AURORA | For the third time in about 18 months, members of Aurora City Council have agreed to grant the city power to condemn a parcel of land within the derelict Regatta Plaza, an increasingly controversial part of redevelopment drawing criticism on and off the city council.
Acting as the Aurora Urban Renewal Authority, council members on Monday gave the city the green light to use its eminent domain authority on a parcel of land in the northwest corner of Regatta Plaza that is currently owned by KeyBank. It’s part of a massive redevelopment project to turn the failed shopping plaza at Parker Road and Interstate 225 into a trendy cache of shops and residences focusing on the city’s newly expanded light-rail system.
But the city council pact came after a sharp rebuke of the city staff and project managers pushing lawmakers into a condemnation proceeding by making it seem the redevelopment would stall without swift action.
“This is like being in a jetliner at 40,000 feet and a flight attendant comes on and says, announces, ‘Is there anybody who knows how to fly a jetliner?’” said Councilman Charlie Richardson, whose ward encompasses Regatta Plaza.
The condemnation resolution passed by a vote of 7-3. Council members Sally Mounier, Marsha Berzins and Francoise Bergan voted against the measure. Councilman Brad Pierce was absent from the meeting. The Aurora City Council also acts as the city’s urban renewal authority.
City and state elected officials have become increasingly reluctant and often come under fire for using the power of condemnation for redevelopments. In recent years, state lawmakers have worked to restrict the ways a city can invoke condemnations.
Jon Caldara, president of the Libertarian-leaning think tank Independence Institute in Denver, scolded the city’s decision to condemn another property.
“I thought Aurora’s job was to fix the … potholes and keep the police and fire working, but instead your city council has decided to become social engineers and use the power of eminent domain to create a city by their own fiat,” Caldara said. “It’s pretty ugly.”
The contested KeyBank parcel covers about 1.4 acres and sits at the corner of East Cornell Avenue and South Peoria Street. The city’s decision to purchase the small plot of land comes after more than a year of unsuccessful negotiations with KeyBank, according to city documents.
The process of overhauling Regatta began in earnest in late 2015, when the city selected Mile High Koelbel to redevelop the ramshackle commercial space, which is located at the corner of Peoria Street and Parker Road, across from the Nine Mile Station parking garage. The area was deemed blighted in 2013.
As part of the ongoing redevelopment of Regatta, the city said MHK has negotiated with four parties that own individual portions of land at the plaza: King Soopers, KeyBank, and two local businessmen, John Buckley and Romesh Sharma. King Soopers has proven to be the only entity of the four with which MHK has been able to successfully negotiate terms.
In 2015, city council voted to allow AURA to condemn the Buckley and Sharma parcels, which total more than half of the roughly 21-acre redevelopment area of the plaza. The decision to condemn those plots was later upheld in court and final purchase amounts will be determined later this year following property valuations, according to city documents.
As part of the negotiations with King Soopers, the city agreed to allow the grocer, which currently has an operating location at Regatta, to construct a new facility in the redeveloped area. Plans for that new location call for the store to move its current gas station across the plaza and onto land that is currently owned by KeyBank, according to city documents. Specifically, KeyBank’s unrelenting stance stems from a disagreement about the value of the property.
A spokesperson for KeyBank declined to comment on the property transfer prior to the Monday meeting.
In November, the city granted AURA a $21.5 million loan for the acquisition of all necessary parcels at Regatta as well as the demolition of existing structures, according to city spokeswoman Julie Patterson. Of that $21.5 million total, $3.5 million has been earmarked for demolition costs and $13.3 million will be used to buy the Buckley parcel. A portion of the remaining $4.7 million will be used to nab the KeyBank property, although an exact number won’t be available until the plot is appraised and later valued in court.
In the agenda for Monday’s AURA meeting, city staff wrote, “the redevelopment of the Regatta Plaza is unable to proceed without acquisition of the KeyBank parcel.”
That line proved contentious throughout the roughly 20-minute meeting.
“Could we do one thing? Don’t write any more sentences like ‘the redevelopment is unable to proceed without’ because there are a whole bunch of things that can be done,” Mayor Steve Hogan said. “This sentence simply isn’t true, so don’t write stuff like this — don’t.”
Deputy City Manager Jason Bachelor defended the phrasing, saying the sentence was intended to reference the longterm development of the area.
“It’s more of a totality of it,” Bachelor said. “If you don’t ultimately condemn KeyBank and acquire that parcel, you’re not gong to move forward on the full redevelopment of the site.”
Although the overall timeline for the project remains somewhat nebulous, Andrea Amonick, manager of the city’s Development Services Division, said the hiccup with KeyBank will not delay the longterm development of the shopping center.
“We don’t expect this to hold up the overall construction,” she said.
City Attorney Mike Hyman said, in a worst-case scenario, a possession hearing on the Key Bank plot won’t begin until July. But he said he expects the necessary legal proceeding to occur before then.
Hogan forcefully condemned the overall management of the project at the Monday meeting, saying the city has given the impression that all construction at Regatta has been stalled due the tangle with KeyBank, although, theoretically, work should still be moving forward on other areas of the plaza.
City staffers affirmed other portions of the redevelopment were proceeding, but Hogan rebuked those claims.
“That’s the frustration … that this seems to be an ongoing, step-by-step, iterative process rather than a parallel process that allows us to do some things if other things get hung up, and I don’t understand that,” Hogan said. “I just don’t understand that kind of project management on a project of this size — I just don’t understand it.”
Correction: This story has been updated to provide additional details on how the city is funding the acquisition and demolition of properties at Regatta Plaza.