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GREELEY — Greeley will not move forward with the purchase of the JBS USA headquarters building in the Promontory business park, with the city focusing instead on funding of a new civic campus downtown.

“We’re out,” Greeley mayor John Gates told BizWest Wednesday.

Gates and City Manager Raymond Lee met Friday with JBS’ chief financial officer Victor Machado and “made it clear that we’re not interested in purchasing their building right now,” Gates said. “We have too much going on, primarily that we’ve invested our efforts in the civic campus.”

Greeley officials first revealed the potential purchase of the 136,500-square-foot property during a City Council meeting in April, during which more than a dozen “major projects” were described in a staff presentation. Included was a line item of $19.7 million for the JBS building and economic incentives.

Documents obtained by BizWest through a Colorado Open Records Act request revealed that the city was looking to purchase the building for $15.7 million, or $115 per square foot, with another $4 million in economic incentives.

“The city has negotiated the purchase of the JBS Corporate office building at 1770 Promontory Circle for $15.7 million,” according to a May 6 memo from Kalen Myers, the city’s interim budget and policy director. “This purchase, combined with $4 million in economic incentives, will facilitate JBS’ expansion to the neighboring buildings at 1553, 1555 and 1557 Promontory Circle. To fund this purchase, the city will issue certificates of participation (COPs), using the acquired JBS building as the collateralized asset for the loan. The annual payment for the COP issuance is estimated to be $1.3 million for a term of 20 years. The planned repayment source for this debt is the food tax.”

The acquisition would have facilitated JBS’ purchase of the largely vacant, 450,000-square-foot State Farm campus next door, providing ample space for expansion.

The City Council last fall had given Lee permission to negotiate the JBS purchase, Gates noted, but priorities have shifted.

With Greeley having recently given initial approval to the massive Cascadia project in west Greeley — including a new arena, hotel and water park that would be city-owned — and with the city also working to fund a new civic campus downtown, priced at a revised estimate of $80 million to $95 million, the JBS acquisition didn’t make financial sense, Gates said.

“What I told the folks at JBS on Friday is that we had a change of priorities, and sometimes elected bodies changed our plans, and we changed ours, and feel really strongly that civic campus is a way for us to go,” Gates said. “So part of the issue around us pulling it out at the JBS building was all about timing, right? If the civic campus were funded, or there was a better plan in place, that could possibly be a different scenario. But we’re in a position where we can’t do both, and our highest priority right now is giving our folks a new place to land downtown and revitalize downtown even more than it already is, with the civic campus and perhaps a boutique hotel.”

JBS approached the city in 2023 about a potential 60,000-square-foot, three-story expansion of its Promontory headquarters building, holding a pre-application meeting with the city.

JBS spokesperson Nikki Richardson told BizWest at the time that “JBS USA has no immediate plans for an expansion of our U.S. headquarters in Greeley, Colo. The company’s submittal to city planners represents long-held plans to consolidate operations into one location should business conditions justify expansion in the future.”

Richardson has not yet responded to emailed questions from BizWest about the company’s plans.

JBS leases 50,000 square feet in the 1557 Promontory building, alongside 4Rivers Equipment.

State Farm’s three-building campus has been largely vacant for years. The Bloomington, Illinois-based company vacated its north building at 1555 Promontory Circle in 2018, and announced in November 2020 that it would vacate the remaining two buildings, adopting a work-from-home model.

The properties are owned by JDM II SF National LLC, a unit of Phoenix-based JDM Partners. The Greeley properties are part of a 14-property, 3.4 million-square-foot portfolio owned by JDM Partners. The properties were subject to a $383.5 million loan, according to a 2014 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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The City of Greeley is looking to develop what some are calling a "regional hub" for Northern Colorado, and the project could come one step closer to reality on Tuesday night. Greeley's City Council will vote Tuesday night on whether or not to approve a predevelopment agreement that would move forward a proposal to build an arena in western Greeley.

The proposal is largely driven by The Water Valley Company, which owns the minor league hockey team, the Colorado Eagles. The team currently plays in the Blue Arena in Loveland.

Greeley City Manager Raymond Lee told CBS News Colorado that bringing an entertainment district to Greeley is important for many voters.

"I think the citizens of Greeley have spoken and been very loud and clear that they want more amenities, more attractions," Lee said.

Northern Colorado's population is projected to double in the next two decades and Greeley is just one of several communities looking to absorb as much of the tax dollars they can through entertainment and development

"We don't want to see those sales tax dollars leave our community and go to our surrounding communities. We want to make sure we are offering amenities and attractions to people in our community," Lee said.

The Water Valley Company is hoping to build an arena and more just north of U.S. 34, near Windsor. The project would be located west of Highway 257. Lee said the initial 1,800-acre development, if approved by the council, would likely feature an arena, conference center, hotel, water park, and more.

The surrounding undeveloped property, estimated to be around 8,000 additional acres, could eventually follow suit with development. City officials hope to build housing, restaurants, parks, and more for future residents of many economic backgrounds.

"To a large retrospect, western Greeley is the future of Greeley," Lee said. "We have grown west as this community has grown in size and scope."

Lee said the city knows the growth of the region is already starting, and by potentially taking on a project like this, the citizens of today can have a direct say in the Greeley of tomorrow.

"It is a much bigger picture we are looking at overall. This is a small component of that," Lee said. "We don't ever want to forget our past and what has made this community what it is today. But the future is bright for Greeley, and this is one step in that direction if council does vote to pass this."

Dillon Thomas

Dillon Thomas is multi-Emmy Award winning general assignment reporter/MSJ for CBS News Colorado. Read his latest reports or check out his bio and send him an email.

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