Englewood has signed off on a major redevelopment of its urban core.<\/p>\n
Monday night, the Denver suburb\u2019s City Council voted 5-2 to terminate a series of ground leases and exchange properties and kickstart construction planning on properties within the 55-acre Englewood CityCenter area along Hampden Avenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the area we need to revitalize,\u201d Englewood City Council Member Tena Prange said at the meeting.<\/p>\n
Once home to the largest mall west of the Mississippi, the land is now a string of big-box stores, retail strips and parking lots, plus the Englewood Civic Center campus, which holds city offices, courtrooms and parking. The city owns the land but granted a 75-year ground lease in 2000 to Weingarten Realty, which developed the current setup after the mall was demolished in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n
In 2018, however, Weingarten lost the property to foreclosure, and the site has slowly deteriorated.<\/p>\n
Two local real estate firms, DPC Cos. and Ogilvie Partners,\u00a0purchased the improvements\u00a0in late December, promising a mixed-use project that would serve as a \u201ctrue community center.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve cleaned the property up tremendously since we took over last year,\u201d DPC CEO Chris King told BusinessDen.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s vote established\u00a0a phased approach\u00a0framework for future redevelopment by the two firms. It includes termination of the ground leases, which can make financing a new development challenging.<\/p>\n
To start, the city will terminate its ground lease on two blocks, giving DPC and Ogilvie ownership. No redevelopment is planned on one of the blocks, which has retailers in place. But changes are planned for the other, which has a two-story retail and office building on it.<\/p>\n
King and his team expect to begin engaging with the community soon to create a specific development plan there.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur first step is to listen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In return, the developers will give the city a largely vacant 42,000-square-foot building next to city hall, where 24 Hour Fitness once operated, as well a retail condo to the north that DPC and Ogilvie bought for $5.2 million.<\/p>\n
But the developers have their eyes on the entire site. As they talk about plans with the community, DPC and Ogilvie will start working on how to redevelop Englewood\u2019s city hall site and the adjacent gym. The pair are contractually obligated to spend at least $300,000 on these efforts.<\/p>\n
King envisions creating a \u201ccommunity amenity\u201d accessible to the public year round. Right now, a fountain on-site serves that purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce it gets cold, it just doesn\u2019t do much anymore,\u201d King said. \u201cPart of our overall planning is to really activate that overall area.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Englewood will also have a two-year purchase option on a retail building on the southwest corner of the site. That option will disappear when the partnership breaks ground on its developable block.<\/p>\n
When that happens, Englewood will terminate the ground lease under the retail building as well as another block to the east where Harbor Freight operates. No immediate redevelopment is slated for the Harbor Freight site because the retailer\u2019s lease includes extensions that could keep it there until 2040.<\/p>\n
A timeline on when formal development plans will be presented is uncertain and will depend on community outreach, King said. A hotel and medical office component are contemplated in addition to retail and residential elements, along with beautification and landscaping around Englewood Parkway, which King said he\u2019d make \u201clook like [an] actual parkway.\u201d<\/p>\n