Only two teams are left fighting to redevelop Union Station, the crown jewel in Denver’s new FasTracks transit system, primarily because the project comes with hefty upfront costs.
The team chosen in September must find $285 million in financing to bury train, light-rail and bus lanes below the 100-year-old train station. It also must bring another $5 million in funding to renovate the 125-year-old railroad depot before work on the more lucrative ground-level retail and residential project can begin.
For the winner, the payoff could be huge. When the project is completed over the next 20 years, it will be an instant landmark, the center of a regional transportation system that has been anticipated for decades.
It will serve as the hub for mall shuttle riders and light-rail commuters from throughout the metro area, as well as the landing pad for trains arriving from Denver International Airport.
Once crisscrossed by rail lines, the Central Platte Valley has been transformed into an urban neighborhood with high-rise residences and more than 3 million square feet of offices, shops, restaurants and hotels.
A W Hotel is planned for the area, and the Museum of Contemporary Art is under construction.
Over the past decade, light- rail, bus and mall shuttle routes have been clustered on the 19.5-acre Union Station site. A master plan calls for them to be buried below ground, leaving room for 1.4 million square feet of private development in and around Union Station. Over the next 20 years, a dense mix of homes, offices, restaurants and shops will be built.
At the heart of the site plan is the historic railroad station, originally built in 1881. The cavernous waiting room that once held thousands of arriving and departing passengers is now all but deserted, its vaulted ceiling stained from leaking roof tiles.
Restoring it to its original grandeur – and repurposing it to serve 21st-century travelers – will require nearly $5 million.
“Hopefully, the master developer also will be able to generate a financing scheme to make things happen in the station,” said Richard Rost, manager of facilities engineering for the Regional Transportation District. “There is no funding in FasTracks to deal with this building.”
RTD paid $43 million for the station in 2001. RTD, the city and county of Denver, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Council of Governments jointly manage the facility. Representatives of each agency serve on the Executive Oversight Committee that will select the developer.
“All the transportation infrastructure has to be in place before you can start development,” said Liz Rao, RTD’s planning director.
Early excitement over the high-profile project drew submissions last August from 11 development teams. Two teams – one led by real-estate tycoon Donald Trump, the other by local architect Timothy O’Brien – were eliminated early on for submitting inadequate responses.
One by one, the remaining teams dropped off until just two remained:
The team led by Cherokee Investment Partners LLC includes Dakota Ridge Development LLC, New Boston Fund, Sage Hospitality Resources, Williams Jackson Ewing, Buchanan Yonuschewski Group and Kohn Pederson Fox.
The team led by Continuum Partners and East West Partners includes AECOM, DMJM Harris, Kiewit Construction and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Both signed confidentiality agreements prohibiting them from discussing the project.
The Continuum/East West team is thought to have an edge because of both firms’ commitment to downtown.
East West, headed by Mark Smith, is largely responsible for the development of Riverfront and Commons Park, and the company is opening an office inside Union Station.
Continuum developed 16 Market Square, a residential, office and retail building across from RTD’s Market Street Station. The company, led by Mark Falcone, also is developing Art House, a 13-unit luxury town home community, and the Museum of Contemporary Art on Delgany Street.
While Cherokee’s team is equally qualified, the Raleigh, N.C.-based firm already is undertaking one of the region’s largest transit-oriented developments at the site of the former Gates Rubber plant.
Final bids are due July 24, and a developer should be selected by the end of September.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
