Jacob Knudson, vice president of development for Macerich, told the Broomfield City Council at a study session that the company’s HiFi (Hello Flatiron) village redevelopment at FlatIron Crossing is progressing and that construction of the first multifamily building will begin next month. “The mall is doing great. Traffic’s up. Sales are up,” Knudson said, citing interior refreshes, new tenants and ongoing infrastructure work.
The redevelopment covers a roughly 25-acre parcel immediately south of the mall campus where the AMC theater was located. Knudson said the project’s first phase includes 347 luxury multifamily units developed in a joint venture with Crescent Communities, about 75,000 square feet of food-and-beverage and entertainment space and two acres of green space. At full build-out he said the village could include 700–800 residential units and roughly 100,000 square feet of additional retail uses and that the plan now calls for a hotel instead of an office building previously discussed.
Knudson credited recent landlord and city investments for renewed retailer interest, saying nine tenant build-outs are now under construction at the mall. He named several incoming or expanding retailers and concepts, including Anthropologie, Lego, Sweet Play, Lululemon and Pindustry, and said some of those spaces will open within 30 days and others by year-end. “These are tenants that pre‑village redevelopment were not interested in coming to the mall,” he said.
Knudson also described interior work already completed: a fresh white paint scheme, lighting and furniture upgrades and partial flooring replacement in high‑traffic areas including the food court. He said a focused food-court remodel is planned to better integrate the interior mall with the HiFi development that reaches the food-court entrance.
Council members asked about the change from office to hotel and the development timeline. Knudson said the team market-tested office space but concluded that a ground‑up speculative office no longer made sense; they are in talks with multiple hotel developers and said a hotel could include conference amenities. He gave a preliminary schedule that targets the first residential deliveries in 2027 and said some restaurants might open earlier if operators choose to accelerate their schedules.
City Manager Hoffman told council the Macerich agreement established a ratio approach requiring commercial square footage commitments tied to residential development; city staff praised Macerich for being on schedule, on budget and communicative. No formal action or vote occurred; the item was presented as an informational update and council members generally expressed support and appreciation.
The study session item included renderings, an aerial photo showing infrastructure and dirt work nearly complete, and a note that Crescent Communities is slated to start vertical construction on the multifamily pad next month. Knudson said infrastructure is “90% completed” and that construction for at least one restaurant pad would start within weeks.
Next steps noted in the presentation included ongoing tenant lease negotiations, a planned marketing program for the HiFi opening in 2027 and continued coordination with the city on events and programming tied to the redevelopment. Council did not take formal legislative action during the presentation and asked staff to continue coordinating with the developer.