The most populated of the Grand Valley communities is the City of Grand Junction, bustling with commerce, industry, culture and recreation. The downtown core offers the best in urban living with an array of Victorian- and Craftsman style fixer-uppers and renovated gems at a fraction of the cost of bigger cities.
There’s a mall, a convention center, a performing arts center, an array of convenient, big-box stores, and several restaurants, boutiques, art galleries and public parks. For video tours of Grand Junction click here, or visit the City of Grand Junction website here.
GJ SNAPSHOT
Population: 58,867
Media Age: 37.3
Avg. Household Size: 2.28
Median Home Price: $187,900
Home Appreciation Last 12 Months:
5.6%
Avg. Commute Time: 15.96 minutes
Hashtag: #shareGJ
GJ RANKINGS
5th Best Small City in Colorado
(Denver Business Journal, 2015)
Top 10 Rising Travel Destination
(American Express Travel, 2014)
One of America’s Coolest Desert Towns
(Travel + Leisure, 2015)
There are a large number of construction projects underway or in planning stages in the city, where the city has built the infrastructure to handle growth and properties that have sat vacant or underutilized are getting attention.
"This building has been sitting too long," said Brad Humphrey, who purchased 701 Main St. with a business partner, Rob Hanson, less than two months ago. "We decided to refurbish it and get it back on the market."
The building has been vacant for about a decade, ever since the Cabaret Dinner Theatre closed its doors. When the owner listed the building for sale, Humphrey and Hanson made an offer on the first day it was listed.
"There were three offers on the first day," Humphrey said. "We wanted to take care of these old buildings."
The two partners hired Jim Jenson to act as the general contractor for the renovation. Improvements are designed to accommodate a restaurant user, and include a large grease interceptor and improved plumbing for sinks and bars. The outdoor space would make a great covered dining area, and the investors are installing roll-up glass doors that would blend the indoor and outdoor spaces together. When finished, their site will have 5,000 square feet of indoor space and 2,000 square feet of outdoor space.
There's activity on nearby vacant lots to the east and to the southwest of 701 Main Street, with property owners beginning discussions with city planners for apartments, office space and additional retail spaces. Both proposals are in early stages, which means plans could change drastically before a shovel hits the ground.