Shopping Center Business is the leading monthly business magazine for the retail real estate industry.
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NEWMARK MERRILL 106 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • December 2016 T he Longmont, Colorado, com- munity gave the Twin Peaks Mall a bittersweet send off back in 2014 when demolition began on the regional mall that was once a social and commer- cial focal point of the then-rural, but grow- ing, community about 20 miles northeast of Boulder. Locals loved the mall in the 1980s and 90s, and many shared stories via local media about not only shopping there, but meeting friends, hanging out and growing up roaming those spaces. Much has changed, not only with en- closed malls falling out of favor, but along the footprint of the Twin Peaks Mall site as well. Once bordered by farmland, the mall's neighborhood today is a thriving and sophisticated city, where aerospace, biomedical and technology industries are healthy and attracting young people who want an active lifestyle complemented by nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, many arts and cultural draws and a pleth- ora of craft beer breweries. Fort Collins-based NewMark Mer- rill Mountain States saw an attractive opportunity to serve this modernizing population when it purchased the ailing mall in 2012 for $8.5 million. Under the leadership of Director and Principal Allen Ginsborg, Twin Peaks Mall underwent a $90 million redevelopment that has trans- formed it into Village at the Peaks, an en- gaging open air center anchored by Whole Foods, Sam's Club and a Regal Cinemas 12-screen theater. Other tenants include Gold's Gym, Parry's Pizzaria & Bar, The Melt, Fuzzy's Taco Shop, Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, Culver's, Party City and Wy- att's Wet Goods, a 24,000-square-foot regional fine liquor purveyor. Phase one of the redevelopment, totaling 450,000 square feet was completed earlier this year. Phase two will include 40,000 addi- tional square feet that is currently being marketed for lease. The transformation of the mall was physically dramatic. Outdoor gathering spaces, a huge natural water fall, two large fireplaces, a children's play area, free giga- byte broadband wifi and mountain views highlight the new design. Only one build- ing from the former Twin Peaks Mall — the old Dillard's store — remained after the redevelopment. The reformatting was done with well-planned precision by a team that is steeped in knowledge of the region. Ginsborg previously co-founded Pacific Retail Partners, which represented land- lords and tenants. He represented The Home Depot in establishing more than 30 locations in Colorado. NewMark Mer- rill launched the Mountain States office in 2006 to grow its Colorado portfolio. The Into The Great Wide Open NewMark Merrill tears down the walls of a former mall and creates a center befitting its cool Rocky Mountain home. Lynn Peisner and Randall Shearin Twin Peaks Mall has undergone a $90 million redevelopment transforming it into Village at the Peaks, an open-air center anchored by Whole Foods. A holiday event held at Village at the Peaks in Longmont, Colorado.