The FlatIron Crossing shopping mall in Broomfield off of U.S. Highway 36 features views of picturesque snow-capped mountains and now dirt mounds similar in shape to the peaks that inspired its name.

The parking lots in front of the mall’s food court and Crate & Barrel store are an active construction site with work underway to build HiFi: an entertainment district with luxury apartments, restaurants and a massive bowling arcade.

The AMC movie theater will anchor the development on its south side and it will connect directly to the mall on the north side.

The HiFi — short for Hello FlatIrons and a play on Denver neighborhood names like RiNo and LoDo — will transform 25 acres of the mall’s surface parking lots and the former outdoor retail center The Village that used to be on the southwest side of the property.

The construction site on Thursday had the start of the foundation for several new buildings and developers were bracing to begin work on a new luxury apartment building in the coming days.

The district is set to add 65,000 square feet for shops, restaurants, entertainment concepts and a 2.5-acre park. There’s also plans to develop a 347-unit luxury apartment building with 20% affordable housing, as required by Broomfield.

“We’re being a mix of uses that will drive traffic, expand the community, and engage visitors, and really everything we’re doing is to drive traffic to our retail center,” said Jacob Knudsen, vice president of development for mall owner Macerich, during a media tour of the project.

Macerich owns 35 properties across the U.S., including Twenty Ninth Street in Boulder, Queens Center in New York and Tysons Corner Center in Virginia. In total, Macerich operates about 39 million square feet, Knudsen said.

He said the company has been diving more into creating community gathering spaces that are tied to retail centers like FlatIron Crossing.

He pointed to a dirt plot where the foundation is being constructed for a new restaurant building. Leases for several restaurants to come into the district have been signed, Knudsen said, though they won’t announce them until later in the year.

He said both brands will be new to the market and one completely new to Colorado.

“It is really going to bring visitors here,” he said.

There has been one tenant announced so far: Pindustry.

The bowling, arcade and dining concept founded in Greenwood Village is opening its second location. It will be two stories and will include an enclosed rooftop patio that can be used all year.

The first phase of the development encompassing about 10 acres was originally slated to finish construction by the end of 2026, but Knudsen said the timeline moved later to the end of 2027 as they just received the final permits to start construction on the apartment building in the next week.

The new apartment complex is under construction in partnership with Crescent Communities and will be called Novel HiFi. It will cater to young professionals looking to live between Boulder and Denver.

“We’re kind of working off of the residential timeline,” Knudsen said. “We will have the ability to potentially open industry and a couple of our restaurants earlier in 2027 if we decide to and if the tenants would like to as well.”

But right now, he said, the plan is to open everything “as close together” as possible.

And after that, they’ll work on the next phase of development to fill the rest of the 25 acres.

Broomfield City and County Manager Jennifer Hoffman said the mall’s new developments could help grow the region’s tax revenues in the decades to come.

“FlatIrons has always been the foundational monetary base for Broomfield,” Hoffman said. “It has allowed us the flexibility and latitude to do a lot of other things in our 34 square miles.”

She said the project is a transformational development that will affect the region for the next generation, not just the next few years.

“What we didn’t want to do was create another mall and have the same conversation in a decade,” Hoffman said. “We think we have achieved that.”

New developments both in and out of the mall

As construction vehicles rove around the former parking lot, the inside of the mall has been just as busy with new activity.

FlatIron Crossing has been investing in upgrading the interior of the mall with modern tiling, new furniture and a repaint, said Kate Taggart, the mall’s general manager.

The mall, founded in 2000, is in the midst of celebrating its 25th anniversary.

It has been attracting new tenants and big brands that have been longtime staples at FlatIron Crossing are expected to expand or launch their newest store models.

Lululemon opened a permanent 5,000-square-foot store at FlatIron Crossing earlier this month after hosting successful pop-ups, Taggart said. Lego also debuted a store at the mall this month.

In August, Bath and Body Works opened its renovated store and Victoria’s Secret expanded into a 7,600-square-foot space.

FlatIron Crossing also expects to debut Anthropologie on Oct. 1 (where the fashion chain will open its first wedding suite with a designated bridal dressing room area in Colorado), Offline by Aerie on Oct. 30 and Abercrombie & Fitch next year.

And for one of its biggest spaces, Taggart said, they’re close to securing a new tenant to replace Nordstrom, which left the mall in the wake of the pandemic. The mall plans to announce the new store in the coming months once a lease is signed, she said.

“There’s very few vacancies at the moment. Most things are either at least open or under construction,” Taggart said.

Many of the retailers coming in and expanding are taking notice of the reinvestments being made into the mall, Taggert said, as well as the surrounding neighborhood. Foot traffic is “high,” she added, near pre-pandemic levels.

“They see the growing market. I mean, it’s booming. Broomfield, as a whole, is growing,” Taggert said. “FlatIron still is really the prominent retail destination serving this northern Colorado corridor.”