Broomfield unwrapped plans Wednesday for a $45 million, 6,000-seat indoor arena that would play host to concerts, sporting events and trade shows.
The venue – to open late next year – would be the centerpiece of a 200-acre retail and residential project along U.S. 36 between West 108th and 120th avenues.
Midsized theaters and arenas are becoming a sweet spot for bookings, and the University of Denver’s Magness Arena and the recently opened 5,000-seat Lecture Hall at the Colorado Convention Center – owned by Denver – are filling that niche locally.
The convention center isn’t worried about the competition from the new arena, said Jack Finlaw, director of Denver’s division of theaters and arenas.
Tim Romani, who will manage the arena’s construction and who managed the building of the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field at Mile High, called the Boulder corridor one of the most underserved areas in the Denver marketplace.
“The arena is well situated and well scaled for the market,” he said.
The arena’s developers are John Frew, former general manager of the Grand Prix of Denver, and Tim Wiens, a banker and real estate developer whose company owns the property.
They are building it under an agreement with the Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority, which will own the arena and is selling the bonds to pay for it. Money to pay off the bonds will come from property taxes and sales taxes generated throughout the development, which is called Arista.
“There’s a need for family-oriented affordable entertainment in the north metro market,” Wiens said.
The developers haven’t lined up a company to promote events at the center, but Wiens predicts the arena will be booked 115 to 130 days a year. “Early indications and inside and independent studies say that we should be able to do that,” he said.
He expects to draw visitors primarily from a 15-mile radius.
At 6,000 seats, the arena would be roughly the size of Magness Arena when it’s set up for a hockey game.
Kevin Standbridge, Broomfield’s assistant city and county manager, said the arena complements much of the development that has occurred in Broomfield along U.S. 36.
“We’ve focused on retail and office and layering in housing. Entertainment is a logical next step,” he said.
And midsized venues are the hot trend: The convention center’s newly opened Lecture Hall holds 5,000, and the 1 1/2-year-old Budweiser Events Center in Loveland seats 7,200.
“From a consumer standpoint, there’s more of an intimacy factor at midsized arenas,” said Lou D’Angeli, assistant general manager of the Budweiser Events Center. “A lot of the trends are toward smaller venues.”
Construction on the project is expected to start in August, with the opening slated for late 2006.
Construction on the surrounding development – formerly known as Park 36 – is expected to begin about the same time. The project will include 1,200 houses and apartments and 600,000 to 800,000 square feet of retail.
Arista is being developed by Wiens and Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises, a privately held company that has developed, acquired or managed more than $6 billion in real estate assets.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
