Homebuilding plans taking shape for 67 acres on Mesa south of Fillmore

This view from the northwestern part of the 67-acre Pine Valley LLC III property on the Mesa south of Fillmore Street features two prominent landmarks: Pikes Peak and the Oasis Apartments off Grande Vista Circle.
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In preparation for a hike of the Mesa acreage with residents and interested citizens in early December, this edited aerial view of the Pine Valley property (in green) was prepared by the ownership group (which explains the "meet here" note on Grande Vista Circle, off Fillmore Street). The perspective is north by northwest. Centennial Boulevard curves past the VA clinic at right, with Van Buren Street (currently terminating at the Centennial extension) at bottom right.
Courtesy of Pine Valley LLC

Homebuilding plans taking shape for 67 acres on Mesa south of Fillmore

Dec. 12, 2018
In 2016, a group of Denver-area investors paid $3.5 million for 67.6 acres of undeveloped, undulating terrain south of Fillmore Street and west of Centennial Boulevard.

Bryan Kniep of the Goodwin Knight development company talks with Sara Vaas of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations (CONO) during the hike of the Pine Valley property on the Mesa in early December. A few others who joined the hike stand farther back.

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       Since then they've been thinking about how they might develop it.
       A few Westside residents caught a glimpse of that process Dec. 8 when they were allowed to join an informal hike of the land, which consists of six parcels in all. Leading the way were people with ties to the investment group, which, according to the Colorado Secretary of State website, is the law firm of Bloom, Murr & Accomazzo, owning the land under the name of Pine Valley LLC III.
       The site is significant because it is one of the last undeveloped Westside areas of size. Including an unnamed north-south stream and hills criss-crossed with

Tucked in among trees lining a stream is a nearly hidden unauthorized campsite, while in the background are buildings from the Grandview Market Place shopping center at Centennial Boulevard and Fillmore Street.

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motorbike trails, the land stretches from Fillmore Street near Centennial Boulevard south to the future Van Buren Street, just west of the new Olson Plumbing & Heating complex that's being built off the Centennial extension (see edited aerial map on this page).
       Kevin Hunt, who provided some of the Pine Valley background during the hike, said the intent is to design homes to fit the terrain, both geologically and visibly, rather than the other way around. This would include using the lower sections of the hills and valleys, even though the upper (less stable) ground provide striking views to the west, south and east.
       There would also be a conscious effort by the LLC not to pack the homes too densely, so hiking trails can be wind through, and to set some of the more sensitive areas aside for open space, Hunt outlined. Townhouses would be the predominant type of housing, he added.
       Also on the hike was Bryan Kniep of Goodwin Knight. It's a development company that's recently started building - under Kniep's direction - 91 apartments on five acres adjacent to the upper end of the Pine Valley acreage.
       He affirmed later that he “would be the developer” for any housing eventually built on the 67 acres.
       According to Kniep, the Pine Valley plans are still in the conceptual stage, but he's hopeful that construction could start by 2021. In all, he said he sees the potential for up

People dumping their trash are among the trespassing problems for the owners of the Pine Valley property.

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to 300 homes on the land.
       Another person on the hike was George Maentz, who's part of a long-time Mesa Road homeowner group that speaks up about quality-of-life issues any time developments are contemplated in the Mesa area. He said at the end of the hike that he was not opposed to putting homes on the Pine Valley acreage, as long as the construction was done properly and with the kind of lower-impact approach that's being described.
       A current downside to owning the property, as related by Hunt, is the heavy amount of trespassing. People come in with motorbikes and four-wheelers to ride up and down the little hills, while others skirt around barricades in trucks to dump trash (which LLC representatives have to clean up).
       The property even has “residents” already, in the form of 10 or so unauthorized, makeshift camps at different places along the stream, Hunt said.

Westside Pioneer article
(Land: Development Issues)

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