When the now 117-year old building on the corner of 4th and Main streets underwent a cosmetic transformation in 2015 to accommodate Hearth – a new restaurant and pub with a youthful vibe – Windsor’s residents began to look differently at Windsor’s sleepy downtown.
It turned out to be an early clue that the downtown district was on its way to becoming a hip and happening place while still retaining its historic charm.
And it’s all by design.
“A thriving downtown is the heartbeat of a community,” said Shane Hale, Windsor town manager. “All other aspects of commercial development are vital and we need them all, but you always want to have that healthy downtown.”
Creating that healthy downtown environment doesn’t happen overnight or without a lot of work by a lot of people.
Enter Windsor’s Downtown Development Authority.
The DDA got off the ground in 2011 with an all-volunteer board made up of downtown business and property owners who rolled up their shirt sleeves and got to work laying the groundwork to revitalize and re-invent downtown.
The DDA’s mission, as defined by state statute, is to encourage development and vitality of the downtown district, said DDA Executive Director Matt Ashby, an urban planner with Ayres Associates who was brought on in 2015 to help bring Windsor DDA’s vision to fruition.
Windsor’s downtown spans from 7th Street east to approximately 2nd street along with most of the area north of Main Street to the railroad tracks and south of Main Street to the alley.
The DDA is funded in part by tax increment funding – a tool fairly unique to DDAs, Ashby said.
It works like this: In 2010, Windsor’s downtown property tax rates were benchmarked and for 30 years taxes above that rate are returned to the DDA to invest in development within the district.
The DDA also benefits from sales tax brought in by downtown businesses through an intergovernmental agreement that was established when the DDA originated. In 2010, the sales tax rate was benchmarked at $250,000 and funds flowed back to the DDA for an initial five-year period to provide to help the DDA become established and self-sustaining, according to Ashby. The Town Board has since agreed to extend the contribution through 2021.
In addition, funding comes from grants – last year totaling $50,000 from Colorado Main Street and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The hard work of the DDA is already on view with much more to come.
Here are a few highlights of what residents and others driving through downtown can – or will – notice:
- Construction on the Windsor Mill on the east end of town is in the final stages and is targeted to open in early August with a mix of restaurants, retail and commercial, according to Phil Hodgkinson, general manager of Blue Ocean Real Estate Management. DDA assisted with funding on that project.
- American Legion Post No. 109 is moving to 213 4th St., a location known as the old Kennedy Chevrolet building, which has been purchased by and is to be renovated by Brinkman Development.
- The facade improvement program, funded by the DDA, has made a noticeable difference on several downtown businesses in addition to Hearth and Windsor Mill. Other transformations include Chimney Park, Spokes and more recently Hayden Outdoors.
- New angle parking spaces have replaced parallel spaces on the east end of Main Street, a 30% increase in the number of cars that can now park there.
- Enhanced plantings at 5th and Main, in place early summer, will serve as a not-so-subtle cue that downtown is a pedestrian-friendly zone. If this is successful, additional plantings will be installed at 6th and Main Streets as well.
And there is so much more to come.
“We’re getting very, very aggressive to attract retail and commercial,” said Dan Stauss, chairman of the DDA and owner of Memory Lane Antiques on Main Street. “The puzzle to solve is how to attract the mom and pops that are unique. That’s where our niche is, which is harder, but in the end you develop more of a loyal clientele.”
Where would some of these new shops locate?
The Backlot Project, currently in the planning stages by Brinkman, a Fort Collins-based real estate development company, is part of that answer.
The three-block project next to the railroad tracks from 7th Street on the west to where the tracks cross Main Street on the east will include commercial, office and residential. It also will feature an enhanced alleyway treatment to help draw pedestrians through that area, similar to what Fort Collins has done in Old Town, Ashby said. The alleyway will include special lighting, planters and pavement cobblestone or bricks in lieu of asphalt.
“It will be more of a multi-use space that still provides the function of traditional alley uses,” he said.
A date for groundbreaking on the Backlot Project has not been set, but Ashby said it might be early fall.
The DDA is also working on what is called the Cottage Project, which focuses on ways to attract more patrons to businesses fronting Main Street between 6th and 7th streets.
And, as residents know, parking downtown can at times be challenging, especially during peak times and for special events such as the summer concert series and fall Harvest Festival.
Windsor DDA is working on solutions, Ashby said, some short-term, others long-term. For now, the lot at 5th Street and Ash Street, adjacent to Boardwalk Park, is transitioning into a parking lot. The DDA also is working with Main Street businesses to make their parking lots available to the public during non-business hours in exchange for contributions toward maintenance and upkeep.
A parking garage also could be in Windsor’s future, both Stauss and Ashby said, and the DDA is exploring options for a location if and when the time for such a structure arrives.
The DDA is assisting with the town’s wayfinding project designed to point the way throughout Windsor to downtown, landmarks, museums, trails and parking. Locations for the wayfinding signs – which will include a “Welcome to Downtown” arch, are still under development. While it may take several years for all signs be installed throughout Windsor, the goal is for the first phase of downtown signs to be installed this year, Ashby said.
