DENVER, March 14, 2011 — The Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) today announced the purchase of a two-acre parcel of land along west Denver's FasTracks light rail corridor that will be developed to include the new west Denver library, a mixed-use workforce housing development, and commercial space. This acquisition will provide enormous opportunity for additional transit oriented development (TOD) along west Colfax and the future Knox and Decatur light rail stations.
ULC purchased a portion of the 6.4-acre Festival Plaza from Shanghai Land Investment, L.L.C. for $2,140,000 using Denver's transit oriented development (TOD) fund, set up specifically for acquiring land near existing or future light rail stops and high frequency bus routes. The TOD Fund is financed in part by the City and County of Denver and Enterprise Communities Partners, who also administer the Fund. This is the first TOD fund in the country, helping Denver ensure that when property values go up around areas of transit oriented development, lower-income residents are not pushed out of the housing market. ULC's President and CEO Aaron Miripol states, "We see this site as a strategic gateway to the west Colfax Denver community, the mix of uses in this development will bring great economic benefit to the area which is essential to the revitalization of the neighborhood."
As an outcome of this acquisition, the City and County of Denver will purchase approximately .8 acres of this two-acre parcel as the site for the much desired west Denver library. With the new library, ULC hopes this development will be a catalyst for the neighborhood. Denver's City Librarian Shirley Amore says, "This is a perfect site for the new library. We are looking forward to working with the Urban Land Conservancy, our architect, Studiotrope, and the surrounding neighborhoods to design and build a library that will transform not only the entrance to west Colfax but also the broader community."
ULC is the master developer for the site, and in addition to the library, initial concepts for the property include mixed-use, multi-family workforce housing with Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation, and a commercial structure.
Established in 2003, Urban Land Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that uses real estate as a tool to benefit urban communities. ULC acquires, preserves and develops land for urban assets such as workforce housing, nonprofit office space and schools. For more information, go to http://www.urbanlandc.org.
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