Lakewood – Redevelopment of a portion of the Denver Federal Center for St. Anthony Central Hospital and a transit station took a big step forward Monday.
The Lakewood City Council authorized City Manager Mike Rock to execute agreements to buy and then sell 65 acres of the center, which lies between West Sixth and West Alameda avenues and South Kipling Street and Union Boulevard.
“We’re moving as quickly as we can,” Rock said. “Completing the purchase agreement by year’s end is absolutely the goal, and sooner if possible.”
The offer to purchase is still “in process,” with details being refined, Rock said.
The city is acting as broker in the deal, which will not involve any city money.The city also is annexing the entire Federal Center, although only the hospital and transit-station areas will be rezoned.
Catholic Health Initiatives Colorado, which operates St. Anthony Central, wants to buy a 30- acre site to construct a 900,000- square-foot, 380-bed hospital and a medical office building and an adjacent 15-acre parcel.
Hospital officials said they want to break ground yet this year with the hospital opening in 2010.
George Zara, chief executive of St. Anthony, said relocation of the hospital from its cramped quarters at 4231 W. 16th Ave. offers the opportunity to create “the Johns Hopkins of the West,” a reference to the acclaimed Baltimore hospital.
The Regional Transportation District is interested in buying 20 acres north of the St. Anthony parcel.
The site would replace the Cold Spring park-n-Ride, provide a station for the West Corridor light-rail line when it opens in 2013 and allow transit-oriented commercial development.
Relocations of the hospital and the park-n-Ride would occur at the same time.
Rock said appraisals have been completed on the value of the land, which has been declared surplus by the federal government.
No monetary details have been released, but Rock said Catholic Health Initiatives and RTD would pay with a combination of cash and improvements, such as water and sewer lines, to aging Federal Center buildings.
The secure area on the 670-acre Federal Center will continue to include more than two dozen federal agencies.
Rock said the city is negotiating details of the annexation agreement “to reassure the federal government that they’re annexing the property into the city.”
A public hearing on the agreements will be held Nov. 27 at the City Council’s meeting.
