The Aurora Highlands Map

 

Source: https://theaurorahighlands.com/land-plan/

This is a map of The Aurora Highlands area, which seems pretty cool, but my complaint is that the road on the right side of the map which is labeled here as Aerotropolis Rd, already has a name, called Powhaton Road.  Admittedly, it is not paved, but just leave the name as is.  And the bottom right corner shows it going at an angle and then it meets up with The Aurora Highlands Parkway and then an arrow shows it connecting to I-70 off the map.  Today, Powhaton Road connects to I-70, so there is no need for that angle.  Or are they planning a new exit on I-70 about a quarter mile west of the Powhaton Road exit?  If so, that doesn't make any sense.

Another oddity is the noticeable ley line next to Warm Springs Avenue.  I wonder if it is a natural gas line that they don't want to build on.

One thing that is missing is that there is no grocery store anywhere close.  The closest one is the King Soopers at Tower Road and Green Valley Ranch Boulevard, more than 5 miles a way.  This would be a good location for a Sprouts or even a Walmart Neighborhood store.

More things that seem to be missing are a fire station and police substation.  I don't even see a spot on the map where they would go.  (I am thinking of SimCity where you have to plan the coverage).  The closest fire station seems to be 6500 N Lisbon St, which is more than 5 miles away.

What about a high school, where is the closest one?  There is a place for a high school in the northeast quadrant of the map, which is supposed to open in 2028.

But, overall, pretty cool for a master planned community, with lots of parks and trails.

Avelon goes bust

 

Avelon was a $400 million project between 64th and 56th Avenues, east of Picadilly.  It had 287 acres, and is near the Gaylord Hotel.  This was being built by Sebastian Partners, which just declared bankruptcy (https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2021/06/25/sebastian-partners-avelon-aurora-bankruptcy.html, behind paywall).

I'm sure something will eventually be built there.

The Green Necklace around Buckley

 Last year, a slew of organizations including the base, city government, Great Outdoors Colorado and The Trust for Public Land sealed the last of nine real estate deals setting aside 700 acres bordering Buckley for conservation and recreation trails. The project required nine deals totaling $22 million in local, state and federal funds.  The newly-protected piece of high plains prairie is populated with deer, antelope and cottonwoods — not homes or businesses — shoring up a buffer from the base’s loud and high-tech operations.  Part of Buckley’s operations include sensing missile launches around the globe and providing tarmac for Air Force and National Guard operations. The “green necklace” around Buckley will link Signature Park to the forthcoming Triple Creek Greenway. That trail will connect to Aurora’s vast walk and bike trail corridors stretching to Denver and Centennial.

https://sentinelcolorado.com/news/metro/community-effort-to-protect-buckley-afb-from-encroachment-lauded-by-arapahoe-county/

I should highlight the open space on a map.

Nobody cares about my opinion on a blog no one reads, but I will say that I am not happy with this.  There is nothing "holy" about acquiring land and putting a fence around it so it can never be used again. All the open space around Buckley is just wasted space. It is not good land.  It is ugly, with weeds.   There is a pond with algae growing on it. Yes there are a few antelope running around.  If Buckley wants a buffer zone, then they should buy it.

My biggest gripe is that I don't think Tower Road between 6th Avenue and Colfax Avenue will ever be built, because this would encroach on their precious open space.

What would happen in my dreams is to relocate Buckley Air Force base to near the Colorado Air and Space Port (formerly Front Range Airport). Spend about $10 billion on building a high tech Space Force Base that would also be used for space travel.  Then take the land, more than 1000 acres and sell it at the highest and best use.  This is very valuable land, and is worth probably $500,000 per acre.  That is $500 million.  Use that money to help build the space force base.  The days of Buckley are numbered.  Just like Lowry close and was redeveloped, the same thing will happen here.  Buckley is not going to be here in 30 years.

While I like exurban sprawl better than anyone, it is smarter to have more infill development here. This is in a major city, folks, and it is surrounded on all sides by real estate developments - housing as well as industrial.  As a result, development will be pushed farther east.  What I am saying is this open space is contributing to the problem of exurban sprawl.  Nobody should be getting an award for this.

Wow, I should send this to the Aurora Sentinel as an opinion and see if they publish it.

South Murphy Creek

Here is the new development planned for south of Jewell Avenue and east of Gun Club.  The official name at this point is called "Murphy Creek PA-28", but Murphy Creek South sounds better.  This map is looking east, with Jewell Avenue on the left side of the map.

This map is looking east, with Jewell Avenue on the left side of the map.

And here is what the area looks like now.  This is rotated so it is looking north.  You can see the curvy street in the middle of the map which is South Flatrock Trail.

How soon will this be built?  I can't find anything.  The developer is Meritage Homes so their website may have more information.  This hasn't been approved yet.  I would guess it will be approved in mid-2021, and construction would start in spring 2022 and it should be finished by summer 2023.  But that is just a guess.

This project could be killed by concerns over toxic water spreading north from the Lowry landfill site, which is just to the south.  But the planning documents don't mention anything about that. 

For more information see https://www.facebook.com/groups/MCDistrict3/ .  This is a private group, so you would have to join to see anything.

Stone Creek Ranch in Parker

 The latest satellite view of the area looks like this: 

Home builders are:  KB Home , Richmond American, and Taylor Morrison.

Source:  https://www.taylormorrison.com/co/denver/parker/stone-creek

Cityhomes at Boulevard One

A sales video for new homes in the Boulevard One neighborhood.

See also: https://aurorainfill.blogspot.com/2016/06/lowry-boulevard-one.html

Oakwood Propaganda

This was posted to Youtube on 5/29/20 so it is very new.  It is less than 3 minutes long and it will make you feel happy and want to move there so watch it. 

One little complaint: the title says "Green Valley Ranch Aurora", whereas everyone knows that Green Valley Ranch is in Denver, and Picadilly Road is the dividing line between Denver and Aurora, so this is not actually in Green Valley Ranch but near it.