A new downtown business incubator, the Launch Pad, is planned in the 1100 block of Main Avenue by a longtime Durango family, the Turners.
Launch Pad will offer flexible office space in some 5,000 square feet in two connected buildings on the west side of the block.
Durango Animal Chiropractor – Iris Davidson’s chiropractic practice, which treats animals, principally dogs, and humans in the space at 1137 Main Avenue – is viewed as a model for tenants of the Launch Pad.
Jim Turner envisions the incubator will offer private offices with a private entry, private offices with shared entry with other tenants, and personal spaces for multiple tenants in an open communal room. Rents will range from $150 to $600 depending on location, size and access, he said.
An open house for the Launch Pad, which is wired for high-speed internet, is planned from 3 to 7 p.m. May 16-17 and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 18.
“To be able to get a start in downtown Durango for a couple hundred bucks is pretty extraordinary,” said Jack Turner, Jim’s brother.
Jim Turner said his father, Rod, was always interested in getting new businesses started in Durango, and the Launch Pad to some extent formalizes how the property had been used in the past. The buildings served as starting locations or early locations for many now-thriving businesses in Durango, including X-Rock 105.3-FM radio station, Fast Signs and Durango TV.
Jim Turner said the location originally started as a dairy on the south building and an assay building in the north end in the 1930s. At the back of the property, he said, crucibles from the old assay building regularly surface from where they were disposed of in the early 20th century.
Other tenants have included Landis Boot & Shoe, The Fish Connection, and “a hippie bong shop” before the state legalized marijuana, Jim Turner said.
The city of Durango has approved a new building on the property that would include 42 condominiums, commercial space and a 60-space underground parking structure. However, Turner said financing for the project is still coming together and no date has been set to begin construction.
The Turners see the Launch Pad as an interim use so they can receive rental income from existing buildings on the property before redevelopment begins.
The redevelopment project was approved by the Durango Planning Commission in June 2018. The approval grants a three-year window for construction of the project to begin before developers would have to reapply with the city for new approval.
parmijo@durangoherald.com This story has been updated to correct the name of Jim and Jack Turner’s father.
