AURORA | Regatta Plaza inched closer to new life Oct. 28 when city officials announced the names of three potential firms to develop the blighted lot in South Aurora.
The city selected one Texas-based development firm and two more from Colorado to submit a request for proposal for the long-defunct former shopping plaza on the corner of Parker Road and South Peoria Street.
“A site that big at a major intersection, with a major grocer and major transit is pretty rare,” said Carl Koelbel, vice president of Koelbel and Company, one of the Colorado firms submitting an RFP. Koelbel is teaming with Mile High Developers to craft their proposal, a Denver-based company that helped develop the Wellington Webb Municipal Building downtown and the Colorado Center in the southeast corner of the city.
The other Colorado firm tabbed by the city is McWhinney, a real-estate investment and development company most recently known for their work supporting the revamp of Union Station in Downtown
Denver.
“As one of the several partners who helped to redevelop Union Station, we believe that the transit oriented development sector of our industry is something that we understand and we bring that to bear for this project,” said Andy Boian, spokesman for Mcwhinney. “We think this particular stop at (Interstate) 225 and Parker (Road)is critical to TODs in the entire metro area.”
The city’s third RFP finalist is the partnership of Catalyst Urban Development and Cambridge Holdings, a Dallas-based team with a focus on healthcare real estate.
Close to 150 entities viewed the project’s request for qualifications during the month-long period the document was online, according to Andrea Amonick, manager of the Aurora Urban Renewal Authority and Chad Argentar, development project manager for the city. They said AURA received six responses to the RFQ, made up of two from out of state and four from Colorado.
“All that interest means we’ve been very successful with the process because we’re now moving forward with development, which is better than where we’ve been in the past,” Argentar said. “The city is very excited.”
Each of the three firms the city selected will receive a $15,000 stipend upon submittal of the RFP, which must include full financials, gap analysis, proposed ownership structure and renderings. All three RFPs are expected to be turned into the city by Christmas, and officials are expected to choose a preferred developer by the end of January.
King Soopers and Key Bank are currently the only businesses with year-round operations in the Plaza, both of which are partial owners of the property and are anticipated to be incorporated into any new development. However, “the retention of existing structures and lot lines is not expected,” according to the RFQ, meaning that the chosen developer could elect to raze the current locations of both businesses and build new ones in order accommodate a master plan.
In its Nine Mile Station Urban Renewal Plan finished early this spring, the city calls for the space to be zoned as a mixed-use and higher density residential area, with multi-tenant structures being “the primary characteristic of the redevelopment.” The Urban Renewal Plan recommends the construction of three- or four-story residential structures, at least one small park and a pedestrian bridge that would connect any newly constructed parking structure with the RTD parking garage across the street.
“I think we all know we want the King Soopers to stay and expand, the bank to stay and be happy, retail along Peoria, and offices up along the highway, as well as a hotel, and tall high-rise along the Parker stretch with open space parking and access to Nine Mile in the middle,” Councilwoman Molly Markert said.
A longtime supporter of redeveloping Regatta, Markert said she is hopeful moving forward, but she worries about a restrictive statewide construction law that could deter potential builders from erecting desired residential units.
“If we don’t get the state delegation to change the construction defect law, we’re going to get nothing for another decade,” she said.
With all due respect to Ms Markert, I think I speak for a large number of nearby homeowners who’d prefer to see ANYTHING built on the Regatta site if the alternative requires changing a statewide law (since there isn’t a legislature in this country capable of passing anything but gas). I own a property with a front seat view of ruins of Regatta and for my part I’d be happier (and I’m sure richer) if the entire place was reduced to parking lot. I’d like to point out that the principle Regatta property owner offered to build a mixture of rental units and retail there several years ago and was turned down by the city. Having lived in the neighborhood for ten years I can assure you that no one wants to buy condos within a mile of Parker and Peoria; the place is a traffic nightmare as it is. The city should seriously consider the possibility that the “best and highest use” for the site is whatever the property owners wish to build rather than some pie-in-sky city of tomorrow.