Ready for a rail boom

Shops that suffered through T-REX now hope to reap benefit

Janet Forgrieve, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, November 17, 2006

Business owners along the route of T-REX are putting the lean years behind them and are ready to reap the rewards of surviving six years of construction.

Rob Hounshell looks forward to the new Colorado Boulevard light- rail station opening across from his Express Car Care auto shop.

He's hoping the stop will bring more eyes to his signs, attracting business.

Still, he says, he would have passed on his 2000 purchase of the shop had he known what the next six years would bring.

Business at the shop at 4200 E. Evans Ave. fell by almost half after T-REX started, eventually forcing Hounshell to lay off six of his 10 employees.

"Mostly it was because of the ramp closures at Evans and I-25," he said. "Initially, they said they would be closed one year, but that wasn't the case."

Business began rebounding immediately after the ramps were opened, especially the southbound Evans exit from I-25 that reopened in July after several years, he said.

Others say it was the perception of traffic snarls and confusion more than the reality that kept customers away.

Buchtel Motors at 1230 S. Pearl St. had to cut two from its staff of 10 during construction, said owner John Everest. Times were tough, he said, and the shop barely managed to pay staff salaries and health insurance premiums.

"The strange thing was, it was only an additional eight to 10 minutes of actual travel time, but it was all the negative publicity, telling people how bad it was and what a nightmare it was," said Everest, whose shop will also sit near a new light-rail station, this one at Louisiana Avenue.

Like other business owners along the rail line, Everest hopes that his shop's visibility to train riders will eventually translate into more business.

That station is dubbed a kiss-n-ride because it's the only one along the 19 miles of new rail that doesn't have any parking spaces.

"I really hope the whole neighborhood supports it and realizes how privileged they are to have a station in walking distance of Washington Park and Platte Park," Everest said.

Hanson's Grill & Tavern sits about two blocks from the same station. The eatery at 1301 S. Pearl St. opened four years ago, in the early days of T-REX's dust, said general manager Liz Purcell.

"I would say initially it didn't impact us a whole lot," Purcell said. "Then, it started to when they had to shut down the crossovers and exits. Since they opened the exits, that's increased our traffic again."

During the shutdowns, the joint depended largely on a core customer base from the Wash Park neighborhood, she said.

Street parking in the area is mostly limited to two hours during the day, so it's likely that users of the Louisiana station will be dropped off and picked up. A plus for Hanson's: It's the only eatery on the street with its own parking lot.

The hope, Purcell said, is that many will meet up at the bar for a drink after work or dinner before heading home from the station.

Hanging in through the construction was easier for some, including Boulder-based Wild Oats Markets Inc. The company's store at 1111 S. Washington St. was visible from I-25 but inaccessible from there for several years.

Instead of layoffs, though, the store simply transferred staff to other locations until business picked up again.

"It definitely had a pretty major impact on the store," said spokeswoman Sonja Tuitele. "The one thing that was nice is that Wild Oats operates other stores in the area and across the country, so we could absorb the slowdown, knowing once it was completed, it would be beneficial to have the light-rail station there."

Other businesses can testify that, at least at first, it's likely the trains will bring new customers.

Buckhorn Exchange at 10th Avenue and Osage Street has been across from a light-rail station for a decade, said general manager Bill Dutton. Ten years ago, when that station debuted, new patrons swarmed in.

"When the first leg of the light rail opened, our lunch business went up about 250 percent," Dutton said. "The train would park across the street, and we almost couldn't handle the volume. Then it slowed as the novelty wore off."

Dutton expects to see a similar surge this time, as more folks from the Southeast part of town have easy rail access.

"There's the perception that now, 'Hey, we can park and ride the light rail' - it will encourage a lot of people to come downtown who wouldn't have before."

forgrievej@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5191