Hello, loyal readers. (Hello to you disloyal fiends too.) Here's what I found interesting in my read of this morning's news, including lost mobile homes, saved neon signs and a Fortune 1000 company's step into the cannabis market.
Hydroponics are big business.
Scotts Miracle-Gro is putting its weight into the urban gardening and hydroponics business, both of which are growing with the cannabis industry. Scotts' CEO says its new subsidiary, Hawthorne Gardening, is a play for marijuana money – and he thinks there's $1 billion in it. The strategy so far: Scoop up the smaller players in this emerging market. (The Cannabist)
Lyons is losing its last mobile-home parks.
Mobile homes are an oft-overlooked type of affordable housing, and they're finding fewer places to park these days. The latest to go: Two parks in Lyons, outside Boulder, that were heavily damaged by flooding. One will become a wedding venue, while the other will be purchased by the town and likely converted to parks or flood control. (Boulder Daily Camera)
There's a market for neon signs.
The illuminated beacons of Colorado Springs' Chief Motel and Stardust Lodge will go to an anonymous couple who live in the city's downtown. It cost them $10,000, and the buyers plan to display the two signs publicly. I wonder if we'll see something similar on Colfax? (Colorado Springs Gazette)
Are high water prices slowing development in the northern metro?
Eric Roth, a vice president for CBRE, reports that developers along the northern parts of I-25 in the metro face "increasingly high" prices for access to the Colorado-Big Thompson water system. This affects Boulder, Broomfield and other northern areas, but Denver uses a different water supply. Roth argues that these water prices are making it difficult to build homes under $475,000. (Colorado Real Estate Journal)
We're not going to vote on oil drilling, but the fight is still on the ballot.
The campaign to limit drilling in Colorado failed to get its referenda on the ballot this year. With that challenge resolved, the oil-and-gas lobby is pushing the fight further: They've put $1 million behind another proposal that would make it harder to force statewide votes on constitutional amendments, such as limits on fracking. (CPR)
WhiteWave and Danone are probably making it official.
Remember when organic was that cute little variety of groceries that occasionally appeared at King Soopers? WhiteWave's shareholders are expected on Tuesday to approve the sale of the Denver company to the French giant Danone for $10.4 billion. The deal should give WhiteWave access to international markets, but it leaves some bemoaning the loss of the organic industry's indie flavor. Alas, some analysts think the company could have sold for even more money. (WSJ)
