Date: Nov. 16th, 2011
Contact: Pete Meyer
Phone: 970.672.1007
Colorado Real Estate Journal
By: Jill Jamieson-Nichols
Pura Vida Place, a “boutique” apartment development across the street from Colorado State University, is on track for a June opening.
The building will include 52 apartments, 10 of which will be in the garden/basement level of the three-story building – an unusual feature for new product, but one that the developer believes housing demand will support.
Pura Vida Place is being developed by Longmont-based Catamount Properties Ltd., headed by Chuck Bailey. A former vice president with Legacy Partners, Bailey developed numerous large, luxury apartment communities, including Ball Park Lofts in Denver. Of Pura Vida, he said, “It’s kind of a fun, boutique-size deal to work on that hopefully serves a need for the market.
“My daughter is a student up here, and I started coming up here and realizing the tremendous need for student apartments in Fort Collins,” said Bailey. “CSU is experiencing really strong enrollment growth as well.”
Located at 518 W. Laurel St., Pura Vida is next door to a mixed-use building, containing the Café Bluebird, that Bailey developed several years ago, when he was with a company called Osprey.
The unit mix at Pura Vida Place will include 20 studio and one-bedroom units; 16 two-bedroom, two-bath apartments; and 16 three-bedroom, three-bath units. Designed with students in mind, the building includes two study rooms and private storage in the lower level.
The building footprint is in the form of an “H,” which allows 32 of the units to have windows on two sides and creates two interior courtyards.
All of the apartments have oversized windows, as well as counters conducive for either dining or studying, as well as washer and dryer hookups, and microwaves. The building will feature controlled access, and each bedroom is separately keyed. Rents will range from approximately $900 for studios to $1,800 for three-bedroom apartments.
OZ Architecture designed Pura Vida with stucco, cultured stone, roof tile, scalloped siding, and other features and materials befitting the character of the campus and neighborhood, Bailey said.
Brinkman Construction is the general contractor for the approximately $8 million development. The one-acre site, which formerly housed Woody’s Wood-Fired Pizza, is across from the CSU Rockwell School of Business and cattycorner from the university’s new engineering building, which is under construction.
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