{"id":1237,"date":"2025-10-15T12:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/?p=1237"},"modified":"2025-10-16T14:22:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T14:22:58","slug":"colorado-envisioned-a-renewable-energy-park-near-golden-neighbors-dont-like-what-might-get-built-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/15\/colorado-envisioned-a-renewable-energy-park-near-golden-neighbors-dont-like-what-might-get-built-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado envisioned a renewable energy park near Golden. Neighbors don\u2019t like what might get built instead."},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been four years since Gov. Jared Polis trumpeted the promise of the Global Energy Park<\/a> near Golden as a future state-of-the-art laboratory \u2014 one that would position Colorado and Jefferson County as \u201cleaders in the future of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the hopes contained in those lofty words from his October 2021 announcement<\/a> have dimmed as the 9.3-acre, state-owned parcel has continued to sit vacant.\u00a0In recent months, the state instead has begun eyeing the site, which lies in the shadow of the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s National Renewable Energy Lab<\/a>, for an apartment complex.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shift that vocal neighbors in the Pleasant View neighborhood on the edge of Golden are calling a \u201cbait and switch.\u201d They consider it an affront to residents who had reluctantly come to terms with a lab being built there \u2014 but not a busy residential building that could stand as tall as eight stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn eight-story building is nothing like what we have in our neighborhood,\u201d said Adrian Waller, the president of the Pleasant View Metropolitan District and a 31-year resident of the neighborhood. \u201cIt would have people 24\/7 that would also be using the park.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was referring\u00a0to Pleasant View Community Park, directly adjacent to the Globeville Energy Park site. Laura Cardon, who has lived in the neighborhood for five years, said it has served as a vital natural refuge in an increasingly busy part of the county.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the only big area set aside for nature,\u201d she said, pointing across a tangle of trails to a row of mature trees towering over Lena Gulch. \u201cThis is where my kid learned to ride his bike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lu Cordova, who heads up the Global Energy Park in her role as Polis\u2019 strategic planning and projects adviser, declined to respond to a number of questions sent to her by The Denver Post last week.<\/p>\n

But in early August, she spoke to the Jefferson County commissioners as the housing plan at the Glo Park site first emerged.<\/p>\n

The state, Cordova told the county leaders, still would like to pursue the Global Energy Park \u2014 which had commonly been referred to as \u201cGlo Park\u201d in shorthand \u2014 as a place where players in industry, government and academia come together, in partnership with NREL. The goal has been to establish and nurture a one-of-a-kind research and innovation campus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the arrival of the new Trump administration, which slashed 114 positions at NREL in Golden<\/a> in May amid an aggressive effort to trim federal funding for renewable energy initiatives<\/a>, prompted her office to explore \u201cpivoting\u201d away from the project.<\/p>\n

Chris O\u2019Keefe, Jefferson County\u2019s planning director, put it more bluntly at that same meeting:\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s a shift that\u2019s taken place at the federal level that\u2019s causing Lu and the state to look at this project differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also competing for attention, Cordova told the commissioners, is the governor\u2019s long-standing zeal for increasing the availability of affordable housing<\/a> in Colorado. The land near NREL could serve that purpose, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also recognize that, right now, the demand for housing is reaching crisis proportions all over Colorado,\u201d Cordova told Jeffco officials.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t mollify Pleasant View neighbors, like Nancy Pate, who attended that August meeting and beseeched the commissioners not to sign off on housing at the Glo Park site.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re going to throw something else at you that completely doesn\u2019t fit in your single-family and duplex residence kind of neighborhood,\u201d Pate said. \u201cMy front yard would be apartments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Cordova\u2019s assurances to the county commissioners that the potential housing plan for the site was \u201cso premature,\u201d her office issued a Request for Qualifications from prospective developers. The deadline for submissions to the state was Oct. 1. <\/p>\n

This week, Cordova told The Post that two of the submissions she received \u201chave been shortlisted\u201d and that those developers will be interviewed \u201cfor viability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jefferson County\u2019s planning and zoning department has not received an application for the site. But at the end of the day, it is not up to the county what goes in there, said county spokeswoman Cassie Pearce. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile that application will be either approved or denied by the Planning Commission, the state has the authority to override that decision,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cUltimately, the county does not have final say on how this land is used.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the county\u2019s understanding of a recent land swap involving the site \u201cwas based on the proposal that the land would be used for lab space by NREL or NREL partners,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Glo Park site came into state ownership through a complex land swap executed a few years ago in an area known as Camp George West, which once served as the Colorado Army National Guard\u2019s only permanent training facility<\/a>. The area just off South Golden Road still hosts the Colorado State Patrol Academy and a former prison.<\/p>\n

The long and short of the exchange was that Jefferson County ended up with 160 acres on and around South Table Mountain, while the state received the nearly 10-acre parcel it wanted for the Global Energy Park.<\/p>\n

There was even a gathering at the governor\u2019s mansion of government officials, business leaders and representatives of research institutions in spring 2023 to draw up a grand vision for what could happen<\/a> at the Glo Park. Greg Venn, the CEO of Denver-based NexCore Group, said then that a groundbreaking could happen the following spring.<\/p>\n

NexCore, the company tasked with developing the Global Energy Park, told The Post last week that it couldn\u2019t comment on the situation.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for NREL said the agency wouldn\u2019t be able to respond to questions during the federal government shutdown, which began Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

No final decisions have been made about the site, said\u00a0Shelby Wieman, a spokeswoman for the governor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state is exploring a number of different options, including housing paired with park improvements, to best utilize this plot of land,\u201d she said. \u201cWe look forward to continued conversations with community members on the best path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Pleasant View neighbors are gearing up for a fight.<\/p>\n

Last month, 100 or so residents showed up for a community meeting, according to a website established to monitor the situation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Laura
Laura Cardon, a resident of the Pleasant View neighborhood, stands on land long slated for the proposed Global Energy Park, designed to work in tandem with the nearby National Renewable Energy Laboratory, near Golden on Oct. 13, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n