Australian developer Lend Lease would build homes and commercial buildings on a fraction of the 26,000-acre Lowry Bombing Range, then preserve the rest for recreation, education and restoration purposes.
Over the next 20 years, its project would bring $328 million into state coffers.
A team that calls itself the Arapahoe Grasslands Conservancy is interested only in preserving 23,000 acres of the site. It would pay the state $15 million for a fraction of that land and build a reservoir and watershed-protection area on it.
They represent the first two of four teams vying for the chance to develop 40 square miles of state-owned land 15 miles southeast of Denver.
The parcel once held the Lowry Range and is thought to be the nation’s largest piece of undeveloped metropolitan property under one owner.
The state Board of Land Commissioners on Tuesday heard their presentations and will hear from LRPG LLC and Carma Colorado today. The hearing starts at 8 a.m. in the Boettcher Auditorium at the Colorado History Museum, 1300 Broadway.
Colorado holds the land in trust for the benefit of kindergarten-through-12th-grade public education. The land board has been charged with developing the parcel, which is five times larger than the Stapleton redevelopment, to maximize its value.
A year ago, the board asked developers for proposals for 3,000 acres west of Watkins Road between East Quincy and Yale avenues. It also asked for conservation proposals for an additional 23,000 acres to the south. Quincy establishes the border between the development site and the conservation area.
Lend Lease proposes paying for conservation management by charging a community fee of $500 every time a home sells to pay for conservation management. The fee would apply to homes that are resold as well as to new-home sales.
Arapahoe Grasslands Conservation’s proposal would provide training facilities for the Army Air National Guard.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
