{"id":383620,"date":"2026-04-05T19:25:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/383620\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T19:25:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:25:23","slug":"renderings-show-plans-to-replace-burnt-down-nederland-shopping-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/383620\/","title":{"rendered":"Renderings show plans to replace burnt-down Nederland shopping center"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new plans for a shopping center to replace Nederland\u2019s Caribou Village Shopping Center<\/a> include fire-retardant construction, which the designer says is \u201c100-times better\u201d for fire protection than before.<\/p>\n

The Caribou Village Shopping Center burned down in a predawn, October fire that leveled the structure, relocated or destroyed 17 businesses<\/a> and shocked the small mountain community. The new plans, although preliminary and expected to change, show a more accessible structure and add specific plans for fire mitigation into the mix, according to Stephen Tebo, the owner of Tebo Properties<\/a>, which owns the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be much, much more user-friendly,\u201d Tebo said in a phone call with the Daily Camera.<\/p>\n

As of now, the plans include fire-safe construction like steel beams, a metal roof and a sprinkler system.<\/p>\n

When the previous building was constructed in the 1980s, it didn\u2019t have a sprinkler system. When it was burning down, the all-wooden structure with no sprinklers was poorly equipped to survive the blaze.<\/p>\n

The new plans bring the building up to code and are being reviewed by both the town of Nederland and the Nederland Fire Protection District, according to the new building\u2019s designer and owner of uP Architecture<\/a>, Peter Carey.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could never anticipate every contingency,\u201d Carey said. \u201cBut it will be 100-times better than what was there before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surrounding the building will be a fireproof zone, Carey said, which means a low-growth landscape to help prevent fire spread. The building is also expected to use fireproof siding, a non-vented roof and stone in some places to limit materials that could catch fire.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis image shows a preliminary design for a new Caribou Village shopping center in Nederland, Colorado. The original Caribou Village was destroyed by fire on Oct. 9, 2025. (Up Architecture \/ Courtesy image)<\/p>\n

Renderings of the design show a two-story shopping center and covered space with stairs in the middle so people can access the rear businesses without going to the other side of the building. The front-facing facade is reminiscent of the building lost in the October blaze.<\/p>\n

All-in, the building is looking to be more than 10% bigger in square footage, Tebo said.<\/p>\n

The plans also show a breezeway between the two-story part of the building, which faces Lakeview Drive, and the one-story section facing Big Springs Drive. That makes it easier for businesses off Big Springs Drive to benefit from foot traffic, Carey said.\n<\/p>\n

In the past, those rear businesses would put someone on the other side of the building to advertise their businesses, because they were less visible and accessible to the town, Carey said.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

That jump in size doesn\u2019t mean it will take up parking spaces, though, Carey said. The building is planned to have a smaller footprint and keep the local Nederland style in mind, while accommodating as many as 24 storefronts. That could actually bring some more parking, Carey said.<\/p>\n

The spaces will likely be individually smaller than in the previous construction, and could mean between 600- and 800-square-feet per storefront, Tebo said. But, that could change, and businesses could have the option to use multiple storefronts combined into one, Carey said.\n<\/p>\n

Former tenants are also being encouraged to move back in, Carey said.\n<\/p>\n

The building is going to be ADA-compliant, Carey said. Wider walkways, that reduced footprint and more outdoor and cafe seating help make that possible, he said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to make it more accessible while maintaining the intent of the original,\u201d Carey said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely the heart of downtown Nederland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though settling on colors, materials and final designs is a ways off, Tebo plans to move as fast as the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will let them move. The debris on the fire site still requires more testing<\/a> for harmful substances, like asbestos, and CDPHE decides when the site is safe to clear and rebuild.<\/p>\n

It is unclear when design plans can be finalized. The cause of the fire that shook Nederland residents in October is not expected to be released until the summer<\/a>.
\n\"DebrisDebris from the 2025 fire is seen at the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland on Tuesday. (Joel Solis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new plans for a shopping center to replace Nederland\u2019s Caribou Village Shopping Center include fire-retardant construction, which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,8323,6491,24003,82284,308,93,47,8324,61,60,6492,1529,152043,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-383620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-boulder-county","13":"tag-colorado","14":"tag-colorado-news","15":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","16":"tag-design","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-fire","19":"tag-front-range","20":"tag-ie","21":"tag-ireland","22":"tag-latest-headlines","23":"tag-local-news","24":"tag-nederland","25":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}