on Oct 30, 2017

Denver Broadway Station Receives Public Infrastructure Financing Approval

In October 2017, the Denver City Council unanimously approved the second largest tax increment financing (TIF) request in the city’s history. The $90 million package (exclusive of a $50 million Metro District package) will support a 41-acre mixed-use development adjacent to Broadway Station, one of the most trafficked light rail stops in Denver, at the intersection of Broadway and I-25. For the past two and a half years, HR&A has advised Broadway Station Partners, owners of the former industrial site that housed the Gates Rubber Factory, on this project which has been over a decade in the making (after initial plans for the site under a different owner fell through in 2003).

 

HR&A conducted the real estate market analysis that informed the development program, built the pro forma that informed the size of the owner’s request for a TIF and Metro District public finance package, and collaborated with a team that included Kaplan Kirsch Rockwell, Strae Advisory Services, Collins Cockrel & Cole, and CRL Associates to support negotiation of the deal by our client.  In addition, we partnered with an extraordinary team of physical design professionals, including Beyer Blinder Belle, Matrix Design Group, Dig Studio, and WSP/Parson Brinckerhoff to develop the program that excited the imagination of policy makers and neighborhood stakeholders, thereby securing the public finance package.

 

The new 4 million SF development will include apartments, offices, co-working space, retail, and civic spaces. The public money dedicated to the project will fund new streets, pedestrian bridges, parks, utilities, and public art, and includes a $3 million commitment to address the capacity needs of Denver Public Schools. This public investment will unlock over $1 billion in transit-oriented development.