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Rifle shopping center developer aims to announce tenants within 90 days

Lynn Burton

An Ohio-based developer said he will announce tenants for his 48-acre Rifle shopping center in the next 90 days.”We plan to start construction this year,” said David J. Glimcher, one of two partners in Rifle Ventures LLC. “We’re targeting an early fall start, to be open next year.”The Rifle City Council gave final plat and subdivision approval to the unnamed commercial project Wednesday night.The project is located south of Interstate 70, just east of Taugenbaugh Boulevard. Plans filed at Rifle City Hall call for a pair of big-box retailers covering 155,000 square feet and 135,000 square feet, plus space for two smaller stores.Since last year, there has been speculation about which big-box stores may or may not set up shop at the proposed Crystal River Marketplace on Highway 133 in Carbondale, Glenwood Meadows along the Colorado River in Glenwood Springs, and the Rifle shopping center.Wal-Mart, Target, Lowe’s and Home Depot are often mentioned as possible tenants for the new shopping centers, none of which are under construction.There have been no announcements from developers or store chains about who is coming to which shopping center. Last month, Staples office supply confirmed it is moving into the old Country General Store space at the Glenwood Springs Mall.Glimcher, who also owns a home at Snowmass Village, said he chose the Rifle site because of its location on I-70. “There are few commercial sites of any size between Grand Junction and Vail,” Glimcher explained.Some shoppers have been clamoring for more big-box stores, while local town officials have said the stores are needed as sales tax generators.For some towns, such as Carbondale, 50 percent of general fund revenues come from sales taxes.Crystal River Marketplace has drawn protests and criticism from some Carbondale residents, who object to its size and the adverse economic impacts it might have on existing business.The Rifle project was approved with hardly a peep out of town folks. Part of the final approval calls for Rifle Ventures LLC, or its tenants, to:-Build a pedestrian path along the north side of the property.-Widen Airport Road along the property’s length.-Pay $190,000 for a traffic signal and other upgrades at the intersection of Taugenbaugh and Airport Road.-Finance I-70 off-ramp traffic signals and related upgrades, which will cost a total of $800,000. The town will reimburse the developer $600,000 over time, as sales taxes are generated at the shopping center. The city will pay $200,000.


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