AURORA | Aurora is moving forward with its demolition of Regatta Plaza, and its developers are looking to make the area a metropolitan district as a way of financing the massive project.
At an Aurora Urban Renewal Authority meeting Monday, July 25, AURA approved a measure that would allow Denver-based firm Mile High Development and Koelbel and Company to purchase 5,000 square feet of Regatta Plaza land to create the metropolitan district.
Andrea Amonick, manager of the AURA, told Aurora City Council members — acting as members of AURA — that the developer needs money to install utilities and infrastructure and can receive that funding by creating a metropolitan district for the project.
Earlier this spring, AURA became the owner of the vast majority of the dilapidated Regatta Plaza — 14 of its 21 acres — after a judge sided with the city in condemnation court. And since that time, much of the property has had a date with a bulldozer.
Plans for the site call for a mixed-use development made up of housing, retail and office space, all focused on the RTD bus and light rail terminal just across the street. In all, plans from Denver-based firms Mile High Development and Koelbel and Company call for 84 condominium units, 72 units dedicated to mixed-income properties, and 201 market-rate units.
Despite its proximity to Nine Mile station with Interstate 225 running along one side and the bustling intersection of Parker and Peoria nearby, Regatta Plaza had been an eyesore for residents and a royal pain for city leaders for most of the last decade.
Only the King Soopers grocery store, a tire shop and a bank remain. Dozens of companies have cleared out in recent years, leaving several buildings vacant, many filled with trash and surrounded by a pothole-laden parking lot.
— Aurora Sentinel reporter Brandon Johansson contributed to this story.