Baseline completes the Denver/Boulder triangle with the ultimate in urban sustainable living.
Nearly three years after launching its West Village neighborhood, Baseline, the 1,100-acre master planned community completing the Denver/Boulder triangle, is realizing its vision of a supremely walkable, exceptionally livable economic center. “We are on a mission to create amazing places where people can thrive. Places where they can not only live, work, and play but also shop, dine, learn, volunteer, and perhaps most importantly, connect. Imagine a place where you can walk or bike 10 minutes and get all you need for daily living,” said Kyle Harris, senior vice president, master planned communities and general manager of Baseline.
The home-buying and rental community has responded. Baseline’s single-family detached homes, paired homes and townhomes by respected local and national builders have sold briskly. A handful of single-family homes by David Weekley Homes, rowhomes by Thrive Home Builders and townhomes by Meritage Homes are ready for quick move-in. Last of the West Village offerings will come to market in December when Dream Finders Homes begins selling their personalized take on townhome living. PARK40 luxury studio, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments located within the community continue to deliver great rental home options and community-rich onsite amenities. Parkside West, Baseline’s newest village, introduces 
Boulder Creek Neighborhoods, Berkeley Homes and Dream Finders Homes that will open model homes this spring. “These are lower-maintenance by design, with an intentional urban feel and always designed for pedestrians, for biking and for sustainability,” said Harris. A new concept for Baseline are Built-for-Rent® paired homes, planned to offer up to 1,800 square feet of brand new, beautifully designed, maintenance-free, amenity-rich living. Finley’s new for rent townhomes are being co-created by AHV Communities and McWhinney – providing the right-size solution for a redefined luxury rental experience.
‘A home for everybody’
From high-end single-family homes around 2,560 square feet to homes closer to 1,200 square feet, Baseline offers “a home for everybody,” a purpose statement Harris doesn’t take lightly. He explained, “The price to play for the area surrounding us starts at $700,000 to $800,000 and rises to over a million. We’re offering new homes in a thoughtfully planned community, some of which start in the $500s.” Baseline envisions a community of people from diverse backgrounds and ages – “singles, first home buyers, young families with kids, empty nesters – a community for everyone who believes in sustainability and the life Baseline offers,” Harris added.
Stewardship, health, innovation
Baseline is founded upon three guiding principles: environmental stewardship, healthy living and innovation. These principles have led Harris and his team not only to include a variety of housing options, but also to map the carbon footprint of the project and accordingly reduce energy consumption. In addition, they are championing active outdoor living from the parks to the trails to a business district conceived around pedestrians, to welcoming an innovative K-12 STEM school to Baseline and cultivating the world’s first Butterfly Pavilion-certified Pollinator District, a community designed to support pollinators throughout its operation.
Baseline’s commitment to conservation, and thereby to pollinators, is anchored by the relocation of Colorado’s celebrated Butterfly Pavilion, which plans to move from Westminster to an 80,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art invertebrate zoo in Baseline’s central district within the next four years. Amy Yarger, horticulturalist at Butterfly Pavilion, sits on Baseline’s design review board, and thanks to Baseline’s curated planting regime, “the vision is already coming to life,” Harris said.
“We’ve gone from the land supporting almost no pollinators to our follow-up census that found species they have not seen in this area and pollinators in a much higher number in general.” Butterfly Pavilion’s $55 million home at Baseline will be the global hub for invertebrate research and conservation, facilitating the study of human dependence on the insect universe and sharing a passion for invertebrates through education and observation. Pollinator gardens and Baseline greenways, tellingly dubbed “gardenways,” are under development, and onsite agriculture and community gardens will further nurture pollinators and produce seasonal harvests.
“The butterfly effect is literal and metaphorical at Baseline. It’s a fun centering idea for us because it’s obviously informing how we design the landscaping throughout the entirety of the community, but more than that, it’s providing the very intentional overlap between research and education, work and play,” Harris said. “We’re planning to locate the STEM school adjacent to Butterfly Pavilion to provide a tangible onsite opportunity for experimentation in real life, and Butterfly Pavilion has given us an opportunity to recruit citizen scientists and to hopefully raise the next generation of conservationists.”
Homes, infrastructure for green living
When it comes to the planned 9,000-plus residences, Baseline homes will adhere to above-code sustainability guidelines, and water conservation is paramount. Homes will include xeric landscaping, and the community will re-use water in the parks and open space as irrigation. Also, they are using rocks and mulch in select places instead of grass and plants to further conserve water. Harris said, “We’re working on a sustainability program for all our vertical development and are including alternative energy, LED lighting and a whole palette of options to reduce energy consumption and water consumption and to improve air quality.”
Baseline will have more than 172 acres of natural and recreational open land. The Parklands is the name for Baseline’s green infrastructure and will link nature and city through a network of trails, gardenways, pocket parks and a regional park. Providing connectivity to Broomfield’s trail system, the Parklands is anticipated to include an amphitheater, promenade and expansive fields which will anchor community gatherings, while “playgrounds and sport courts are planned as a daily invitation to stay active,” Harris said. “Infrastructure is not just about roads and bridges; it’s about the softer connective tissue that brings a community together.”
Work, learn, live where you play
Expanding the vision of a thriving, connected community, Baseline’s central district is planned to feature local retailers, farm-to-table dining, cafes, beer gardens and year-round events in the public square. The commercial space will support creative companies, professional offices, a medical campus and scientific institutions. The K-12 charter school Prospect Ridge Academy is accepting students, and the school adjacent to the Butterfly Pavilion will offer project-based learning as part of the Adams 12 Five-Star Schools educational system and bring STEM-industry professionals into the classroom.
Named one of the “Top 20 Places to Live” by Money Magazine, Baseline’s home address of Broomfield is convenient for both the urban dweller and the outdoor adventurer. Located at the junction of I-25, Northwest Parkway (E-470) and Baseline Road, Baseline offers easy access to Denver, Lafayette, Louisville and Boulder, as well as Denver International Airport. Early stage plans are underway that would ultimately provide bus rapid transport between Boulder and Brighton along Highway 7, with a stop at Baseline’s central district, and an additional stop at the proposed I-25 mobility hub that would provide access from Baseline south to Denver’s Union Station and north to Fort Collins.
“This is an exciting time for this location, as Denver is expanding to the north, and Boulder keeps growing to the east,” Harris concluded. “We are at the bullseye of that intersection, close to the airport and the amenities Denver and Boulder have to offer.”
To learn more, visit baselinecolorado.com.
By Sarah Huber, At Home Colorado. Photos courtesy Baseline.
