BUYING real estate in Boulder, Colo., which sits at an elevation of 5,430 feet where the Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains, guarantees more than great views. It also promises that those views will be available for a very long time. Controlled urban growth is serious business in this city of just over 100,000. You won’t find housing developments creeping up the hillsides. And thanks to four-story height restrictions, you won’t find towers competing with the peaks. Even from downtown you can look out on the tens of thousands of acres of open space, conservation easements and nature preserves that surround the city. And about one quarter of the city’s sales tax and use tax go toward protecting even more open space. Should you be inclined, you can be hiking, biking or walking through those views in minutes.

Real estate agents say there is an influx of second-home owners who put a premium on the natural environment. At a downtown condominium called the Walnut, for example, about half the buyers are second-home owners who like having a short walk or bike ride to the great outdoors.

Retirees seeking city amenities in a wilderness setting are looking to Boulder too. “It’s not just the lifestyle here — people want the lower taxes too,” said John McElveen, a broker associate with Re/Max of Boulder. “We see a lot of Californians and buyers from the Northeast.”

Pearl Street Mall, a four-block pedestrian promenade and social hub in Boulder, features restaurants, stores, offices and galleries. And the University of Colorado, Boulder, with more than 30,000 students, is within walking distance of downtown.

This city has a mild climate and historically has about 300 sunny days a year. For those who care even remotely about fitness, extensive trail systems make it almost impossible to escape staying in shape.

Condominiums downtown and nearby range from $250,000 for a 900-square-foot one-bedroom unit in a 1980s building to $6 million for a 5,200-square-foot luxury penthouse. But most high-end condominiums cluster in the $1 million to $2.5 million range, and newer entry-level units downtown start at about $400,000.

HIGH
HOW MUCH $2,399,000
WHAT Two-bedroom condominium
WHERE Walnut Street

This fourth-floor penthouse has 2,150 square feet of living space and an additional 1,500 square feet of deck. It has an open floor plan, hardwood floors, a gas fireplace and professional appliances. There are views of the Flatirons, Bear Peak, Green Mountain and Flagstaff Mountain. The unit has two full bathrooms. It is one block from the Pearl Street Mall and about three blocks from Boulder Creek Path. Amenities include a shared interior courtyard and garden, and underground parking. Fees are $727 a month. Taxes are $13,200 a year. Broker: John McElveen, Re/Max of Boulder, (303) 441-5652; j-macoboulder.com.

LOW
HOW MUCH $399,000
WHAT One-bedroom condominium
WHERE Mapleton Avenue

This 674-square-foot unit is in one of the oldest apartment buildings in Boulder. Formerly a women’s boarding house, it was built in 1906 and converted to condominiums in the 1990s. The building is in the Mapleton Hill Historic District, about six blocks from the Pearl Street Mall. The unit has exposed brick walls, hardwood floors and original millwork, door hardware and double-hung windows. The bathroom has a claw-foot tub. The updated kitchen includes recessed lighting and granite countertops. Fees are $300 a month. Taxes are $2,108 a year. Agent: Dave Naber, Walnut Realty; (303) 442-3180, walnutrealty.com.

Read the New York Time Travel article.

When Andy Bush went to market with the Walnut, a condo complex in Boulder, Colorado, he figured the buyers would be young single professionals and empty nesters. Instead many of the development’s first takers fit a different demo—the second home buyer eyeing retirement.

They come from New York, Kansas City, the San Francisco Bay area. They like the laid back, college town, mountain vibe of Boulder, but also its proximity to Denver, the sports and cultural institutions, the international airport.

Boulder ain’t cheap: One bedrooms at the Walnut start at $500,000. Larger units go up to $5 million. But the idea is that in these leaner, less frivolous times when people are working longer and part time into their golden years, they are less likely to choose more remote second home markets such as Vail or Big Sky, Montana.

Bush hopes to do more of such projects in creative class cities such as Austin and Charleston, which he calls the “new retirement communities.”

From BusinessWeek.

I have lived and worked in Boulder, Colorado for seven years now. Before moving here, I was very fortunate to live in some of the most interesting places in the world during some of the most interesting times. I grew up in South Africa and came of age during the fall of Apartheid. It was an amazing movement to be part of, although admittedly I had very little understanding of the global impact of what was going on. After studying in Canada, I moved to Silicon Valley in 1995 to start my first company, Zip2. Within a year or two I found myself smack in the middle of the Internet boom. By 1999, after selling Zip2 to Compaq, I decided that Silicon Valley had become a different place than when I first arrived, so I moved to New York to find a new life. So far away in fact, that I enrolled in the French Culinary Institute to study the amazing nuances of French cooking. A few weeks after I graduated, 9/11 happened. I lived a few blocks away from the towers, heard the planes crash, saw the towers burn, and saw the towers fall. My life had become all too interesting.

That was when we found Boulder. My wife and I decided to look around the country for a home that would be a better place to have a life, a family, and a business. We discovered Boulder, a small but lively pedestrian town in the middle of the country. Easy to get to New York or California, but not in New York or California. We decided that we’d open a restaurant. The complete opposite of the businesses I’d been a part of (at the time, PayPal, of which I was an angel investor, had just gone public for over $1 billion). Small town, family business … it was my Kansas … it was perfect.

When we first moved here I didn’t realize or imagine that Boulder had a thriving tech community. Brad Feld and Jared Polis, who I’ve become good friends with over the years, were just the guys I bought the restaurant from. Both of them are extremely talented internet entrepreneurs and well-known movers and shakers throughout the Boulder community.

My goal was to build a small business and a family life. It was not to be. The Kitchen, which my wife and I opened with our friend and amazing chef Hugo Matheson, was quickly recognized as the pioneer in ‘green’ restaurants across the country. It received many national awards for its food and community focus. It is the opposite of a small business, employing over 60 people and serving between 3,000 and 4,000 people every week. Boulder was not the small town I had expected. It is a vivacious community of sophisticated people, who have the same aspirations and expectations you find in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. If Boulder ever was Kansas, Dorothy and Toto left that place a long time ago.

Then, about four years ago, some friends from New York came to me with the idea of OneRiot. I had worked with David Mandell, one of the founders, when I lived in New York. They pitched the idea of the realtime web, a place where people on the internet are contributing, changing and consuming information right now based on social interactions. I got so excited I almost fell off my chair. I was hooked on the idea, but was skeptical that you could build a software company in Boulder. I mean … why would anyone build a software company outside of Silicon Valley? I had experimented with it in New York in 1999, and it was a hard lesson to learn. Silicon Valley is the only place for software start-ups … or so I thought.

I talked to every CEO and VC I could find in Boulder to learn more about building a software business here. This included my first real introductions to Brad Feld and Jared Polis. Turns out you can build a software business in Boulder. In fact, several folks already had. Looking back, my ignorance was astounding.

I then turned to friends of mine in the venture community from around the country to see if they’d invest in a start-up in Boulder. They would. They did. Boulder was definitely not the Kansas I thought it was.

Here’s what I’ve learned about Boulder since then:

1. The Denver/Boulder area has the highest per capita density of software engineers in the country. Whoa!
2. Boulder has the highest concentration of college graduates in the country (59% have a bachelor’s degree or higher — the next highest is 47%!)
3. Forbes magazine calls it one of the best places for business and careers.
4. It’s the healthiest city in the country.
5. It’s one of the most bike friendly cities in the country (and after living in California where 20 minute commutes are ‘around the corner,’ it is awesome to be able to walk or bike to work each day).
6. Boulder is a magnet for interesting people. I’ve met more interesting physicists, entrepreneurs, designers, investors, and thinkers in Boulder than I have anywhere else. Not only are they here, the nature of the community means that it’s easy to bump into folks like this often.

Boulder should be next to the word ‘community’ in the dictionary. The support we received at OneRiot from the beginning has been amazing. Everyone’s door was open and everyone was rooting for our success. In turn, our team at OneRiot has done everything we can to return the favor. Robert Reich, another one of our founders, started the Boulder Denver New Tech Meetup, which now boasts over 3,000 members. Entrepreneurs in Boulder want you to be successful. You want others to be successful. It’s really an amazing community to start a company. Due to everyone’s efforts working together, Boulder has become one of the top cities to start and build a software business.

David Cohen at Techstars is another great example of Boulder entrepreneurship and community. He brings together 10 young start-ups each year to Boulder, trains them, connects them with mentors, and puts them in front of some of the top investors from around the world at the annual Techstars day in Boulder, in August. If you’re building your first startup, Techstars is one of the top incubators in the country. It’s just another example of many that have made Boulder one of the most exciting places to work in software in the country.

Boulder is the up-and-coming tech community in the country. Keep a look-out. We’re going to be in the news more and more every day. We probably won’t beat out Silicon Valley for its financial and people infrastructure in tech, but looking at the overall picture we take Silicon Valley to school.

Disclaimer: I actually don’t know much about Kansas. I just heard about it in the Wizard of Oz. It is entirely possible that it is a mecca of software and restaurant sophistication.

Read the Huffington Post article.

A wonderful mix of contemporary art pieces and clean-lined modern furnishings provoke interest and add elegance to the hallways and common areas at The Walnut.  Each piece was carefully selected to enhance the contemporary architecture of this thoughtfully conceived development.  Art Movement Colorado (AMC) curated and placed the artwork by both nationally known and local artists, with a stated goal of creating an aesthetic unique to the environment that projects a sense of tranquility and sophistication.

Art Movement Colorado is a locally owned full service art based company. Principals Trudi Horowitz and Susan Knickle combined over twenty-five years of experience in the art world to form a company that offers art for purchase, curation and placement of art for corporate and residential environments.

AMC has provided art for numerous restaurants, hotels, hospitals, offices, country clubs and private venues in Boulder and Denver.  They strive to provide art that is accessible to clients and that enriches individual spaces. Their cutting edge approach is dependent on constantly seeking out new talent as well as representing established artists.

Andy Bush, Principal of Morgan Creek Ventures, took the opportunity to provide a peek into a day in the life at The Walnut outlining the special features that separate it from other downtown development projects.  Noting that renowned architect Mark Harbrick designed The Walnut, Bush highlighted several noteworthy aspects of the development including the stunning European courtyard, and residences that feature incredibly unique floor plans and thoughtfully planned outdoor living spaces.

Many people showed up to learn more about Boulder’s latest downtown residential offerings and to enjoy the wine and hors d’oeuvres provided by Ryan Batch, host for the evening.

The party continued back at The Walnut where everyone enjoyed a sumptuous spread of Japanese food and cocktails provided by United Title and Starkey Mortgage.  Thanks to all the agents who attended, and stay tuned for information about the next tour!

While enjoying food and wine the agents received information about the finishing stages of construction.  With sales going strong and the project headed toward completion this is an exciting time for The Walnut, Boulder’s most incredible option for downtown living.