New grocery, 3 restaurants coming to South Nevada in Colorado Springs as part of corridor's makeover

South Nevada Avenue's makeover is underway.

Natural Grocers, Chick-fil-A and fast-casual newcomers Zoes Kitchen and Mad Greens are planned for a 3.7-acre site southwest of Nevada and Navajo Street in Colorado Springs.

The Broadmoor Shoppes on South Nevada, as the project will be called, is part of an effort by three development groups to revamp the South Nevada and South Tejon Street corridors into new residential and commercial districts.

A 100-acre area on either side of Nevada - between Interstate 25 and East Cheyenne Road and a mile south of the Springs' downtown - was declared an urban renewal site by the City Council in November. A consultant determined the area was blighted, as defined by Colorado's urban renewal law; South Nevada has been home for decades to aging motels, car dealerships and pawn shops.

"We'd like to think it's the beginning of a lot of things to come," developer Walt Harder said Thursday.

His Salida-based Harder-Diesslin Development Group paid $1.24 million last month for parcels and buildings now occupied by Gray's Tire & Auto, where the Broadmoor Shoppes on South Nevada will be developed, El Paso County land records show. Harder said he also has one more small parcel left to purchase; plans outlining the project were submitted this week to the city's Land Use Review Division.

The Gray's Tire & Auto buildings - which have occupied the site for decades under the Gray's name and others - will be demolished by the end of July, Harder said. Owner Harold King said he's moving Gray's to a former auto repair building at 127 S. Wahsatch Ave.; he'll close his business for a few days in late July and re-open at his new location July 25.

After Gray's is torn down, a 15,000-square-foot building will be constructed on the north end of the property to house Natural Grocers; the Lakewood-based chain is relocating an existing store to the building from the Southern Cross shopping center a few blocks south, Harder said.

At the same time, a 4,723-square-foot Chick-fil-A restaurant will be built on the property's south end, Harder said. In between Natural Grocers and Chick-fil-A, a new 5,100-square-foot building will house Zoes Kitchen and Mad Greens

Zoes, based in suburban Dallas, specializes in "Mediterranean inspired dishes delivered with Southern hospitality," according to its website. The chain has 170 locations in 18 states, including two in suburban Denver, one in Fort Collins and another coming to Denver's Union Station, its website says.

Golden-based Mad Greens, owned by a Coors family company, focuses on "healthy, fast and fresh foods" that include salads, wraps, paninis, soups and juices, according to its website. It has 15 locations in the Denver area, Boulder, Fort Collins and Castle Rock, along with several in Arizona and Texas.

Natural Grocers and the restaurants are expected to open in spring 2017, Harder said.