Project Schedule

Q: When will the project break ground?

A: Based on the project review steps and technical plan analysis that must be undertaken by the City of Thornton before the start of construction, we do not anticipate a construction start before 2023.

Q: When is the project anticipated to be complete?

A: Based on current market projections and the anticipated timeline for navigating the necessary City of Thornton approvals construction is anticipated to commence in 2023 and be completed in 2027.

Housing Prices & Target Market

Q. Have the for-sale and for-rent prices been set?

A: No. The entire Lee’s Farm community is a market-rate development. That means, at the time of completion, pricing will be set to reflect the then-current market conditions. In today’s rapidly changing market, it is not possible to anticipate with precision what those prices will be in the future, Guidance pricing for each home type is provided below based on data available in May 2023. We will update this informational market pricing as conditions warrant.

Q: What are the anticipated listing prices of the single-family homes planned for the Lee’s Farm neighborhood?

A: While it is impossible to anticipate what the local real estate market will look like more than a year in the future, based on today’s market, the for-sale builder, KB Home, anticipates the detached single-family homes will range from the upper $600,000s to low $700,000s and the paired-homes will likely be priced from the mid-to-high $500,000s.

Q: What is the anticipated monthly payment to purchase a single-family home in Lee’s Farm?

A: Based on today’s market, the Paired product is expected to have an average total monthly payment of approximately $4,400 and the detached single-family homes are expected to have an average total monthly payment of approximately $5,300. Total monthly payment is the sum of the mortgage payment, mortgage insurance, property insurance, HOA fees, and property taxes.

Q: What are the anticipated multi-family home monthly rental rates?

A: All of the multi-family residences will be priced at the market rate. If they were to be leased in today’s market, they would average ~$1,720/mo. with a range from $1,225/mo. for a studio up to $2,250/mo. for a 3-bedroom home.

Q. Are the apartments going to include on-site “permanently-affordable” units?

A: No. All of the multi-family housing will be high-quality, market-rate product.

Q: Will the apartments accept residents on public assistance?

A: The multi-family component of Lee’s Farm is exclusively a market-rate product. That is, residents will be required to meet a specific minimum income threshold to qualify for a lease and housing subsidies are not accepted.

Q: Across other Springs multi-family developments, who are the residents?

A: The Springs typically sees residents with higher income earners than the national average. +25% of all residents who reside in The Springs communities are 50-years or older. Another large segment of residents is 25-35-year-old professionals. Every resident undergoes a thorough background and financial qualification screening process. Disruptive tenants are not permitted to live at The Springs.

Q: What if there are not enough qualified residents who want to live at The Springs?

A: Continental Properties will develop, own, operate, and manage The Springs property. The Springs multifamily brand is highly-regarded, and Continental has extensive experience in the market with several operating communities along the front range with a current average occupancy of 93%. Continental Properties completes extensive research on the market demand for its high-quality Springs communities before investing. The data shows that Thornton’s comparable modern market rate, multifamily communities have high occupancy signaling unmet market demand for the proposed housing type. Regardless of lease-up rate or occupancy at any given time, Continental’s extensive resident screening and qualification standards do not change.

Design & Amenities

Q: How tall will the multi-family buildings be?

A: The multi-family buildings are designed to be predominantly 32-foot tall, 2-story structures. A few of the buildings located in the lowest portion of the site (~15-feet lower than Quebec St.) are planned to be a 3-story that are only approximately 40’ in height. In close collaboration with neighbors, the 3-story building locations have been updated to further minimize any possible view impacts.

Q: What amenities will the multi-family portion of the community have and will those amenities be open for public use?

A: The Springs community will have resort-like amenities for its residents including a fully-equipped fitness center, spa-like pool, open park space, dog parks, and a generously sized clubhouse. The community will also have electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and on-site property management and maintenance personnel to ensure trouble-free living. The entire Springs community will be gated and closed to general public access and use.

Neighborhood Compatibility

Q: How will the proposed project benefit neighbors who are already in the area?

A: The proposed development provides five primary benefits:

1.     It directly follows the housing-type diversity roadmap in the Thornton Comprehensive Plan. This plan ensures the entire City of Thornton has adequate and appropriate housing for those in the community who want to age-in-place (empty nesters), explore Thornton before they buy here (young professionals), and those who wish to transition from for-rent housing to homeownership.

2. Many in Thornton desire new restaurants, local merchants, boutique fitness providers, and coffee shops. New residents provide the concentration of people necessary to attract and sustain nearby businesses. Providing housing for the residents who will make these businesses viable is essential.

3.     It will provide housing close to jobs to reduce surface traffic congestion from commuters.    

4.     Lee’s Farm will deliver millions of dollars of taxpayer benefit in the form of newly dedicated parks, +1.25 miles of new trails, finished roadways, school district fees, roadway expansion of Quebec Street, 136th, and 134th Avenues. The project will also contribute significant direct fee payments and new tax revenues to the City of Thornton.

5. Proposed sales prices will support and encourage higher single-family home values in the adjacent neighborhoods.

Q: Do for-rent, market-rate apartments reduce the value of nearby homes?

A: No. Numerous economic studies have evaluated this question and the conclusion is a new development is an indicator of positive area economic growth and new market-rate apartments do not have a decretive impact on surrounding home values.

Q: Can this site stay undeveloped, or can it be turned into a park?

A: The private owners of Lee’s Farm purchased the land nearly a decade ago for the singular purpose of development. The City of Thornton has, for more than a quarter-century, planned for this land to be developed for housing as reflected in the community’s Comprehensive and Transportation Mater Plans.

Q: Is this project compatible with the suburban surroundings or trending more towards urban-type density?

A: Lee’s Farm is entirely consistent with the surrounding suburban community and the City of Thornton’s approved 2019 Comprehensive Plan. 29% of the entire site will be dedicated to the City for open space, recreation, or other public use. The entire project is at the low end of the density scale required by the City’s Zoning Code. The multifamily homes are low-intensity, of garden-style design, and the single-family homes mirror those surrounding the new community.

Q: How did the City’s Comprehensive Plan come to be?

A: The City of Thornton’s City Council unanimously adopted its current Comprehensive Plan in 2019. The Plan is the product of hundreds and hundreds of community volunteer hours organized and focused by the City’s professional planners and third-party facilitators. The exercise contemplates the remaining, undeveloped parcels of land within the City as well as all aspects of the growing community’s future needs. Emphasis is on balance, economic vitality, and livability. The Thornton Comprehensive Plan is a current, relevant, and highly thoughtful work designed to help the City meet its full economic potential while bolstering the qualities most highly valued by its residents.

Q: How will Lee’s Farm prevent the multi-family residents from spilling into the surrounding community and how will basic services such as trash be managed in the apartment component of the development?

A: The entire multi-family component (named The Springs) will be fenced, gated, self-contained, and serviced separately from the surrounding neighborhoods. Moreover, Springs residents will enjoy their own beautiful large pool, fitness center, park area, dog walk, clubhouse, and outdoor amenity spaces. Additionally, services, such as garbage, will be provided for and managed entirely on-site. The Springs will also have its own dedicated full-time property management and maintenance staff. With all of the above, Springs residents are highly unlikely to venture beyond their resort-like setting.

Q: Can this project be delivered without the apartments?

A: In short, no. The City of Thornton Comprehensive Plan designates Lee’s Farm as a Mixed Residential Neighborhood with a required density of 5-18 dwelling units per acre. With the multifamily component, Lee’s Farm reaches only 6.72 dwelling units per acre. If the multifamily component (~16.5du/acre) is removed, the site cannot achieve the necessary minimum density to comply the City guidelines using only single-family and paired homes. With multifamily housing, the entire project is only 37% as densely developed as it could be.

Q: Why are the apartments located on the site’s far Northwest corner?

A: The entire Lee’s Farm site layout is designed to mirror its surroundings. Single-family detached homes are located closest to existing neighbors with similar homes to the East. The multi-family homes are located closest to the busy, commercial intersection of Quebec Street & 136th Avenue near where King Soopers’ is under construction. This is the most appropriate location as the direct access onto main streets mitigates any traffic impact from new multifamily residents. Further, the larger 2-and 3-story multifamily structures serve as a valuable sound and visual barrier to shield the development’s interior and neighbors from the busy new King Soopers shopping center and heavy Quebec Street traffic.

 Q: Will this project connect to existing regional trails & multi-use trails?

A: Yes. Lee’s Farm will include ~1.25 miles of new trails that will connect in multiple locations to existing regional and City trails that terminate today at the property boundary. This is in addition to bike lanes and new sidewalks including many separated from roadways by sizeable landscape buffers. In total, 29% of the entire Lee’s Farm site area will be dedicated to the City of Thornton for open space and public enjoyment.

Q: How will this project impact stormwater flow from the Lee’s Farm site into the Village at Riverdale neighborhood to the East?

A: The Lee’s Farm site design improvements are projected to significantly decrease the volume of runoff in a storm event compared to current conditions. Historically, a portion of the Pheasant Run Tributary drained to the east into the Villages at Riverdale. Lee’s Farm will intercept these historic flows and divert them south to a new detention pond. From there stormwater flows will return naturally back into the Pheasant Run Tributary, away from any homes.

Economic Impact

Q: What will the home developer contribute to the City?

A: Based on today’s rate and fee schedules, KB Home will pay the City of Thornton approximately $8,915,000 to build the detached and paired single-family homes. Continental Properties will pay the City of Thornton roughly $7,379,000 to develop its Springs community. These figures include fees for permits, use taxes, and utility connections. Each developer will also contribute to significant roadway improvements, which are anticipated to exceed $4,500,000.

Q: Will this project cause property taxes to increase for existing area residents?

A: No. Lee’s Farm will be a net contributor to the City of Thornton.

Transportation Improvements

Q: Has the project undertaken a traffic study?
A: Yes. An updated traffic study, completed in June 2022, has been submitted to the City for review and can be downloaded here.

Q: What will happen to 136th Avenue & Quebec Street?

A: The City of Thornton has a designed plan to expand 136th Avenue to 4-lanes and, as required by code, Lee’s Farm will contribute the south portion of this expansion along its property boundary. Similarly, Lee’s Farm will complete the eastern portion of the Quebec expansion. These significant improvements, estimated to cost Lee’s Farm more than $4,500,000, will all be completed per City code and are anticipated to materially improve local traffic conditions and convenience.

Q: School Day traffic is already congested at pick-up and drop-off times. Will this project make conditions worse for parents and adjacent neighbors?

A: No. Lee’s Farm introduces a new east-west parkway across the site that intersects Quebec Street at 134th Avenue. The new intersection on Quebec Street will be fully signalized (traffic light). To the east near Brantner Elementary, where the new roadway intersects the existing neighborhood, there will be a new traffic circle designed to slow traffic and a new pedestrian crosswalk. Notably, students from Lee’s Farm will be walkers to Brantner given the close proximity.

Traffic impacts of every aspect of the project have been studied, existing peak-hour traffic volumes have been captured and analyzed, and the project has been carefully vetted by 27-J transportation professionals, Thornton’s engineering and planning teams, third-party traffic engineers, and a number of nearby neighbors. All parties are satisfied with the plans as they address projected capacity needs, help reduce congestion, and improve pedestrian safety.

School District

Q: Can the surrounding schools accommodate the influx of new schoolchildren Lee’s Farm will introduce?

A: Yes. The Lee’s Farm team has worked very closely with the City and 27-J School District leaders to verify there is ample capacity to accommodate any new school-aged residents.

Q: What will Lee’s Farm contribute financially to offset its impact on the 27-J School District?

A: The project is anticipated to contribute more than $815,000 to 27-J Schools. This amount includes $474,900 for cash-in-lieu of land dedication and $340,700 for the District’s capital facility foundation. The Lee’s Farm team will continue to work closely with the District to accurately calculate the final fee amounts as the District’s assessment and fee structures evolve.