Lakewood, CO

A former Sears building along Colfax Avenue in Lakewood has sold, four years after the store closed.

Austin-based Artesia Real Estate Investments purchased the onetime department store at 10785 W. Colfax Ave. last week, according to the brokerage that represented the seller. The deal also included a separate smaller building closer to the street that once housed a Sears Automotive Center.

Sears closed the store in late 2018, along with dozens of others nationwide, shortly after filing for bankruptcy. It and the auto center building have sat vacant since.

Artesia paid $13.78 million, according to public records, for the 7.65-acre site, which includes 163,957 square feet across the two buildings and a host of parking spaces.

Artesia already owns the connected Westland Town Center retail complex. It purchased that property, whose tenants include Lowe’s, in November 2021 for $22.5 million, records show.

Matt Taylor, vice president of investments at Artesia, said the company doesn’t have any immediate plans for the Sears property, although long-term the entire site will likely become a mixed-use development. There’s no firm timeline for that, he said.

Capstone brokers Travis Hodge and Anthony Bobay represented the seller, Seritage Growth Properties, which owns Sears’ current and former real estate.

Hodge said the pair started marketing the property in March, after having sold a site across the street to San Antonio-based apartment developer Embrey Partners.

“We figured there’s good interest on that site, so why don’t we reach out to whoever owns this old Sears,” Hodge said.

Hodge said he expected the property to receive interest from apartment developers. That’s due in large part to the fact that the West Colfax corridor, as an “urban renewal area,” is exempt from a measure that Lakewood voters passed in 2019 limiting the amount of new housing that can be built in the city, he said.

Hodge said he did indeed receive interest from apartment developers, but there was one complicating factor. The property has a “reciprocal easement agreement” with the neighboring Westland lot.

“The agreement gave both sides a whole lot of authority to approve any kind of redevelopment plans that would materially change the building exterior … In order to really develop anything other than an adaptive reuse of the existing building, somebody had to figure out how to revise or dissolve that reciprocal easement agreement,” Hodge said.

That made Artesia the logical buyer, Hodge said, because the company is now on both sides of the agreement — meaning no negotiations will be necessary.

Hodge said that, between the Sears property and the Westland property, Artesia now controls a contiguous 40-acre site.

This is the fourth Denver-area property Artesia has purchased in the last year. In addition to the Westland Town Center, the company has also bought an industrial property at 600 W. Bayaud Ave. in Denver in April for $8.25 million and the Broadridge Shopping Center at 6905 S. Broadway in Littleton in August for $13 million, records show.

Denver is one of seven markets that Artesia has targeted, according to Taylor. The others are its home base of Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake and Seattle.

This story was reported by our partner BusinessDen.

The city's agreement with Google Fiber stemmed from a 2019 city ballot question.

LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver suburb of Lakewood will become the first city in Colorado to receive Google Fiber's optic-based, fiber-to-the-home internet service, the company announced Thursday.

Google Fiber plans to begin construction in Lakewood in 2023, and it's expected to take several years before the work is totally complete. Service will become available as the company completes segments of the network.

"Google Fiber is fast, but network construction is … well, we’ll go as fast as we can, while prioritizing safety and minimizing disruption to traffic and to neighborhoods," Sasha Petrovic, Google Fiber's southwest region general manager, said in the announcement.

City officials celebrated the announcement Thursday. The expansion will make Lakewood one of only 16 cities across the country that have the fiber-to-the-home service. The service is already available in a dozen cities, and along with Lakewood, Google Fiber is planning expansions to Des Moines, Iowa; Mesa, Arizona; and Omaha, Nebraska.

> Read the full article at the Denver Business Journal.

RELATED: Can you buy Powerball tickets online? Depends on your location.

RELATED: Yes, the AT&T class action settlement is real

RELATED: Widespread Twitter layoffs begin a week after Musk takeover

SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS

Watch more from 9NEWS on the free 9NEWS+ app for Roku and Fire TV.

9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.

Boasting a stunning landscape and a flourishing marijuana market, the state offers visitors a unique fusion of outdoor pursuits and cannabis experiences.

A combination of the two cannot be overstated. With a plethora of dispensaries available, choosing where to visit can be quite a task. To help you with this decision, we’ve curated a list of the top five cannabis dispensaries in Lakewood, Colorado.

Native Roots

Photo By Native Roots Dispensary Highlands

Kicking off our list is Native Roots Dispensary, a sought-after chain with multiple outlets across Colorado, including Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs. Native Roots presents an extensive array of top-notch cannabis products for both medicinal and recreational purposes. Their well-informed staff is always on hand to assist you in finding the ideal product, and they also have a loyalty program for repeat customers.

Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 9am-11:50pm

Address: 2209 W. 32nd Ave, Denver, CO 80211

The Green Solution

Photo By Kristen Jennings

Next up is The Green Solution, a prominent Colorado dispensary with several locations, such as Denver, Aurora, and Fort Collins. Offering a wide selection of first-rate cannabis products, their enthusiastic staff is committed to helping customers pinpoint the perfect products for their needs. Additionally, The Green Solution provides personalized consultations, ensuring a tailored experience during each visit.

Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 10am-10pm

Address: 2601 W. Alameda Ave, Denver, CO 80219

Lightshade

Photo By Frank Clark

Lightshade, a boutique dispensary with multiple outlets across the Denver metropolitan area, presents a meticulously curated selection of marijuana products, including an impressive variety of CBD products like tinctures, capsules, and topicals. Their team is devoted to offering each customer a customized experience.

Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 9am-9:45pm

Address: 745 E 6th Ave, Denver, CO 80203

LivWell

Photo Courtesy Of LivWell

Established in 2009, LivWell Enlightened Health is a reputable dispensary in Colorado that provides an assortment of high-quality cannabis products, encompassing flower, concentrates, and edibles. LivWell’s knowledgeable staff is always eager to help you discover the products you’re seeking, and they also have a loyalty program to reward their frequent customers.

Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 8am-11:50pm

Address: 2863 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205

Euflora

Photo by Chase Fromm

Last on our list is Euflora, known for its contemporary and inviting atmosphere. Euflora showcases a broad range of exceptional cannabis products, including organic, sun-grown marijuana. Their well-versed staff is up to date with the latest offerings and ready to help you find the ideal product for your needs.

Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 9am-9:45pm

Address: 401 16th St Mall, Denver, CO 80202

Final Thoughts

Colorado is an extraordinary destination for cannabis enthusiasts, offering a wide selection of dispensaries to explore. The dispensaries featured in this article represent some of the finest in the state and are certainly worth a visit. Whether you’re in search of flower, concentrates, edibles, or tailored consultations, these dispensaries have all your needs covered.

The city of Lakewood opened its first emergency warming shelter in response to the cold Wednesday and while it only saw 11 people, expected Thursday to be busy.

"I think once people realize where the facility is, we may see that number grow," said Adam Paul, Mayor of Lakewood.

The temporary shelter opened Wednesday night at the Whitlock Recreation center. It has the capacity to serve 50 people and is open from 7PM to 7AM.

According to the city, the shelter is designed to supplement other shelters already available in Lakewood known as the Severe Weather Shelter Network and the support provided through vouchers for short-term sheltering at lodging facilities.

The issue is that Lakewood is the only city within Jefferson County to have the emergency shelter, and the number of other options available are few and far between.

"For many years it's been the assumption that that's a problem that only exists in the city of Denver, but we have quite a few neighbors experiencing homelessness and a shelter facility would be much better than opening up a church or a room in a rec center," said Reverend Ben Hensley, Pastor at the Lakewood United Methodist Church.

During the December snowstorm, Hensley opened his doors to keep those on the streets warm.

When January's storm hit, his church teamed up with Saint Bernadette's Catholic Church in Lakewood to open another shelter. Each time they helped upwards of 30 people.

"We learned really fast that while it was well intended and we thank god that they were able to do that, it wasn't the best setup," said Adam Paul, Lakewood mayor.

Paul says Lakewood had to step up.

"I am very proud of the city of Lakewood," Hensley said. "What they're doing is meeting a gap that currently exists here in Jefferson County for folks experiencing more chronic forms of homelessness."

According to an annual report from the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Jefferson County is up 11% from 2020 to 2022 but the number of people surveyed, who said they were homeless for the first time, was up 257% in just two years.

"I do know that the steps that the city took today will make a huge impact on the accessibility for a warm place to sleep on deadly nights like last night and tonight will be," Hensley said. "What's happening these few nights is just an emergency response to cold weather but what's really going to solve homelessness in Jefferson County and everywhere quite frankly is housing."

"I've said this for years, Jefferson County, all the cities in the county, we come together and share an animal shelter, but we've really struggled finding sheltering for human beings and the good news is that's changing," Paul said. "We have some long-term plans for a couple navigation centers which will be housed within the county one north and one in central Jefferson County."

Those plans, Paul says are around three years out.

In the meantime, Jefferson County is hoping to secure a portion of COVID relief funding through the state to fund more solutions.

It has developed a comprehensive plan, released Thursday that outlines goals to help its most vulnerable community members.

To see the plan, click here: https://bit.ly/3ZcoeZK

Lakewood says it will activate this short-term shelter when weather conditions pose a significant threat to the health and safety of vulnerable residents. Additional information about the shelter is available at https://bit.ly/3Z0xrVu.

Google Fiber named the city of Lakewood, Colorado as its latest expansion market, adding to recent announcements that it plans to provide service in Mesa, Arizona and Omaha, Nebraska. Lakewood will be the company’s 20th market.

Lakewood is a suburb of Colorado’s capital city, Denver. As of July 2021, U.S. Census Bureau data showed it had approximately 156,605 residents. A Lakewood community resource page for the build noted Google Fiber will begin construction in 2023 and make service available on a rolling basis as network segments are finished. The operator is looking to cover “as many Lakewood households as possible,” the site states.

The operator will be squaring off with existing Lakewood broadband providers Comcast, Lumen (CenturyLink), T-Mobile, Rise Broadband and Viasat, BroadbandNow data shows.

As in other cities it is targeting, Google will build its network within the city’s right of way. A copy of the non-exclusive right of way agreement between Google Fiber and the city was not immediately available since the Deputy City Manager signed off on the deal on Monday and it did not require a vote from the City Council.

“I think adding Google Fiber in Lakewood is a great step in the right direction,” Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul said in a statement. “Internet connectivity is as important as having water and electricity, and we need to ensure we have robust systems in place to serve our residents and our businesses.”

Its move into Lakewood is part of Google Fiber’s broader plan to expand into five new states over the coming years. In addition to the aforementioned markets in Arizona and Nebraska, the company is also targeting Nevada and Idaho but has yet to announce cities in the latter two states.

Google has provided its point-to-point wireless Webpass service in the Denver area since 2017, but this will be its first wireline foray in the state.

Beyond beefing up its footprint, the operator is also looking to boost the speeds on offer to customers. It already provides 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps service options but recently unveiled plans to debut 5-gig and 8-gig tiers in early 2023.

This story has been updated to note that the city has a right of way agreement with Google Fiber, not a license agreement.