Development is poised for the last wide-open unprotected piece of Jefferson County – the Rooney Valley – and it promises to change the west side forever.
Lakewood has begun building houses on its share of the 2,200-acre valley, which straddles C-470 as it sweeps south along the Dakota Hogback from Interstate 70 to Morrison Road.
Commercial lease/sale signs have sprung up just weeks after Jefferson County rezoned 112 acres at the future West Alameda Parkway/C-470 interchange and created a special district to pay for infrastructure.
“We would like to see a Tech Center West with commercial space and offices, and retail and restaurants to support that,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Kevin McCasky.
“It’s important to keep our eyes a decade in the future, and this will shape the county for decades,” said Commissioner Kathy Hartman.
The valley, which sprawls into Lakewood, unincorporated Jefferson County and Morrison, could one day boast 1.5 million square feet of office space, 2,100 housing units and up to 8,000 primary jobs, officials said.
“This valley is the last and largest ‘green field’ opportunity for economic development in Jefferson County,” said Preston Gibson, president of the Jefferson Economic Council.
Gibson noted the new $18 million C-470 interchange at Alameda – scheduled to be completed next year – will provide “outstanding access and will open this valley for development. It will put us on the map.”
Until recently, development prospects looked dismal, with the Rooney Valley locked in bankruptcy throes for more than 20 years.
The long delay led many people to think the valley – home to the historic Rooney Ranch and prehistoric dinosaur footprints – was open space.
Steve Davis, a commercial pilot from Evergreen, called the project “really neat,” but he worried about preservation of open space and the Rooney Ranch.
“It would have been awesome if it had been kept like a park, but that’s not going to happen,” said Rich Rooney, whose family sold the last large piece of Rooney Ranch last year after having it in the family since 1859.
The ranch house that was home to six generations of Rooneys is on the National Register of Historic Places, “so they can’t touch that,” Rooney said. The rest “is going to be a miniature DTC.”
Losing the valley vistas is sad, Hartman said, but with 1.7 million more people projected to be living in the metro area in 25 years, “we don’t want development from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs and halfway to Kansas.”
Jefferson County officials are keen to attract high-paying jobs,such as those in aerospace, engineering, biotechnology and the environment.
Hartman said the area is ideal for such jobs, with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado School of Mines and Lockheed Martin nearby.
“This is a top priority,” said Tim Carl, the county’s development and transportation director. “We want to look at economic development opportunities when we consider changes in land use.”
The county initiated the April 24 rezoning of three parcels clustered around the future interchange, a move supported by the landowners: Jefferson County, Xcel Energy and Rooney Inc.
The rezoning puts a 35-foot lid on building heights and discourages “big box” stores and self-storage firms.
The part of Alameda Parkway that crosses Dinosaur Ridge will be closed, accessible by gate to pedestrians and buses from the Friends of Dinosaur Ridge.
The dinosaur museum, located on open space, is negotiating to move closer to the ridge, said museum president Joe Temple.
John Mullins, a planner on projects such as Denver West and the Park Meadows expansion, is working with a special district to fund area roads.
“It will take 30 years to build out the valley,” Mullins said. “It won’t happen overnight.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
