Tim Sabus owns land in an area he describes as the working-class parking district, with some spots renting for as little as a dollar a day.
If, as civic leaders envision, that blacktop jungle southwest of Park Avenue is transformed into a high-rise haven, his customers may get priced out of downtown.
“These are the people who work downtown and people who shop in the stores. If they’re forced to pay for high-priced parking, where will they go?” Sabus asked those leaders Thursday.
His comments came at a public presentation of Denver’s Downtown Area Plan, a 20-year plan for core city growth. A group of 40 developers, city officials, business owners and residents has spent the past 16 months drafting a plan to protect the city’s economic core and to promote healthy growth over the next two decades.
The plan will be finalized and submitted to the city by the end of May. Once it is approved by the city – on July 6, if things go as scheduled – the document will provide a map to private developers as they consider projects throughout downtown.
It identifies four key areas of focus, including the area called Arapahoe Square, in which Sabus owns parking lots. Bounded by Park Avenue West, 20th Street, Tremont Place and the alley between Larimer and Lawrence streets, the district is best known for its homeless shelters and vacant lots.
“It’s good, valuable close-in land,” said Daniel Iacofano, the consultant hired to lead the planning process. Because so little exists there, he said, “Here’s where to build the tall buildings. You don’t have buildings whose views we would block.”
The district is about the size of Central Platte Valley, a neighborhood that was similarly bare 20 years ago.
“Look what’s there now,” said Tami Door, president and chief executive of the Downtown Denver Partnership. “We have the opportunity to change the whole landscape of downtown there.”
Other recommendations Thursday:
Creating a downtown fare-free zone in which transit riders could travel free.
Redevelop “opportunity sites” such as the Greyhound Bus Station, the Federal Reserve Bank site, the Office Depot sites at 16th and Market streets, the 16th Street block known as the Fontius Block, the Emily Griffith Opportunity School site and the Evans School site at 11th Avenue.
Connect Denver Union Station to downtown along 18th and 19th streets using circulator buses.
Connect the Auraria campus with the Ballpark neighborhood via streetcar service along Larimer Street.
The redevelopment of Arapahoe Square generated the greatest interest and debate among the approximately 150 people gathered at a public meeting on the plan Thursday evening.
Some echoed Sabus’ concern about where the homeless and low-income residents would go if Arapahoe Square becomes a trendy neighborhood of high-end lofts and urban apartments.
“This was the only place where people who weren’t welcome elsewhere could go,” said Dave DeForest-Stalls, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado Inc.
Besides the homeless shelters, places such as The Spot have served as a neutral meeting ground for urban youths from across the city. Residents paying $400,000 to $800,000 to live in Arapahoe Square may not be as accommodating of the area’s current residents, DeForest-Stalls said.
Curtis Park resident John Hayden said the answer isn’t to drive the homeless away but to build up the density of the neighborhood to the point where they become a smaller portion of the total population.
“We can solve this by putting more people on the street who aren’t homeless,” he said.
To that end, residents of the Ballpark and City Park neighborhoods asked city planners to design Arapahoe Square with higher density and taller buildings than currently envisioned.
The group’s final plan May 24 is expected to include recommendations about what will be required for each recommendation, where the funding could come from and who should be responsible for implementing it. The final report will then be presented to Denver’s planning board, Blueprint Denver committee and City Council in June and July.
Assistant business editor Linda Castrone can be reached at 303-954-1452 or lcastrone@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
Key points of a downtown face-lift
- Arapahoe Square redevelopment
- A fare-free transit zone
- Key spots include the Greyhound Bus Station, the Federal Reserve Bank site, Office Depot sites at 16th and Market streets, the 16th Street block known as the Fontius Block (above), the Emily Griffith Opportunity School site and the Evans School site at 11th Avenue
- Connect Union Station to other corridors with circulator buses
- Street-car service between the Auraria campus and the Ballpark neighborhood
