New Harmony Commons Facility Aims to Help Close Gap Between Child Care Supply and Demand in Larimer County
It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of adequate child care options in Larimer County. Any new parent can tell you that between the rising costs and the lack of supply, staying home with young children is becoming more practical than the alternative. According to the white paper written as a collaboration between BeReady, Directing Change, and the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County, availability of infant care is estimated at 25% of demand and preschool age care is estimated at 60% of demand. With this ever-growing shortfall, new child care facilities moving into Northern Colorado has become a main economic driver for the area.
Insert Harmony Commons. Located on Harmony Road just seconds from I-25, Harmony Commons has been filling a gap for South Fort Collins families since it opened last summer. New tenants have been steadily opening in the center developed by Brinkman since May of 2017. In addition to two more restaurant tenants, a hotel and a dental practice opening this summer, the development just announced the addition of a new childcare facility to help address the growing daycare gap and round out the full lease-up of Harmony Commons’ east end.
Lot 5 of the development, just south on Lady Moon Drive from MidiCi Pizza will be leased to an affiliate of Learning Care Group, Inc. from Novi, Mich. and will operate as an Everbrook Academy childcare facility. Everbrook Academies offer daycare and learning programs for infants to school-age students. Their 21st Century approach to learning provides students with critical skills that are crucial to living in today’s world through STEAM-inspired classrooms, hands-on teaching techniques, and personalized lesson plans across all programs.
Changes are also coming to the buildings north of the new daycare lot. As if breakfast options, sushi, craft beer, and pizza weren’t enough, the development has rounded out the tenant mix with a wine bar, a healthy fast-casual eatery and a dental practice.
Taste & Savor Wine Bar will offer a wide selection of wine and champagne in a variety of serving sizes: tasters, flights, glasses and bottles. A state-of-the-art dispensing system along with a single bottle Coravin system will allow customers to explore high-end wines at affordable prices. This concept is new to Fort Collins and is anticipating opening within the building at the corner of Harmony and Lady Moon by September 2018.
Taste & Savor owners, Jim and Casey Ward, noted that, “Fort Collins is known as a beer town, but there are many people in town that prefer and appreciate a nice glass of wine. We wanted to offer that to our community in an elegant yet comfortable atmosphere.”
Just next door to Taste & Savor, Boulder-based Rush Bowls filled the last remaining unit in the building and just opened last week with a different spin on fast food. Meals crafted from fruit, topped with granola and honey, and blended with protein, vitamins, and other nutritious ingredients will meet the needs of health nuts and restrictive dieters alike. Rush Bowls offers vegetarian, vegan, wheat-free, nut-free, soy-free, dairy-free and non-GMO options.
In the building next door, a new dental practice is slated to open this summer between Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Famous Toastery.
