July 20, 2017 – Last night, the City of Grand Junction approved an incentive package for Bonsai Design, the local outdoor recreation company that develops aerial adventure parks across the country, to move its operations to the upcoming Las Colonias river district. Bonsai Design will serve as the anchor business of a new business park dedicated to the outdoor recreation industry. Learn more about the business park and recreational river district planned in Las Colonias in this past post.

The Daily Sentinel covered the City Council vote on the front page this morning – here’s an excerpt:

“Calling it a shot in the arm toward making the city a pearl in the recreation industry nationwide, the Grand Junction City Council approved an incentive package for Bonsai Design Wednesday night to locate in a soon-to-be-built business park at Las Colonias Park.

After the idea stalled three previous times before the council, it voted 6-1 to offer the company not only $1 million to help build a new facility at the park located on Riverside Parkway, but also waive about $79,000 in construction fees and offer a 10-year rebate on real property taxes.

In exchange, the business that installs zip lines across the nation would put up the remaining $1 million to construct its new home and pay $20,000 a year in rent for the next 25 years. They’ll also construct one of their zip lines that will stretch across the Colorado River near their future home.

While Councilor Duncan McArthur, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said it was inappropriate for the city to provide a ‘subsidy’ to an existing business, the rest of the council said it makes sense to retain and help that business expand.

Mayor Rick Taggart said he was fully behind not only the incentive package for Bonsai, but the entire concept of the business park, which is part of a larger effort to revitalize the riverfront area and boost economic development in the Grand Valley as a whole.”

Read the full article in The Daily Sentinel here.

Watch the feedback post-Council vote on Newschannel 5.

Learn more about Bonsai Design here, or visit our outdoor recreation page to learn more about this key industry in Colorado’s Grand Valley.

 

 

Park rendering courtesy Bonsai Design. The company has been the driving force behind the concept for a business and recreational river district in Grand Junction.