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10 22 24 Senior City Planner Tony Lechuga talks about the Ball Arena Redevelopment
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Step into our bulk department to scoop up as much as you like from hundreds of bins filled with wholesome grains and limited-time goodies. Visit your neighborhood Sprouts Farmers Market today where flavor fills every scoop. The plan is in motion for revamping of the area around ballerina. The cronkey sports and entertainment wants to build high rises for living in working and retail. And joining us now on the Kway Common Spirit Health Hotline with more about it is the Denver City Planner, Tony LaChuga. Tony, thank you so much for your time this morning. Yeah, thanks for having me again. Happy to chat about it. We had this in the newscast throughout the morning. Today's the Denver City Council approved the plans yesterday for the rezoning and revamping and redeveloping of this area around ballerina. Can you walk us through what is included in this plan so far? Yeah, so what we have right now is sort of a rough framework for what can be built out over the next 20 to 30 years where we anticipate extending the downtown grid to complement existing downtown, to encourage a mix of high-rise development that would include new commercial, new retail spaces, an abundance of new housing, a significant portion of which will be set aside as a portable housing. But to make it a complete neighborhood, we envision a new park here, a new daycare center, a new rec center, all those things that make a place, a quality place to live. Tony, are you concerned about the parking? That's the bugaboo I keep hearing most. It's not some of the other things blocking the views, though that's part of it as well for those that already live there. But it's the parking, what, 19,000 parking slots or lots would be gone, spaces, I should say. What's the plan for that? Yeah, I would say that they're not so much gone. They're just reallocated and a more efficient use of the space. So each of these buildings will likely include either underground parking or parking garages. And we've been working with KSC on some really innovative ways to share that space. So if office workers are using it by day, but then it's empty at night, that space can be better utilized by people coming to see a show at the arena. KSC has also seen pretty steep declines in parking demand around the arena as more people are using ride share as the train system has gotten better. So we're definitely keeping an eye on it. It'll be one of those things that is part of the ongoing process over the next 25 years. Tony, I know one of the other biggest concerns coming from residents already near that area is their mountain views and the rezoning are changes when it comes to the actual view plane ordinance of this area. Do you have any concerns when it comes to mountain views that could block from patios and projects and skylines that are already built in the Denver area that could almost hurt some businesses that already have these bars on top of their rooftops that will no longer be able to see the mountains? Yeah, it's a really good reasonable question. And it's definitely one that we've asked over many years, you know, we recommended this exemption to the view plane because it was very specifically called out as a recommendation in the downtown area plan amendment and we wouldn't have done it otherwise. And the reason that we felt confident in that plan recommendation is that they did years of outreach to property owners, to R&Os, to businesses in the area, you know, and we ended up having organizations like the convention center say they supported this type of development even if it did block a part of their view because the economic benefits to it were going to be so much greater than, you know, a hit to their view. And so while I can sympathize with private property owners, you know, I think council waited last night and determined that the benefits sort of outweigh, you know, the hit to any single property owner. We hear about 18% is going to be for affordable housing, but Tony, how affordable is it? We I heard some pushback on that as well, saying what you consider affordable for some people is not really affordable for those that would be in need of that kind of space. Yeah, I think we all know that the Denver housing market has become inaccessible to the vast majority of people, you know, even folks who are making 100% of the area median income, that means, you know, they're right at the middle, 50% of the population is making more than that. So what we've targeted here is some properties that are extremely low at their AMI levels, so 30%. So that's people making, you know, $25,000 a year. But then, yeah, we do have it sort of on a spectrum so that we are targeting people across the entire, you know, lower 50% of area median incomes to say, you know, even someone making 100% of the area median income is struggling to afford a place. Let's make sure we build something for them as well. So there is a diversity of options across a broad spectrum of incomes. What is the timeline of the plan we see so far and one's construction does begin? How could it or how much could it impact events that are taking place in and around ball arena? Yeah. Great question. The KFC anticipates trying to start phase one in the next couple of years here, and their phase one development is sort of that area between ball arena and lower downtown. And you know, it's in their best interest to maintain the arena as a fully operational space throughout the construction phase. So I know they and their engineering teams are going to get creative in how they manage the impact to the arena because, you know, they don't want to see arena operations interrupted in any way. Tony, I keep forgetting, does this impact the eelitches at all? It doesn't. Eelitches was that property went through a similar process and was approved back in 2018. And what does the process look like now with the rest of city council? Is it fully set in stone finalized or was this just the first step in the rezoning process and there's more meetings and redevelopment projects to come? There will definitely be more meetings, more redevelopment projects. Some of the proposed bridges that they have actually have to get further city council approval. So this was really sort of like the phase one approvals, you know, after this each building will have to go through, you know, robust site design, all of the infrastructure will have to go through further review and approval. So this really was just sort of phase one establishing the framework for how we move forward over the next couple of decades. Final question, Tony, are there any promises that you all made to KSC in the development and conversely any promises they made to you in the process that are locked in and guaranteed for the project? Yeah. So one of the things council approved last night was the negotiated development agreement, which are a series of requirements the city is making of the developer and those have to do with their affordable housing plan, the amount of open space and what that looks like processes for, you know, fair hiring practices across the sites for both construction jobs and permanent jobs. And then one of the things that they asked for was that we invest the zoning and what that means for, you know, in layman's terms is essentially the zoning that got applied last night will be locked in place until 2050. That provides them some economic assurance that what they've planned for, they will be able to build out over the next 25 years. So that is the one thing that the city offered them last night, but they will be required to do many things that the city is asking of them. With the latest on the project plans to revamp the area around ball arena at Stanford City Planner, Tony LaChuga, Tony, thank you so much for your time this morning in insight. We appreciate it. Yeah. Absolutely. I appreciate you taking the time. But there's only one feeling like knowing your banker personally, like growing up with the bank you can count on, like being sure what you've earned is safe, secure, and local. There's only one feeling like knowing you're supporting your community. You deserve more from a bank. You deserve an institution that stood strong for generations. Bank of Colorado, there's only one. For FDIC. Visit your neighborhood sprouts farmer's market today, where fresh produce is always in season. [MUSIC PLAYING]