Les Schwab Tire Center

A few years ago, while working on several Les Schwab Tires projects in Colorado, Woodland Park caught my attention.

If you know the market, you know developable commercial land is limited. After an extensive search, I identified a two-acre parcel adjacent to Tractor Supply as the only site that really worked.

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The property wasn't listed for sale, but I contacted the owner anyway. They had originally intended to develop the site themselves, but ultimately agreed to sell.

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Early in the process, I wasn't even sure the property was buildable. The site sat well below both the roadway and the neighboring property, and my first concern was whether it had been designed as a detention basin. Fortunately, it had not.

Les Schwab moved quickly through the lease process, but the real challenge emerged during access permitting.

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Because of the site's grades and proximity to a CDOT-controlled highway, our proposed access point was rejected. CDOT required the entrance to be relocated and, more importantly, required the neighboring property owner to relocate his existing access so both properties could share a coordinated entrance.

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That created a significant problem.

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The neighboring owner operated an ATV business and had no obligation to help us. His access worked perfectly fine, and the issue belonged entirely to our project.

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I reached out and proposed a solution. We would redesign, construct, and pay for a new access point that satisfied CDOT requirements and improved access to his property.

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During our discussions, he mentioned that he planned to operate the business for another five to ten years before eventually selling. I explained that a future buyer would likely face the same CDOT issue during redevelopment, except the cost would come out of his sale proceeds. By allowing us to solve the problem now, at our expense, he could eliminate that future obstacle entirely.​ He agreed.

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We documented the agreement, redesigned the project, secured CDOT approval, and moved the development forward.

What started as a simple land acquisition ultimately required solving major grading challenges, navigating CDOT access requirements, and negotiating a neighboring access relocation before the project could become a reality.

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Today, the Woodland Park Les Schwab Tires store is open and serving customers.

J. Clint Jameson, CDP

Managing Partner