Lone Tree, once known only by stereotype \u2014 suburban bedroom community with super-sized mall \u2014 is crafting a sleek new image, attracting trophy companies like Charles Schwab and Cabela\u2019s, along with millennials who want urban lifestyles at suburban prices.<\/p>\n
When Anna Dreiling, 22, and her fianc\u00e9, Michael Gorka, 23, recently looked for a place to live, they chose Lone Tree.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything was clean and new,\u201d Dreiling said. \u201cAll the businesses, not just the tech industry, are drawing a lot of young people. We saw lots of people our age.\u201d<\/p>\n
This April, they moved into new luxury apartments called The Vue at RidgeGate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of hip,\u201d Dreiling said. \u201cIt has all these amenities, and a gorgeous pool with fountains, at a price that\u2019s so much lower than you can find in a similar atmosphere downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two decades after Lone Tree incorporated as a municipality, it\u2019s emerging as a prime example of the \u201cedge city\u201d phenomenon \u2014 a form of urban growth cropping up near suburban freeway interchanges with clusters of business, entertainment and retail in landscapes that were once rural or residential.<\/p>\n
\u201cEdge cities are like satellites in orbit around a big metropolitan city center that\u2019s developed its own walkability and downtown transportation,\u201d real estate expert Mark Samuelson said. \u201cLone Tree represents that about as well as any place does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since 1995, the city has grown from about 3,000 people with less than $7,000 in annual revenues to 12,000 residents with annual revenues of more than $36 million.<\/p>\n
The future looks bright, because in July RTD approved the Southeast Rail Extension that would add three new stations in Lone Tree, unlocking the potential for developing the city\u2019s east side, along with transit-oriented developments.<\/p>\n
Restaurants are popping up, the Lone Tree Arts Center is thriving and real estate prices are rapidly rising.<\/p>\n
A new health services hub includes Kaiser Permanente\u2019s new specialty center, along with a$117 million expansion of Sky Ridge Medical Centerwith a new women\u2019s wellness center, and the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, one of the top fertility clinics in the nation.<\/p>\n
Schwab recently opened a new retail branch in Lone Tree, the first building of its new 32-acre campus that will be completed in 2015, and TW Telecom \u2014 a Fortune 1000 company just bought by Level 3 Communications \u2014 moved to Lone Tree last year.<\/p>\n
The city might look like an overnight success, but observers say it\u2019s more a tale of toiling away, quietly, for nearly two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed watching Lone Tree grow and develop as a city,\u201d said Sam Mamet, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League, who credits the city with developing a strong sense of community. \u201cThey work hard at what they do. They\u2019re not show horses, they\u2019re workhorses.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve also got a strong tax base \u2014 fueled by sales from Park Meadows mall \u2014 along with prime real estate and smart stewardship.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a smaller town with big leaders and a big vision,\u201d said Lynn Myers, vice president of economic development for the Denver South Economic Development Partnership. \u201cYou don\u2019t always get all those components together. A lot of people have good plans, but they can\u2019t get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the municipal equivalent of being born with good genes and wise parents.<\/p>\n
Lone Tree started in 1981 as a tiny group of homes with a golf course designed by Arnold Palmer. A decade later, when Douglas County hit its rapid growth spurt \u2014 growing 140 percent between 1980 and 1990 \u2014 Lone Tree residents became concerned about the quality of development, so they decided to incorporate in 1995.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s first mayor, Jack O\u2019Boyle, was among the new residents who swelled Douglas County\u2019s population growth. He moved to Lone Tree in 1994 after Martin Marietta acquired General Dynamics\u2019 space system unit, where he\u2019d worked in San Diego.<\/p>\n
While making rockets in Douglas County\u2019s growing aerospace industry, O\u2019Boyle also served as mayor, working with the City Council to craft a vision. The first hurdle was creating a revenue stream.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe raised money by selling T-shirts, ball caps and license-plate holders,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
They also landed two bank loans.<\/p>\n
But five years later, they hit an obstacle that could undermine their future success: Highlands Ranch was considering incorporation as a municipality, and O\u2019Boyle got a look at their map.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir planning area went through my planning area,\u201d he said. \u201cThat got my attention. I asked them what was motivating them, and if they knew what they\u2019d done. They just wanted access to I-25. I said, \u2018That\u2019s a smart thing to do, but we have a problem here.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
The coveted land \u2014 a 3,500-acre chunk of prime real estate now known as RidgeGate \u2014 stretched east and west of the freeway. Managed by Coventry Development Corp., the land had been purchased in 1972 by a European family that paid with cash, so there was no debt and no rush to develop.<\/p>\n
Keith Simon, the company\u2019s executive vice president, recalls the tug of war over that property.<\/p>\n
\u201cHighlands Ranch had reached out to us and said, \u2018Why not come in with us, and we\u2019ll make a big city,\u201d he said. \u201cLone Tree was very young and small, and they felt like it might be better for us to come in with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, Coventry and Lone Tree shared a similar vision, so Lone Tree annexed the land.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of strategic value, it was our most important annexation,\u201d O\u2019Boyle said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a very good partnership,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n
The planned light rail extensions will go through that land, and Coventry will donate rights of way worth about $10 million to $15 million.<\/p>\n
It took nearly a decade to develop the first part of RidgeGate, which is 1 square mile west of the freeway and nearly complete.<\/p>\n
The second part, on the east side of the freeway, is four times as large. \u201cIf 1 square mile took 10 years to develop, this could take another 40 years,\u201d Simon said. \u201cWe\u2019re very patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much depends on the construction of the Southeast Rail Extension. Mayor Jim Gunning is confident that RTD will land the $92 million in federal funds needed to extend the light rail farther into Lone Tree. \u201cWe\u2019re very excited about light rail moving forward,\u201d he said. \u201cThe minute they get the federal grant, we know that will start activity on the east side.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those three new light rail stations will be cogs for transit-oriented development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s the opportunity for more density around those stations with the kind of housing options that millennials will look to in the future,\u201d City Manager Seth Hoffman said.<\/p>\n
And the city will finally have a center, with mixed-use transit-oriented development, a future City Hall and an adjacent Central Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe heart of Lone Tree will shift over,\u201d Simon said. \u201cThere will be a grid of streets, much like downtown Denver \u2014 the blocks are actually modeled on that size.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much has changed from when sportscaster Susie Wargin moved with her husband to Lone Tree in 1999, after falling in love with the bluffs that edge the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love living here, and it\u2019s growing like absolutely crazy,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d love to have it be a small town forever, but a good town can\u2019t stay small forever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lone Tree, once known only by stereotype \u2014 suburban bedroom community with super-sized mall \u2014 is crafting a sleek new image, attracting trophy companies like Charles Schwab and Cabela\u2019s, along with millennials who want urban…<\/p>\n