Golden arches coming to Falcon

The world's most recognizable restaurant is coming to Falcon outside Colorado Springs, while a well-known retailer has shelved plans to build in the area.

A McDonald's is under construction at Meridian Crossing, a new retail development that will cover a little more than 5 acres northeast of Meridian Road and Rolling Thunder Way and north of U.S. Highway 24. The restaurant likely will open this summer, said Scott Gray, a commercial broker with Cornerstone Retail Group in Fountain and who's marketing the property.

Meridian Crossing is the latest retail project in Falcon, which has been the fastest-growing unincorporated area in El Paso County for years. Thousands of homes have been built for residents attracted to more affordable prices in a setting several miles from city life.

Meridian Crossing also will include a 12,000-square-foot liquor store to be called Falcon Liquor Outlet, and talks are underway with other potential retailers, Gray said. The project is being developed by Harris Family Enterprises, a family-run business that owns Springs Liquor Outlet on the city's east side, Colorado Liquor Outlet on the north side and other real estate holdings, Gray said.

 McDonald's is going up east of a Wal-Mart Supercenter that opened two years ago. A Safeway-anchored shopping center was the first major retail development in the area nearly a decade ago. Since then, Walgreens, Pizza Hut and Blockbuster video, among several other national and regional retailers and restaurants, have come to Falcon.

"It's a function of the housing," Gray said. "Retail normally follows housing by a couple of years."

One deal that's been nixed: Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. The nation's No. 2 home improvement chain had planned to build a store on the site of the Falcon Fire Protection District station at U.S. 24 and Old Meridan Road; the fire station would have moved nearby.

However, Lowe's has canceled or delayed several stores around the country because of the sagging economy, including Falcon, said Robert Frisch, vice president of development for Pittsburgh-based Armstrong Development Properties Inc.. The company was working with Lowe's to develop the Falcon store; it's possible Lowe's might reconsider the site once the economy improves, he added.

Other retailers going to the Falcon area include an Auto Zone store, which will be built west of Meridian Crossing, Gray said.
Also, a Culver's restaurant could get under construction within the next month in an area south of Wal-Mart, being developed by Cygnet Land LLC of Colorado Springs, said Cygnet's Greg Timm. Cygnet also is planning an 8-acre shopping center south of Wal-Mart, Timm said.
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