“While there are businesses on the Hill that really love being on the Hill, there were also a lot that continued to churn,” Assistant City Manager Yvette Bowden said. The city wanted to arrest that turnover and bring more stability to the district. The coming and going of students throughout the year made it hard for businesses to attract customers consistently. The Hill’s vacancy rates and occupancy costs were among the highest in the city, and the area lacked a commercial anchor. Despite the success of some businesses in the area and the popularity of the community among University of Colorado Boulder students, it struggled compared with other Boulder commercial areas. In 2014, the city council made revitalizing the Hill commercial district a priority. The project has been in the works for the better part of a decade. Developed by Denver-based Nichols Partnership, it’s planned to be complete in July 2023. The hotel will also include 9,000 feet of ground-flood retail. Big changes are underway on The Hill, as Boulder residents have called a campus-adjacent neighborhood for decades.Īt the University Hill Plaza, bounded to the south by Pleasant Street, to the east by Broadway and the north by University Avenue, construction activity has commenced on the project that will demolish the plaza and replace the businesses there with a 189-room hotel.

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