Arvada – Two proposed mixed-use developments totaling nearly 1,500 acres could attract jobs, residents and much-needed tax dollars to this northwest metro suburb and Jefferson County.
Vauxmont and Cimarron Park constitute the last large chunk of land that can be developed in the county.
Rezonings for the two developments – which stretch over 4 miles from Indiana Street west to Colorado 93 and 1 mile from Rocky Flats south to Colorado 72 – were unanimously approved Monday night by the Arvada City Council.
The new developments will offer “a huge opportunity for job growth in Arvada … and will create a lot of economic opportunity for primary job development in Jefferson County,” said Preston Gibson, president of the Jefferson Economic Council.
About 52 percent of Jefferson County residents leave the county to work, Gibson said. The project could provide space for the kind of “entrepreneurial” jobs in aerospace, aviation, bioscience and renewable energy the county wants.
Completion of the final leg of the 470 beltway through the site “would help this development, but this development can be successful” without it, said Arvada Mayor Ken Fellman.
Developer Charlie McKay said if the beltway isn’t completed, “we can come back and figure ways to utilize that land.”
No one spoke against the proposals at Monday’s public hearings, although questions were raised about where the development will acquire water rights.
“We do have enough water to get the project up and running,” developer Bruce Nickerson said.
Bill Ray, Arvada’s deputy city manager, said land for the two projects was annexed 15 years ago. The projects are not expected to be built out for 50 years.
Vauxmont – 1,000 acres in the northeast quadrant of Colorado 72 and 93 – would offer retail, office, industrial, residential, parks and open space.
A maximum of 518 single-family homes, townhouses and condos would be built, with 137 acres set for commercial use and 562 acres for industrial use.
Cimarron Park, a 426-acre site near Indiana Street and West 96th Avenue, proposes 1,700 single-family homes, townhouses, condos and apartments, with 133 acres for retail and 23 acres for office and industrial uses.
The two projects are a vestige of the 18,000-acre Jefferson Center – the “Denver Tech Center of the North” – proposed on 28 square miles east and west of Colorado 93 at Colorado 72.
After the project stalled, a large portion of the Jefferson Center land was purchased as open space by Boulder and Jefferson counties and Arvada.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
