The company that’s redeveloping Stapleton is poised to get a big contract at Fitzsimons campus in Aurora.
Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. is negotiating with the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority to become the agency’s long-term development partner for the campus’ proposed bioscience park.
About 3.5 million square feet of space projected to cost about $2 billion is planned for the 160-acre park, said Jill Farnham, acting executive director of the redevelopment authority. Those numbers could increase, depending on the agreement that’s reached with the developer.
Negotiations are expected to be completed in the first quarter next year, she said.
If the authority cannot reach an agreement with Forest City, it will start negotiations with DTC/Meridian, the other shortlisted candidate.
Forest City is well qualified for the job. The company, which posted revenue of more than $1 billion last year, has worked on a number of bioscience developments, including University Park at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., and the University of Pennsylvania Translational Research Laboratory in Philadelphia, said Tom Gleason, a spokesman for the company.
Despite intense competition to lure bioscience companies to the region, Fitzsimons has unique assets that put it in a good position, Farnham said. The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, for example, ranks 14th in terms of grant funding. It received $350 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health last year.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
