Living Littleton

Recently a meeting was held at the Ken-Caryl Ranch House to unveil Carrouth Properties initial proposal for a town center concept in the Ken-Caryl Business Center.  The proposed town center is to be located at the intersection of Shaffer Parkway and Shaffer Place, and will continue with phase IV across Shaffer Parkway up to the existing golf course, where there will be approximately 120 residential multi-family units.  The meeting was attended by the company doing the initial design and planning, Alan Tiefenbach from the Jefferson County Planning Division, the developer, Dennis Carrouth, representatives from the govening boards of the Ranch, as well as numerous residents.  Most of the residents were from the town home community of Sunset Ridge, which will adjoin part of this new development.

Suggested Lay OutProposed Plaza

Proposed Plaza

Above are two of the renderings that were given to the residents, so they could have an idea of the proposed development.  From the very beginning it was stressed to all in attendance that these were conceptual and may not be the final design.  It was also stressed that this meeting was to gather input from residents, to hear their concerns, and what they liked or didn’t like about the proposal.  Since it was the first meeting, the information would be gathered and incorporated into those plans to make it more community friendly.  Most of the initial concerns were about the usual things, traffic, density, etc.  The main concern was how to incorporate the multi-family into the Ranch funding mechanism because they would be located in a different metropolitan district than the majority of Ranch residents, and hence wouldn’t be paying their fair share towards recreational facilities.  This concern was paramount in light of the current law suit between these two entities.  Over all, most residents were in favor of the plan as it would be an asset to the community at large as well as to the residents of Sunset Ridge. 

As currently designed, the proposed Ken-Caryl Ranch Towne Center will offer a central plaza where residents could walk to partake of a mix of unique shops and businesses offering services.  Presently, they envision the first floors would be occupied by retail and business with the upper floors used as office space. 

Future meetings will be held, however, there aren’t any currently planned.  I’ll do my best to keep you up-dated.  According to the developer, this project will be market driven, which means it could be several years down the road before it could even get started due to the difficulty in getting funding and the ability to line up tenants.

Here’s a great site to check out for fun.  It’s a world map of all the airline take offs and landings over a 24 hour period.  As the day progresses, it’s fun to observe the changing traffic patterns.
http://radar.zhaw.ch/resources/airtraffic.wmv

In this crazy real estate market we’re in, I know how easy it is to get scared when you read something in the paper or see it on TV.  When you do, first ask yourself, ‘is this a local story or are they reporting on a national trend?’  There’s a big difference because here in Denver things are actually getting better.  Our inventory is down and many neighborhoods are showing price appreciation.  The main point I wanted to make is that don’t necessarily take the figures you see at face value.  I recently attended a meeting on sales trends where the speaker was making the same point.  For example, he stated how the Castle Rock average sales prices were down 16% in 2008, when compared to last year.  When you get into the figures, they tell a different story.  By breaking the figures down you get a whole different take on the market.  Let me explain; for homes that were larger than 4,000 square feet, the average sales prices were down 73.1%, for homes in the 2,400 to 3,000 square foot size, sales were actually up 28.6%, and homes that were in the 1,800 to 2,400 square foot range, sales were up 1.5%.  When viewed in this manner, one can see that the average to slightly average sized homes were actually doing quite nicely.  There were a lot of large homes built in Castle Rock over the last 15 years or so, and those homes aren’t moving very fast.  In fact, it’s the same all over the Denver metro area.  Presently, it’s estimated there is an average of two and a half year supply of homes valued at one million dollars or higher.  When you factor in the drop of this segment of the market it tends to drag down the averages and make it appear an area of town isn’t doing that well.  Combine that with the increase in sales of the lower price ranges and it’s easy to see how numbers can show a declining trend.  If you have more questions about this, contact your real estate professional.

Diverse Nurses

A new business has started up in the Littleton area, as well as Greater Denver, by two experienced nurses.  It’s called Diverse Nurses, and they specialize in providing flu shots for companies and their employees.  The also consult for schools, businesses, and child care facilites and teach CPR/First Aid, and other courses.  You can check out their business at their web site; www.diversenurses.com or call at 303-513-2669.

Living Room Mock-Up

Nevada Place

has started  pre-sales for the first of their two building project one block north of downtown Littleton.  This convenient location will give residents close access to all the downtown Littleton shopping and dining, plus RTD’s light rail station.  To spur sales, they are presently offering either $25,000 in incentives or taking that amount off the price.  Either way, you still get to choose between a free stainless steel refrigerator or washer and dryer.  The prices begin at $329,900 for the one bedroom plus den plan, and then go up to their two bedroom models, which range in size from 1,382 square feet to 1.762 square feet.  The two bedrooms also have the option of two baths or two and a half, and are priced from $399,900 to $532,900  If you need more space, you may opt for their limited amount of two bedrooms plus den plans that are found on the top of the third floor.  These homes will have spacious out door terraces from which you can enjoy the great views of Littleton and the mountains.  These are priced from $577,900 and feature square footage in the 1,850 size.  You can find the sales office at the corner of Nevada Street and W. Main Street, in downtown Littleton.

Typical Nevada Place Kitchen

There are still tickets available for the five different holiday concerts that will be held at the Cherokee Ranch Castle.  The first concert will start November 8th and will continue through December 27th.  Here’s the run down on the schedule:

Saturday, November 8th- Lamont School of Music and Lynn Baker present Vocalist Lynne Skinner, who will be honoring great women of song.  Some of those featured will be Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchel, Laura Nyro, and Annie Lennox.

Friday, November 14th – An evening of strings, featuring “Eastern Europe Serenade”

Friday, December 5th -An evening of Piano with Alice Rybak

Sunday, December 7th -Colorado SymphonyOrchestra presents Holiday music with a String Quartet, featuring Holiday classics.

Sunday, December 21st - Colorado Symphony Orchestra presets Holiday music with a Brass Quartet, featuring Holiday classics.

Saturday, December 27th - Denver Brass 5 will doing a show of Holiday music titled “Christmas Time is Here”.

Tickets are $105 per person and include the following: Tours of Cherokee Castle, Complimentary Wine Tasting and Appetizers, Hour-Long Performance, Dinner Buffet, Desert and Coffee Reception.

Hurry as seats are limited for these unique holiday events.  They also have reduced rates for multiple concerts.  For more information and to purchase  tickets call Amy at 303-688-4600 of go to their web site at www.cherokeeranch.org