2 days ago
"Historic decision" made as Weld County commits to expand judicial center in Northern Colorado
Weld County will double down their investment in Downtown Greeley in the coming years after county commissioners unanimously voted to expand their judicial facilities in Greeley. The decision comes after months of speculation that the Northern Colorado county may move their courthouse, district attorney's office and more onto county land north of the current sheriff's office.
The need for a new judicial center was brought up after the county realized they were running out of space to complete tasks at the current courthouse complex in Downtown Greeley. With the population of Northern Colorado projected to double in the next 20 years, the county elected to move forward now with expanding their judicial campus.
However, much of Downtown Greeley has developed around the existing court complex, with restaurants, hotels, churches, businesses and more nearly surrounding the facility. So, the county had to explore what their best option would be, including moving all the facilities to what is currently a corn field.
Brian Seifried is the founder and CEO of Centennial Hospitality Group. His company owns and operates businesses like Wing Shack, Luna's Tacos & Tequila and Sexy Sammies. Luna's is conveniently, but not coincidentally, located less than a block away from the current courthouse.
"Downtown Greeley has so much potential and so much energy," Seifried said.
However, when Seifried learned there was a possibility that the complex would be relocated several miles north of Downtown Greeley, it was enough to concern him about his business's viability.
"The thought of doing business in Downtown Greeley without all those employees and neighbors in the legal business was a dark one," Seifried said.
The prospect of losing foot traffic was real for many business owners, citing concerns that law offices would follow the county employees toward the new proposed location, also taking juries and other visitors away from downtown.
However, not everyone was objected to the move. Hunter Hoshiko is a developer with H2 Consultants and was asking the commissioners to consider building on the county land north of the sheriff's office on O Street.
"I thought the O Street option was a better option, I farm those fields and know that land very well," Hoshika said. "I thought it brought community, synergy and culture to county."
At the Monday morning county commissioner's meeting a team tasked with exploring the county's options for the future of the judicial complex presented three options. Two involved repurposing buildings and land in Downtown Greeley. The third was to move the facility north.
The commissioners ultimately voted to go with what they were told was the cheapest option of the three. However, the estimated price difference between the most expensive and cheapest options was presented as $496 million versus $490 million.
"Weld County is my home, and Greeley is my home. They are both equally important to me," Hoshiko said.
Hoshiko said he was concerned that local businesses in downtown may not be able to easily survive years of construction downtown.
"I think a lot of people don't realize what four years of construction does to their businesses. It is going to be very hard. It scares me for a lot of my friends downtown of what those four years and impact will be," Hoshiko said.
Commissioner Kevin Ross said the decision to stay in Greeley will be beneficial not only to the county's operations, but it could also be beneficial to the City of Greeley as well and District Six.
"What you have today is a really a historic decision. Because this is one of the rare times in history where three public entities are coming to the table together and have the same need," Ross said.
With their unanimous vote, the county commissioners gave the green light to the county's staff to move forward with land swaps, acquisitions and more. They will also have to start fielding designs and bids for construction for the new complex which will include construction on the existing property as well as redevelopment of the plot directly west of the current facility.
Construction is projected to include development of a new district attorney's office, a new parking garage and more.
The county also plans to relocate many offices currently located off of O Street back to Downtown Greeley as part of the project. When the commissioners announced their votes a majority of the visitors in attendance for the meeting applauded, some stood to their feet.
Seifried, who was not in attendance, later said he greatly supported the vote outcome. He said he is willing to navigate the possible stresses of construction in the years to come in exchange for a more bustling downtown area with expanded offices.
"Construction is the bit of progress that is not fun for anybody. But, that light at the end of the tunnel with the continued investment and new energy in downtown would have been worth it, and we would love to feed some construction workers in the meantime. While there will be some headaches, we are excited for the future," Seifried said.
