{"id":1197,"date":"2025-10-09T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/?p=1197"},"modified":"2025-10-09T14:23:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T14:23:01","slug":"downtown-development-authority-doesnt-have-to-pay-property-taxes-but-will-if-it-buys-denver-pavilions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/09\/downtown-development-authority-doesnt-have-to-pay-property-taxes-but-will-if-it-buys-denver-pavilions\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown Development Authority doesn\u2019t have to pay property taxes, but will if it buys Denver Pavilions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update 7:20 a.m. Oct. 9, 2025:<\/strong> This story has been corrected by BusinessDen to reflect information about the planned payment in lieu of taxes.<\/em><\/p>\n

While Denver\u2019s Downtown Development Authority is exempt from paying property taxes, it will voluntarily pay an amount equal to the annual tax bill if it purchases the Denver Pavilions mall.<\/p>\n

Bill Mosher, the city\u2019s chief projects officer, said Wednesday that he included a reference to a planned \u201cpayment in lieu of taxes\u201d in the pending purchase agreement for the 350,000-square-foot mall, which still needs to be approved by the City Council.<\/p>\n

Eliminating the property\u2019s tax bill would provide an unfair advantage to the mall\u2019s tenants, Mosher said. At Pavilions, like at most commercial buildings, tenants are responsible for a share of their landlord\u2019s building costs, including property taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want some tenants on 16th Street to have an unfair advantage over other tenants on 16th Street,\u201d Mosher said, referring to retailers and restaurants near but outside the mall.<\/p>\n

Mosher is also CEO of the quasi-governmental entity that developed and owns the Hyatt Regency by the Colorado Convention Center. That hotel also makes a payment in lieu of taxes so that it doesn\u2019t get an unfair advantage compared to other hotels, he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Wednesday, citing a spokeswoman from the city\u2019s finance department, BusinessDen reported that the the city and Denver Public Schools \u2014 the latter receives about two-thirds of property tax collections \u2014 would collect no property taxes following the DDA\u2019s purchase of the Pavilions and two parking lots behind it due to the DDA being a tax-exempt entity.<\/p>\n

That remains true for the parking lots, which flank Glenarm Place along 15th Street. Mosher said there\u2019s no plan to do a payment in lieu of taxes there because he doesn\u2019t see it creating an unfair advantage.<\/p>\n

But the planned payment in lieu of taxes means Denver and its school system will still get revenue from Pavilions.<\/p>\n