AURORA | The Gaylord hotel is one step closer to securing state money as lawyers for Denver hoteliers made an attempt Sept. 12 to fight in court to thwart the project.
Officials from the Colorado Economic Development Commission said they were close to signing a contract with Aurora that would award $81 million in tax incentives to help construct the Western-themed hotel.
But in the morning hours, lawyers for Denver hoteliers filed a complaint with the Denver District Court saying public money should be revoked because the cost of the project has changed and a new owner is now at the helm of the Gaylord brand. Lawyers for the hoteliers say the court case could take between six and nine months to resolve, according to a statement from the group. The project will continue to move forward barring a court injunction.
At the Sept. 12 CEDC meeting, Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan criticized the Denver hoteliers for trying to halt the project.
“It’s disappointing that there are a limited number of people who can’t stand competition,” he said.
The mayor also issued a statement after the meeting criticizing the move: “Aurora has repeatedly demonstrated that the Gaylord hotel and conference center is exactly the kind of project that the state legislature had in mind when it created the Regional Tourism Authority. We are very disappointed that this small group of hotels … is misinformed about this project and has chosen to file a lawsuit to keep a competitor out of the state.”
Wendy Mitchell, president of the Aurora Economic Development Council, said the hotel is still on track to break ground in October 2014.
She said in the coming weeks she’ll announce a contractor and an architect for the hotel, which will include 1,500 rooms and more than 400,000 square feet of conference space. The 1.9 million square-foot hotel is expected to open in 2016, and will take two years to construct. By comparison, the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver is 1 million square feet. The cost of the hotel will be between $700 million and $800 million depending on interest rates, cost of concrete and availability of workers, Mitchell said.
In August, the state Attorney General’s office rejected the hoteliers’ petition, saying it was too late to challenge to the Colorado Economic Development Commission’s May 2012 award of public incentives.
City of Aurora attorney Charlie Richardson said the hoteliers filed the petition simply because they want to prevent competition.
“You do not need to be a lawyer or a sophisticated consultant to come to the clear and inescapable conclusion that any petition filed to disrupt the project is solely based on an effort to thwart competition for a hotel and convention business,” Richardson wrote.
About 12,000 construction jobs are estimated to be created during construction and 2,500 permanent jobs will be created when construction is complete, Aurora economic development officials have said.
Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.