2025 Market Facts VRP - Flipbook - Page 60
52 | ECO NO MI C PRO FI L E & MA R K ET FACT S 2025
PROFILE
20,639
POPULATION
15.5
SQUARE MILES
6,594
HOUSEHOLDS
COURTESY BLACK BEAR DINER
The new Black Bear
Diner at Johnson’s
Corner in Johnstown.
$130,851
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD
INCOME
JOHNSTOWN
Crossroads commerce
makes for thriving town
JOHNSTOWN — Buc-ee’s, perhaps the largest gas station and convenience store anywhere, grabbed the headlines in Johnstown last year when it opened last year at Interstate
25 and Colorado Highway 60, complete with 116 gas pumps, 74,000 square feet of retail
space, barbecued brisket, Key Lime fudge, caramel-coated corn pops called Beaver Nuggets, pickled quail eggs, immaculate restrooms and traffic backed up onto the freeway.
Still averaging about 80,000 visitors a month more than a year later, the Texas-based
and Texas-sized attraction overshadowed the touted cinnamon rolls at Johnson’s Corner, a
truck stop with an iconic retro restaurant and bakery on the other side of I-25.
But then Johnson’s Corner closed its restaurant, and California-based Black Bear Diner
opened there in May. Never fear, however: Johnson’s Corner’s popular cinnamon rolls
and other baked goods will remain for sale inside the popular truck stop’s adjoining gas
station.
But these days, there are far bigger reasons why Johnstown is getting noticed.
At the crossroads of Northern Colorado, Johnstown has emerged as a go-to city. The
growth at I-25 and U.S. Highway 34 is a shot in the arm for the once-sleepy agricultural
town and has led to a public-private agreement for an expedited development approval
process. Impact fees are among the lowest in the region. In fact, town officials expect more
than 1 million square feet of commercial retail space and more than 1,000 housing units
to be on the market soon.
Businesses are rising in the 2534-Johnstown Plaza, anchored by the 250,000-squarefoot Scheels sporting-goods store along with other office, retail and hospitality projects.
The Granary will bring 922 homes to Johnstown. Timnath-based Hartford Homes and
Denver-based Brightland Homes are building the subdivision off of Colorado Highway 60
and Weld County roads 13, 15 and 46.
Officials are working on a plan for the Waggoner Crossing apartments near Colorado
60 and Colorado Boulevard after getting approval for $3.95 million in private activity
bonds to help pay for affordable housing.
Forestar Group Inc. is building Revere at Johnstown, a 460-acre development expected
to feature about 1,500 single-family residents. Also rising is The Ridge, a 165-acre mixeduse development, as well as a three-building flexible industrial space totaling 280,323
square feet.
Even with the Colorado Department of Transportation’s expansion of the interstate
from two to three lanes in each direction, planners are mulling a new “relief road” east of
I-25 to take some pressure off the freeway, and that highway surely would generate even
more development.
Families also are finding Johnstown, as the city attracts commuters looking to buy an
affordable first home and empty nesters wanting to downsize. Johnstown spent recent
years annexing parcels of real estate to become a prime Northern Colorado location.
FOR SALE
OPEN
TAX
$501,000
MEDIAN HOME
SALE PRICE
310
NO. OF BUSINESSES
7.2% (Larimer)
6.4% (Weld)
CITY, COUNTY,
STATE SALES TAX
37%
BACHELOR’S DEGREE
OR HIGHER
ONLINE RESOURCES
Town of Johnstown
https://johnstownco.gov/
Michael Duncan, mayor
mduncan@johnstownco.gov
Matt LeCerf, town manager
mlecerf@johnstownco.gov
Sarah Crosthwaite, economic development manager
scrosthwaite@johnstownco.gov
Upstate Colorado Economic Development
www.upstatecolorado.org
Rich Werner, president & CEO
rwerner@upstatecolorado.org
