GOLDEN, Colo. (BRAIN) — Yeti Cycles hopes to anchor an "outdoor lifestyle campus" a few miles from the bike maker's current headquarters here.
Yeti and a Fort Collins developer envision a 25-acre campus that would include Yeti's headquarters and warehouse with space available for other outdoor brands and retail businesses, such as a restaurant or brewery.
Yeti said it has outgrown its current space in a Golden industrial park. The company has been based in the area for 19 years.
"We're excited by the prospect of creating an outdoor industry ecosystem through this campus development," said Chris Conroy, the president of Yeti Cycles. "This project fills all our needs — it accommodates our growing company, offers great access to local mountain bike trails, and allows us to fulfill our vision of surrounding ourselves with companies that value outdoor recreation."
Besides the warehouse and offices, Yeti's headquarters would include a factory store similar to the one at the company's current facility in Golden. The factory store sells Yeti clothing but not bikes. The company also would run its factory bike demo program from the new facility.
The proposed site is on the west side of Highway 93 just north of Golden, in an unincorporated part of Jefferson County. It is across the highway from North Table Mountain, a popular riding area.
Yeti and the developer, The Neenan Company, are asking Jefferson County to rezone the land from its current status as agricultural to commercial.
The entire parcel is about 40 acres and includes a former mining site and ranch and contains a butte at the western edge. Neenan and Yeti plan to develop about 25 acres of the parcel, including 9 acres that Yeti will use for its headquarters and room for future expansion. Neenan plans to develop the other 16 acres and sell buildings to businesses interested in joining the campus.
Yeti and Neenan publicly announced the plan Wednesday, although a company representative had attended a meeting with residents in December last year to go over the proposal.
"The campus environment aims to provide end users the opportunity to own and operate their commercial property in a synergistic environment focused on enhancing the outdoor industry and culture," the companies said in Wednesday's news release.
Because the development depends on the zoning change approval, the developers did not project a timeline for breaking ground. "It really depends on the rezoning process, which we just applied for last week," said Janette Sherman, Yeti's marketing manager.
