Q: How did you come to represent the Union Station ownership group?
A: I have a long love affair with the Central Platte Valley (where Union Station is located). I was the lawyer when we rezoned all of this in 1995 for (former owner) Trillium.
I don’t think any of us could have envisioned this would have developed as fast or as fully as it has. I remember working on it with (the late) Jennifer Moulton, who was the head of planning with the (Wellington) Webb administration. At the time, we put in a provision to develop 2,000 units of residential, and we all thought it was crazy.
I’ve got an interesting and long history with this part of Denver. I was in private practice for a number of years representing developers. Then I was city attorney under (Mayor John) Hickenlooper.
I was the lawyer when we rezoned Cherokee/Gates and Forest City’s Stapleton and other land-use projects.
The EOC (Executive Oversight Committee) approached me because they felt I might have a unique understanding of how this project has evolved.
Q: How close are you to a contract with the development team?
A: We’re working on the letter of intent between the EOC and the developer. We’re all really optimistic we can get the letter of intent put together in the next several weeks. It’s the first completed phase in the negotiations between the EOC and the developer.
Q: Why has it taken so long to negotiate this deal?
A: It’s a very complicated project. What I’ve learned in working on these types of projects is they are complex with lots of moving parts and lots of interested parties. With something as iconic and revered as Union Station, the public process is extremely important.
Then you have RTD, which has Union Station as well as the overall FasTracks. You have the city and county of Denver, which has Union Station as well as the entire city. You have CDOT, which has Union Station, as well as everything in the state they worry about. And DRCOG is trying to manage various grants and funding sources.
When I was engaged in September 2006, we knew we needed to sit down and figure out how to close the funding gap. I sat down with the city, RTD, DRCOG and CDOT. We’ve worked very hard with the developers, Union Station Neighborhood Co. It became clear we had to reconfigure the plan.
We’ve been able to put together a package of how we’re going to fund it and what the plan is.
Q: Are you still working on cutting costs?
A: We’re always looking for ways to cut the costs further, and we’re always looking for additional sources of revenue.
In terms of federal dollars, this project has the least federal money involved of all projects of a similar size around the country.
Q: The team does a good job of explaining why the changes to the plan are necessary. But there are members of the Union Station Advisory Committee who put a lot of time into developing the master plan. How do you respond to their concerns that their efforts were wasted?
A: Their efforts weren’t wasted. Their efforts were quite helpful.
When you embark on a project like this, it’s a long journey. Plans will evolve over time as we recognize what’s available and not available, and what’s realistic and not realistic. A lot of their ideas will be incorporated into the project.
Q: Do you have a strategy to lure car-happy Denverites to mass transit?
A: If you look at the investment we’re making in FasTracks and the density in the valley, you’ll see it will be more convenient and economical to use transit as you move across Denver.
We all recognize that people are very used to using their cars.
Q: Who is the visionary for the components of the development that aren’t transportation-based?
A: Union Station Neighborhood Co.; Peter Park, director of planning for the city and county of Denver. RTD will be involved.
We’ve been engaged in extensive conversations with the neighborhood groups, as well as the Downtown Denver Partnership.
I really have enjoyed working on this. It’s a big, complicated, messy project.
Edited for length and clarity by Margaret Jackson.
