July 2016 — Land & Development Quarterly —
Page 13
Project Profile
62,000 boardings in its first year)
free shuttle bus system, the Lone
Tree Link, since 2014 to move people
from within Lone Tree and Ridge-
Gate to the existing end-of-line
Lincoln Station. Once the extension
and new stations are opened, it is
anticipated that this shuttle system
will continue to move people “the
last half-mile” from rail stations to
key employment centers and other
destinations.
Recently, Lone Tree started con-
struction of a pedestrian bridge
over Lincoln Avenue at the Willow
Creek Corridor to enhance pedes-
trian/bicycle connectivity and safety
across this busy arterial.
And finally and equally impor-
tantly, Coventry has designed Ridge-
Gate with an integrated network
of streets to provide for multiple
routes and connection. In this way,
each of the streets can be a little
smaller and more pedestrian friend-
ly than typical suburban streets.
Consequently, RidgeGate sees lots of
activity from pedestrians, bicyclists
and even scooters.
Jobs as the engine.
Coventry
strategically holds the launch of a
master-planned community until it
has a major employment “engine”
to drive the other uses within the
community. Rooftops follow jobs
and retail follows rooftops.
In 1999 and 2000, RidgeGate was
being considered by HCA in its
site selection process for what is
now the Sky Ridge Medical Center.
RidgeGate won that competition
and in 2001 it sold land to HCA and
construction of the hospital started
that year. During the ensuing three
years, HCA constructed the hospital
and Coventry, through the RRMD,
funded and built the initial com-
munity infrastructure. In the fall of
2003, the Sky Ridge Medical Center
opened and provided a much-need-
ed critical service in the regional
community as well as many new
jobs.
Since that time Sky Ridge has
continued its planned build out
and now employs thousands. And
through a partnership it has with
Kaiser Health Systems, the Sky
Ridge Medical Center welcomes
approximately 400 births per
month.
The Sky Ridge Medical Center also
has stimulated a significant medical
economy in the area and Coventry
envisions complementary “medi-
cal centers of excellence” arrayed
around it within RidgeGate.
In 2012, the RidgeGate vision and
community plan was again vali-
dated when it won the competitive
site selection for the new Charles
Schwab Campus, where Phase I of
the campus brings over 4,000 new
jobs to Lone Tree.
The mixed-use recipe: Building a
complete community.
RidgeGate’s
West Village will be mostly built out
by 2019 when the southeast light-
rail extension opens for ridership.
By that time, it is expected to be
home to approximately 2,280 resi-
dential units (about 5,000 people)
and 8,000 jobs.
Homes range from luxury apart-
ments to condos, townhomes and
single-family detached homes rang-
ing in price from the $200,000s to
more than $1 million. There are 15
small and distinct neighborhoods
to create an appealing scale and
offer a wide range of choice. And
all homes come with an innovative
high-capacity and -speed fiber-optic
network that has been in place for
over 10 years.
The West Village also includes a
dozen restaurants, a half-million
square feet of retail (including Tar-
get, Sprouts and Cabela’s) and three
hotels (a select service, an extend-
ed-stay under construction and a
full-service in planning).
In addition to five parks and many
miles of trails, including pedestrian
underpasses at crossings of major
streets, RidgeGate’s West Village
includes the Lone Tree Recreation
Center, the Lone Tree Arts Center,
the Lone Tree Library and the his-
toric Schweiger Ranch – all on land
donated by Coventry. And Ridge-
Gate’s trails connect to take hikers
and riders to the Cherry Creek Trail
System to the east, the Chatfield
Reservoir to the west, the Highline
Canal to the north and the Reuter
Hess Reservoir to the south.
RidgeGate’s West Village is sup-
ported by the Douglas County
School District, which has nearby
existing elementary, middle and
high schools. In the future, a middle
and high school campus and sev-
eral new elementary schools are
expected and being planned for in
RidgeGate’s East Village on the east
side of I-25.
It’s these compact and walkable
“complete community” character-
istics that set RidgeGate apart from
other suburban communities and,
when combined with its location
and access, creates a very attractive
setting for business to locate.
The role of private development
standards.
Another important aspect
to the success of RidgeGate are its
private development standards
enabled by covenant. All buyers and
developers of land in RidgeGate
must comply with these standards,
which are administered through a
design review committee of profes-
sional architects, engineers and
landscape architects and managed
by Coventry. These standards are
focused on ensuring good architec-
tural design principles, the creation
of architectural diversity and vari-
ety, the use of high-quality materi-
als and the enhancement of envi-
ronmental sustainability.
RidgeGate 2.0
So what could Ridge-
Gate possibly do to top its West Vil-
lage? Well, plans are in the works
for the RidgeGate East Village (or
Villages) on its 4 square miles east
of I-25.
A higher-density mixed-use tran-
sit-oriented district is planned for
the areas surrounding the Lone Tree
City Center Station and the Ridge-
Gate Parkway Stations of the south-
east light-rail line.
And to the east, on both sides of
RidgeGate Parkway, three different
residential villages are expected,
each with its own unique character-
istics and benefits.
Coventry and its partners and
consultants are exploring various
forward-thinking strategies to take
advantage of new technologies and
ways of life/doing business that are
ahead of us in the coming decades.
RidgeGate continues to evolve as
a more natural approach to New
Urbanism where the city meets
the prairie in Lone Tree. And it has
successfully demonstrated what
can be accomplished when a city
and developer work together on an
aligned land use vision and have
the willingness and commitment
to partner on critical supporting
infrastructure, community ameni-
ties and economic development
initiatives.
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