Copyright The Denver Post
Denver Water plans to start construction on a new operations campus in Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood in May and wrap up the first phase of that project by July 2027, according to a development plan the utility’s architect filed on Friday with the city’s Department of Community Planning and Development. The new campus will replace the 25 acres that the utility has agreed to provide to the Denver Broncos from its campus, which is near Burnham Yard. The team has selected that site to build a new stadium and entertainment district and has agreed to compensate Denver Water for any relocation costs. Denver Water plans to build a large warehouse and pipe storage facility on 15.5 acres of what it is calling Lot A, roughly at 2525 and 2577 E. 40th Ave. That lot will also host fleet maintenance and a trades shop. Lot B, which will be on 6 acres to the west, will host a meter shop, according to the filing by Stantec. The utility said it will need to run new water mains and sewer lines and add detention ponds and private roads throughout the two lots. It may also need to widen Josephine Street north of 41st Avenue. To comply with Denver’s requirements that developers dedicate land for parks or open space or pay a fee, Denver Water said it expects to set aside more than 10% of the land on the two lots as open space. But there’s a catch — the public will not be allowed to access the land, only to look at it. “To preserve the security of Denver Water’s operational facilities and systems, however, public access to landscaped areas on these properties will be visual rather than physical. As Denver Water’s function serves both the local community and much of the Front Range; this is a broader public security consideration. The intent remains to notably enhance the neighborhood while not drawing the public directly into the campus’ secure operations,” Stantec said in its filing. The plan’s submission follows a vote by the utility’s board of directors on Sept. 24 to purchase two large parcels for $53 million. A sale is expected to close on the larger 15-acre parcel, home to Lot A, in mid-November. That location once hosted an AT&T facility used for storage, a call center and corporate operations from 1973 until its sale in 2018. Tom Gordon, through Iselo 40th Ave. LLC, currently owns the property, according to city property records and filings made with the Colorado Secretary of State. The second parcel is adjacent at 2535 E. 40th Ave. and 4235 N. Columbine St. and is owned by Delia Lerma of Lakewood, according to Denver property records. That sale should close in the spring. The money will come out of the utility’s 2025 and 2026 budgets for “Other Property” until the Denver Broncos reimburse all costs associated with the location, including land purchases. Denver Water secretly reached a deal with the Broncos to cede 25 acres of its 36-acre campus. In April and May, the utility sent out letters to owners of 23 nearby parcels covering 18 acres about a voluntary sale. The move was considered a first step before a potential eminent domain action, which some attorneys viewed as a potential violation of Colorado law, which bars the use of public condemnation powers to benefit a private party. Denver Water did end up buying one parcel to the north of its campus at 1801 W. 13th Ave. for $2 million, but in September rescinded the offer letters it had made on the other parcels. It was able to do so because the Broncos, with the city’s assistance, found other locations that could host the utility’s operations. The Broncos need the land to accommodate a new stadium and surrounding mixed-use development at Burnham Yard, a 58-acre rail yard operated by the Union Pacific for more than 150 years until it closed in 2016. The Colorado Department of Transportation owns the yard in the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood and plans to sell it to the Broncos. Denver Water did acquire a parcel at 1801 W. 13th Ave. for $2 million, a cost the team will also reimburse. The city has also identified a parcel near Empower Field that could be part of the relocation as well.
