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Old Posted May 2, 2008, 8:15 PM
Octavian Octavian is offline
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4/30/2008 12:58:00 PM Email this articlePrint this article Undeveloped land near East Alameda Avenue and Chambers is shown April 28. The area near the Aurora Municipal Center and the former Aurora Mall has been slated for substantial redevelopment that will begin in 2009 or 2010 according to developers. (Heather A. Longway-Burke/The Aurora Sentinel) Developing the Metro Center
Aurora’s the third-most-populous city in Colorado. It spans across 150 square miles of land. It just lacks a downtown.

By Neela Eyunni
The Aurora Sentinel

AURORA | A dusty 63-acre plot of land near Sable Boulevard and East Alameda Avenue may carry Aurora's hopes for anything resembling a bustling, busy metropolitan atmosphere.

With a sprawling 150 square miles of land and a ranking of third most populous city in Colorado, city leaders and developers know that Aurora still lacks one important big-city ingredient: a downtown.

After the Aurora Municipal Center moved to its current site in 2002 and the renovation of the Town Center of Aurora in 2005 the stage was set for the oft-delayed development near Alameda and Sable.

The name chosen for the site even reflected the potential of the land it sat on - City Center.

Now, as the Metro Center development attempts reaps the fruit the City Center's location could come to bear, few details have emerged about the coming market.

Yet most understand that to become financially viable within the borders of Aurora, the location may need to offer something completely unique.

And planners say that despite a study suggesting Aurora's only viable economic driver was big box retail, light rail and other high-density development near planned stations will provide the boost needed to bump Aurora past the suburban hump and into a metropolitan city.

The plan

Plans for Metro Center have included four main districts: a main street, uptown living, shopping and cultural districts, according to Ala Hason, spokeswoman for Gensler, the architect firm hired to design Metro Center.

City Center planners have said the heart of the downtown area will be the main street, consisting of a mix of office space, retail and residential areas.

"The main street should be a people place with intensive development," said Bob Watkins, Aurora's director of planning.

In keeping with the high-density mentality, offices, retail shopping and residences will be dispersed around the development in multi-story buildings, often sharing similar spaces, according to Hason's plans. Residential areas will primarily take the form of typical three- to four-story apartments or lofts.

Watkins said singles and empty-nesters, who could take advantage of the surrounding retail, are the target audience for the high-end apartments.

City officials said parking for both retail and residential areas will be primarily underground to further allow for high-density development. The limited amount of surface parking, planners said, illustrate the center's shift away from being an auto-oriented, traditional suburban shopping location.

Instead, planners said they would rely heavily on light rail, which RTD projects to pass through Aurora by 2016, to transport people to and from the location.

The city is currently working with FasTracks to continue the light rail system along Interstate 225 to connect to the East Corridor with stops along the way, including one stop on the east side of Sable Boulevard, which would drop passengers at or near the Metro Center's main street. The project is currently in the environmental evaluation stage, which officials said should be complete in the next year.

"The most effective way to take advantage of mass transit is to make it easy for a lot of people to walk to the station," said Watkins. "That is why you would want to put higher density residential and employment near the station because those uses will generate ridership."

The competition

A study by Jeff Green Partners last year concluded Aurora's retail market was over-saturated, with an abundance of retail centers either within Aurora or just beyond its border.

Denver's new Downtown Area Plan, created last June, already provides Metro Center with a potential threat. The plan involves renovating downtown's shopping areas and adding approximately 1.5 million square feet of retail in the next 20 years.

The Denver plan is also focused around expansion by encompassing surrounding neighborhoods and creating more housing. Denver's Planning Services of Community and Planning and Development estimates 18,000 new housing units will be added to downtown by 2027.

Other retail and lifestyle centers, such as Belmar, located in Lakewood, offer Metro Center more immediate competition, forcing it to clearly distinguish itself from other commercial hubs. Style of development and target audience could make Belmar the closest competitor for its retail and housing dollar.

So City Center planners insisted Metro Center will offer visitors a unique experience in an effort to separate themselves from the competition.

"We want to have restaurants and stores you can't find anywhere else in the metro area," said Watkins, who also explained how the construction of multi-story buildings would give the area a visually distinctive skyline.

Metro Center planers also said the presence of the light rail will provide the location with an immediate advantage over its competition. No future light rail has been planned through the Bel Mar area.

With a 2.1-acre park and plaza, an event center and a museum, Bel Mar officials have said they've already created the public friendly environment that Aurora is trying to imitate.

Ongoing expansion in Belmar's commercial, office and residential sectors further indicate it is not stepping aside while the Metro Center reaps its clientele.

The money

City officials said the Metro Center will be funded partially by the private sector. However the developers, City Point Aurora LLC, have requested an incentive package that is currently under discussion.

"It is a difficult site to develop and is a mixed-used site, so we are willing to share some of the cost," said Dianne Truwe, director of the Development Services Department. "However, the plan needs to be exceptional and meet city goals and standards."

Plans for the center, officials said, must be compliant with city's comprehensive plan and transit-oriented development guidelines already set in place.

Similar projects, such as the Gardens on Havana, have been funded through a combination of tax incentives and city incentives.

The Gardens, located on the site of the former Buckingham Square Mall, is a similar outdoor shopping center with a massive budget. The redevelopment is expected to cost $110 million.

Last Year, the city, Arapahoe County and the Cherry Creek School District tentatively agreed to a proposal that would allow up to $12 million of excused property taxes to go toward the project. The city plans to contribute about $7 million of the total sum.

A similar method may be used to finance a deal between the city and Metro Center's developers.

The draw

City planners are hoping to capitalize on the already populated City Center location and its surrounding areas to create their clientele base.

"There are 10,000 employees and customers right there," said Hason, citing the presence of the Arapahoe CentrePoint Plaza and Town Center of Aurora mall.

However, the study by Jeff Green Partners, based in part on the demographics and income of the people in Aurora, concluded the site could not support a specialty or lifestyle area. Citing "soccer moms and dads" as the predominant Aurora lifestyle, the study suggested relocating a 180,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Superstore to the Metro Center location.

After refusing to follow the study's recommendations, Watkins said this is about creating its own market and RTD's plans to extend the light rail along I-225 allows the perfect opportunity to do so.

"The new front doors to Aurora will be the transit stations when FasTracks is completed," said Watkins.

Watkins gave the example of California suburb Mountain View when explaining his vision of how Aurora's transformation into a transit-oriented development would bring commuters from surrounding cities.

Redesigned around utilization of its light rail and railroad systems, Mountain View attracts people from neighboring big cities such as San Francisco and San Jose.

"The idea was to give people more transit options," said Martin Alkire, Mountain View's principal planner.

The action

Plans for Metro Center are still in the review process. City Point Aurora LLC submitted their site plan for Metro Center on Feb. 1.

After reviewing the applications, the Planning Commission found the site plan failed to create a dense downtown "core" due to a lack of multi-story buildings along the proposed development's main street and an excess of surface parking. Other problems included the area being non-pedestrian friendly with an inadequate amount of sidewalks and bike paths as well as blocks that were too long to walk. In keeping with the conceptualized vision for the center, city planners rejected the plans and said developers had until March 21, 2008 to resubmit a revised application.

"We are hoping to be reviewed by the city and have approval in the next 8-to-10 weeks," said Hason.

If the application is approved, the first phase of Metro Center's development will begin. According to Hason, the first phase features the construction of 15 buildings, including four-story office buildings with retail on the first levels and a 300-unit residential complex. Basic infrastructure, such as roads and utilities will also be built at this time.

"In the first phase there will be construction on three of the four corners of land," said Hason. "Then it will move inward."

When is it going to happen?

City Center planners said they would like to begin construction on the Metro Center in the next year or two.

"The ideal situation would be to have the development in place when the railway comes," said Watkins. "Whether we can pull that off or not is hard to say at this point."
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