasn’t been simple, we have been able to come up with a highly innovative site plan that enables current residents to stay in the park - whether in their mobile homes or in a new Habitat for Humanity home, substantially improves infrastructure, services, and quality of life, provides flood protection, and maintains permanent affordability for future generations. We are extremely proud to continue to be part of this project along with many partners including JVA, Caddis, Marathon Construction Management, G2 Consulting, KCI.

Nature Conservancy’s Early Real Estate Planning Results in Wonderful Office

Last year, the Nature Conservancy in Boulder was forced to take immediate action while questioning their office space. Their staff was becoming increasingly sick due to an unknown mold issue within their building. Once aware of the situation, the entire staff grabbed their belongings and bolted for a temporary office location in South Boulder. With an unsafe office and no clear path forward, hypothetical questions started arising about the future.

Trestle Strategy Group was hired to conduct a space needs assessment where we analyzed the situation, provided preliminary costs estimates, reviewed suitable relocation markets, and analyzed various buy, sell, lease, and renovate scenarios in order to provide the Nature Conservancy a clear path forward. While analyzing complex inter-company finances, entertaining the idea of a move to Denver, and touring state-of-the-art offices in Golden, it wasn’t until realizing the Nature Conservancy owned their office out-right that a decision was made. Within a very short time-frame and by navigating a very complex decision making body, Trestle encouraged the Nature Conservancy to reinvest in their loved location. 

One year later, the Nature Conservancy has successfully transformed their dark and dreary office filled with very tall cubicles into an employee’s dream office that truly represents the organization’s mission. Not only did Trestle’s preliminary scenario analysis result in the office renovation, but it prevented potential employee turnover and illustrated leadership’s commitment to its existing staff, their emotional and physical well-being, and their real estate asset.