A developer who is in line to receive up to $9 million in Denver-backed loans and subsidies for redevelopment of the Lowenstein Theatre has close business ties with Mayor John Hickenlooper.
The mayor publicly recused himself from the city’s dealings on the Lowenstein project more than a year ago because of his relationship with the developer, Charles Woolley II.
“We not only want to avoid conflicts of interests, we go above and beyond to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interests,” said the mayor’s spokeswoman, Lindy Eichenbaum-Lent.
Wooley is one of three businessmen who administer a trust that manages the mayor’s business holdings.
Hickenlooper also helped found Woolley’s firm, St. Charles Town Co., which received preliminary approval Tuesday night from the Denver City Council for a $2.4 million low-interest federal loan. The city last year targeted another $1.9 million for the Lowenstein project.
The city and the developer also are discussing plans to reimburse an additional $4.6 million in development costs by pledging future property and sales taxes generated by the project.
Woolley said the mayor has avoided becoming involved in the project, which the city’s economic development department touts as a potential catalyst for further growth along Colfax Avenue.
Woolley said he needed the city’s financial help to secure private financing to bear the rest of the cost of the $15 million project.
“The city’s involved in this because it’s the only way that any project of this sort could get done,” Woolley said. “I describe this as my lifetime civic project for the community.”
The 56,000-square-foot project will have space for the Tattered Cover Book Store and Twist & Shout Records, as well as a movie house with a cafe.
In 1993, Hickenlooper was a founding member of the St. Charles Town Co. At one time, the mayor owned half of the company, but his share fell to 10 percent in 1996 and eventually to 1 percent, according to the mayor’s office. The mayor’s trust that manages his business affairs disposed of his share in the firm in 2005.
Woolley said the mayor hasn’t received payments from the company since the late 1990s.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporter’s error, it should have stated that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper no longer has a percent share in the St. Charles Town Co. The mayor’s trust that manages his business affairs disposed of his share in the firm in 2005.
