City presents preliminary economic-impact estimates for West Greeley project; predevelopment agreement slated for Feb. 4

City staff presented preliminary economic-impact estimates Jan. 7 for the proposed West Greeley project and said staff plan to bring a predevelopment services and finance agreement to the council on Feb. 4.

John Hall, economic development director, said multiple city departments are working on finance, infrastructure, legal review, communications and economic-development aspects of West Greeley. He described the project as an opportunity to expand amenities, attract visitors and reduce retail leakage, and he briefed council on preliminary impact estimates by CBRE.

CBRE’s draft estimates for Phase 1a presented to council show construction-phase impacts of just under 2,500 jobs annually and an estimated $173,000,000 in local construction earnings over a construction period anticipated at two to three years. For operations, CBRE estimated more than 1,000 permanent jobs providing about $39,000,000 in local earnings annually, and visitor spending impacts of roughly 206 permanent jobs and about $5,000,000 in local earnings annually. Staff also cited a sales tax estimate in the consultant materials for Phase 1 of about $5,600,000 annually.

Hall said the city is completing a draft economic-impact study, a market study and a financial breakeven analysis to better quantify the project’s fiscal profile. He described the breakeven analysis as a multi-decade model that will be presented with annualized revenue, cost and municipal-service estimates, and said the full market/economic report totals roughly 114 pages and would be shared with council.

Council members pressed staff on assumptions and the geographic distribution of impacts. Several councilors asked how much of the reported economic activity would be captured within the Greeley municipal boundary versus the broader Northern Colorado region; staff replied that economic-impact boundaries do not align neatly with municipal lines and that the breakeven/fiscal analysis is intended to focus on city‑captured revenues and costs. Council members also asked to receive the full report and supporting assumptions; staff said the draft report would be provided to council the following day.

Ending

Staff reiterated that the presentation was informational; the council has a scheduled vote on a predevelopment services and finance agreement for the West Greeley project on Feb. 4.