The razed former mall turned mixed-used mega-development known as Downtown Westminster has its first residents. Now, city officials and developers are looking to give those debut denizens more opportunities to work close to home.
Acting as land seller and infrastructure developer, Westminster last week announced it has a preliminary agreement to sell two plots to developer Schnitzer West which would, in turn, build the first office buildings as part of the 105-acre project.
The agreement covers two adjoining properties where Schnitzer West plans to build a combined 650,000 square feet of office space, according to that announcement. Design work is already underway on the first piece, a six- or seven-story building with ground-floor retail space.
The news comes three months after the Eaton Street Apartments, a 118-unit workforce housing building, opened. Wrapping around a public parking garage next to a legacy J.C. Penney, that project is the first of three large residential complexes on track to open as part of the first phase of redevelopment. The 255-unit Ascent Westminster should be done by year’s end, city marketing materials say, and the 226-unit Aspire Westminster is targeting move-ins in the first part of 2021.
“Adding an office user to Downtown Westminster takes it one step closer to a true, sustainable downtown by ensuring a consistent daytime population of employees,” Westminster Mayor Herb Atchison said in a statement.
Designed to be a major commercial and residential hub for the north metro burg, the 25-block Downtown Westminster area is bordered by West 92nd and West 88th Avenues, North Harlan Street and U.S. 36. It was the site of the Westminster Mall for many years, but when that shopping center fell out of favor and into disrepair, the city stepped in as a buyer with a grand vision. Now the J.C. Penney is the last remnant of the mall on a patch of prime, developable land walking distance from the U.S. 36 and Sheridan Boulevard bus station.
Founded in Seattle in 1997, Schnitzer West keeps its Denver corporate office at the Centerpoint I and II office complex it owns near the Interstate 25-Colorado Boulevard interchange. Last month, the company announced plans to build a 12-story office building on Delagany Street in Denver’s River North Arts District. Westminster would be its most suburban Colorado landing place to date.
“With the continued growth of companies along the Denver-Boulder corridor, Downtown Westminster is located directly in the path of progress …,” Doug Zabel, the company’s managing investment principal, said in a statement.
Zabel referred to Downtown Westminster as an “amenity-rich environment.” At a time when companies are fighting to attract and retain talent, locating close to Downtown Westminster’s recently opened Alamo Drafthouse movie theater and a forthcoming Tattered Cover bookstore location could pay dividends.
It is unclear if Schnitzer West has tenants in mind for the project or what the development timeline will be. Zabel did not return a voicemail seeking comment Monday.
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Marczyk Fine Foods was previously named as a ground-floor tenant for Origin Hotel, under construction now in Downtown Westminster, but that space is now reserved for the bookstore. Pete Marczyk, the co-founder and CEO of the high-end grocery and deli business, said earlier this month he still hopes to be part of the redevelopment but his company has some internal challenges to address first. Namely, figuring out if it can buy a site there.
“We are so behind the vision of Westminster and what they’re doing,” he said. “We definitely want to own that site for the long term.”
