Pro sports franchises generally build rosters. Occasionally they build practice facilities, sometimes stadiums, arenas or ballparks. The Colorado Rockies are primed to be the first Denver team to make the jump to full-on mixed-use developer.
Following through on a plan announced in December, the Rockies and architectural design firm Stantec submitted a site plan to the city last month outlining a two-building project that would bring more than 828,000 square feet of development to Lower Downtown.
Rising from the “west lot” parking area just south of Coors Field on 20th Street, the pair of buildings — one 11 stories and the other 13 — would combine to include 114 condos, plans show. It will include 144,693 square feet of hotel space, 87,091 square feet for bars, restaurants or retailers, 210,900 square feet for offices and — most importantly for black and purple die-hards — a 34,015-square foot team hall of fame and event space.
Carved out of the middle of two uniquely shaped buildings is a circular plaza that — for the development team, anyway — is really the start of the show. The video screen-laden plaza is expected to be a community gathering place before and after games, activating the area around the ballpark long after the last pitch.
“It’s a really a give back — a public service to the community,” John Yonushewski, Stantec’s senior principal on the project, said of the feature.
Prior to Sunday’s home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, many fans expressed excitement about what the project could bring to the LoDo neighborhood that has grown up alongside Denver’s Major League Baseball team.
“I understand what they’re trying to do and I’m on board with it,” Greg Goerke said after walking to the park from his home in Lower Highland. “We’ve had some fantastic stars over the years and it would be nice to give them some recognition.”
Ten-year season ticket-holder and LoDo resident Laurie Gerstenkorn was caught off guard by the project’s scale. So long as it’s built with quality in mind she OK with it.
“At least it looks like it is going to be nice. Not like some of this other stuff that has gone up during the mass development that is ugly and poorly built,” Gerstenkorn said.
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The west lot’s bulldozing is not imminent. City planners are reviewing the documents submitted by Stantec now, Laura Swartz, a spokeswoman for the Denver Development Services office said Monday. The Rockies have requested to change the lot’s zoning from industrial to planned unit development to clear the way for mixed-use construction. That’s typically a four- to six-month process, Swartz said.
Yonushewski estimated work could begin in early fall — whether the Rockies are still playing or not. Construction is expected to take up to two years.
Downtown groups like the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association have already had opportunities to weigh in. The Rockies and team owner Dick Monfort held the first or several meetings with local stakeholders last summer, said Andy Davis, the neighborhood association’s president. Davis said Monfort and Co. listened to neighbors’ feedback about public space on the block and design elements they wanted to see to help the project blend with its LoDo surroundings. The plans call for more than 41,000 square feet of public open space — when including the existing Wynkoop Plaza park that runs along the lot to the west — and includes four colors of brick on its materials list.
“They engaged early, they gathered our feedback and they integrated it in meaningful ways,” Davis said.
Not everyone is singing the project’s praises. All In Denver, a group of community advocates focused on social equity, took to Twitter last week to decry that fact that no affordable housing will be built on the lot despite it technically being public property.
Yonushewski said the project will contribute to affordable housing throughout Denver by paying development impact fees.
While civic boosters gush over 800,000 sq.ft. of luxury mixed-use next to Coors Field, is anyone asking why 3 acres of formally public land is creating zero affordable housing units? Another lost opportunity in @DowntownDenver https://t.co/nvrYe9CH59
— AllinDenver (@AllinDenver) June 8, 2018
The roughly 300-spot west lot is owned by the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District, a division of the state. The Rockies singed a 99-year, $125 million lease for the land that began last year as part of a broader agreement that will keep the team playing at Coors Field through 2047. The team keeps revenues generated by the lot which charges between $25 and $35 per day. The development plans call for a 421-space, indoor lot, but with a hotel, residences and offices in the building, it’s hard to say how many of those will be available on game days. Yonushewski indicated the public spaces will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
For Kate Braniff, who split the west lot’s $35 fee with three friends on Sunday, the plans stick with a trend she has seen in Lakewood.
“They’re taking over all these parking lots to build businesses,” she said. “Where are people going to park to go the businesses?”
The Rockies may be the first Denver sports team to break ground on mixed-use project near their playing field, but they won’t be the last. The Broncos earlier this year unveiled plans for an entertainment district around their stadium. Revesco Properties, a developer with backing from Nuggets and Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke, is poised to dive into redeveloping the parking lots around Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park. It is unclear if that wave will splash over to the lots around the Pepsi Center.
