Gunnison Rising dealing with electricity, engineering, funding

But developers confident in future

By Mark Reaman

Utility construction remains a problem with the Gunnison Rising (GR) development just east of Gunnison but it is expected that both major new buildings on the property should be permanently electrified before the end of the year. Electricity should also be available to a potential affordable housing section of the development by the end of 2024.

Two new buildings, a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office building and a FedEx distribution center, have been constructed on the 640-acre site. FedEx has been using diesel generators to power the facility.

Gunnison city manager Amanda Wilson said last week that “BLM has been operating on permanent power since occupancy. Permanent power to FedEx is scheduled to be completed this month. Permanent power to the rest of Gunnison Rising is costly and a completion date is currently unknown. Building permits may not be issued without infrastructure available to serve it.” 

That being said, Wilson did confirm that the city had received a state grant to help fund affordable housing within the development. “The city received a state grant to extend College Avenue, including utilities, to the western boundary of Gunnison Rising for the purpose of reducing initial investment costs; this new infrastructure will directly support a future affordable housing project per an associated deed restriction,” Wilson explained. “The grant work will be completed by the city before the end of 2024. The timing of any future affordable housing project at the site is unknown.”

Wilson reiterated that infrastructure improvements for Gunnison Rising “are the responsibility of the developer.”

The original developer of the property, longtime Gunnison resident Dick Bratton, admitted that while that is correct under the annexation agreement with the city, it might continue to halt expected development on the major parcel of land. “Technically the City has not refused to provide electricity because in the Annexation Agreement we agreed to do it,” he said. “We have been told there’s no fixed way cities handle it. Some pay to install the electric system and receive all of the revenue. After the Annexation Agreement we complained and they agreed to repay us from future revenue, which is not really fair because it will take a long time and in the meantime the city is making a good profit from our expensive investment.” 

Bratton also said some personnel issues with the GR engineering firm which arose about a year ago but were originally unknown to the development team, caused some major delays in engineering for Phase 2 of Gunnison Rising. Those delays prohibited the sale of property in that part of the development which would have helped fund infrastructure.

Bratton said the team is now looking at several funding possibilities to continue the development and get back on track.

One of the Gunnison Rising investment partners, Byron Chrisman, agreed. “In my opinion, the city probably had the legal obligation to provide electricity to GR and we did not push them hard enough to get them to do what they should have volunteered to do because Gunnison so desperately needs the development,” he said. “And I am disappointed the city did not help us when our engineers failed us.”

Gunnison Rising is situated on both sides of Highway 50 near the airport and includes the I Bar Ranch parcel. It has been reported that rising interest rates in the development market has thrown a wrench in the development, and that continued funding for the development is currently lean. But the development team is exploring several potential funding avenues. The $220-million-plus project includes the potential for 1,700 residential units, almost one million square feet of commercial space, a 54-acre RV resort parcel and the I Bar parcel.