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Page 8 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — April 1-April 14, 2015
©2015 TCF National Bank. Member FDIC
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Greater Denver
by Jill Jamieson-Nichols
The rapid change taking place
in Denver’s River North neigh-
borhood is only a hint of what’s
to come along the 23-mile corri-
dor from Denver Union Station
to Denver International Airport.
“We’re talking roughly three
to four decades of development,
thousands of acres of land, an
estimated $3 billion to $4 billion
of economic impact, 40,000 jobs,
a $13 million a year boost to
the Denver economy,” Denver
Mayor Michael B. Hancock told
attendees at NAIOP Colorado’s
March breakfast meeting.
And that’s excluding develop-
ment at DIA.
Denver is making a big invest-
ment in what the mayor calls
its “corridor of opportunity”
this year, committing $47 mil-
lion to improve Brighton Bou-
levard, launch the River North
park system and prepare for
the eventual reconstruction of
Interstate 70.
City Council, meanwhile, just
approved a plan to transform
the National Western Stock
Show complex into a 240-acre
campus with new facilities for
the stock show, as well as an
education and research campus
in partnership with Colorado
State University, and retail/
entertainment uses. Represent-
ing an $856 million investment
over 10 years, the project will
allow the stock show to double
its current attendance of 682,500
and also will activate the prop-
erty year-round with agricul-
ture and water resources-based
research and education, a public
market and more.
“This is a game-changer.
There will not be a place on the
planet that exists like this,” said
Kelly Leid, executive director of
the city’s North Denver Corner-
stone Collaborative. “Some of
the world’s biggest food issues
are going to be solved here.”
Regional Transportation Dis-
trict commuter rail will connect
the corridor from Union Sta-
tion to DIA in 2016 and bring
several stations to the historic
Globeville and Elyria-Swansea
neighborhoods bordering the
National Western Complex.
“We’re building the corridor
of opportunity less for those of
us who are here today, but more
for the generations that will fol-
low us,” Hancock said.
Public investment in the cor-
ridor has spurred and will con-
tinue to draw millions of dol-
lars in private investment in
innovative retail and workspace
like Taxi, Industry and Stride,
as well as new apartments and
townhomes.
Westfield Company Inc. is
positioning 14 acreswith 370,000
sf of older warehouse space at
the I-70 gateway to RiNo for
redevelopment in 2017. “We see
this as an opportunity to cre-
ate a neighborhood, or village,
within the RiNo community,”
aid Kevin McClintock, a partner
in the company.
Anchoring the “corridor of
opportunity” at one end is the
newly redeveloped Denver
Union Station, which drove
development of office, apart-
ment and retail buildings, and
DIA at the other. As the airport
prepares to open a 519-room
Westin hotel and conference
facility in November, followed
by completion of the East Rail
Line, the airport has big changes
planned for the terminal and
is paving the way for develop-
ment of up to 9,000 acres of
land not needed for airport uses,
officials told those attending the
University of Colorado Real
Estate Center’s annual forum in
Denver in March. City & County of Denver/RNL Design
The city of Denver has allocated $26 million for infrastructure improve-
ments on Brighton Boulevard.
City & County of Denver/Parsons Brinkerhoff
The vision for the National Western Center includes a renovated 1909 Stadium Arena Market and the new
CSU Center. The plaza will include small retail spaces, areas for events and exhibits, test and research growing
plots, community gardens and a small urban farm.