A fast food giant and a giant golf entertainment center have submitted early plans to build in high traffic areas in Timnath.
McDonald’s, along with an outdoor recreation and golf entertainment center, submitted conceptual review applications to the town’s planning department in late August, the earliest stage in the formal development review process.
In May, word leaked that Topgolf was interested in building a golf entertainment center south of Costco in a gravel pit on the west edge of town.
While Topgolf was not named on the conceptual application, Timnath has been wooing the popular golf center for months, offering a potential incentive package that includes a 50% reduction in permit, building and impact fees; a sales tax share-back of one-third of the current 3% sales tax for 20 years; and expedited entitlement processing through the town, according to a December letter from Timnath Mayor Mark Soukup to Topgolf real estate manager Jonathan Trenski.
Timnath targeted the Ladera project, a 240-acre residential, commercial and mixed-use project being developed by Connell Resources, as the potential site for Topgolf. Connell used the site as a gravel pit for surrounding construction. The site has high visibility, sitting just east of Interstate 25 and south of Harmony Road, and has been approved for annexation into Timnath. The area is also slated to be home to a new Floor and Decor retail store, which is nearing completion.
Town planner Kevin Koelbel told the Coloradoan on Tuesday that developers have not requested any incentives at this time and “there is no incentive package associated with the concept plan at this time.” Planners have just begun reviewing the application and it has not had a full review. Conceptual reviews may not move forward to become actual development applications, he said.
The Ladera development currently sits in the floodplain, but grading work has been done, per the Federal Emergency Management Agency that removes it from the floodplain, Koelbel said.
The facility’s conceptual application indicates the entertainment center would be about 38,000 square feet on about 12 acres.
The Timnath Town Board in December authorized the creation of two metro districts for the property, which would allow developers to raise about $95 million for public infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer improvements, and curbs and gutters.
Topgolf has about 60 venues in the United Kingdom and U.S., including three other locations in Colorado, one along I-25 in Thornton (at the E-470 exit), about 45 minutes south of Timnath, and one in Centennial just off I-25, about 90 minutes south of the town. It also operates a location in Colorado Springs.
The nearby I-25 and Harmony intersection is now home to Costco, Walmart and a host of small eateries and businesses on the Timnath side of I-25. The Fort Collins side is currently undeveloped on the south.
McDonald’s plans 24/7 store
A new McDonald’s store with a 24/7 drive-thru window could be coming to the Riverbend subdivision east of Signal Tree Drive and south of Harmony Road.
The 4,218-square-foot store will be franchise owned, but a franchisee has not been identified yet, said Kortney Pedigo, construction manager with McDonald’s corporate office. Formal plans might be submitted still this year, but construction and opening are still at least a year away, she said.
According to preliminary plans, a walkway is planned from the restaurant site to Harmony Road, but cars will have to go through the Riverbend development to get to the store. No vehicle access will be available from Harmony Road.
McDonald’s expects to hire about 60 employees, with the largest shift having about 13 workers.
According to plans, the drive-thru will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and the dining room will be open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
McDonald’s would add to Timnath’s fast-food options that now include Taco Bell, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, Subway and Chick-fil-A.
If both concept plans move forward as actual development applications, the Timnath Planning Commission would make the approval decision.
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