The owners of the Westminster Mall have sued in district court, accusing the city of Westminster and its economic development arm of damaging their ability to attract tenants by declaring the shopping center blighted and denying needed services in order to exercise eminent domain.
The suit, filed Thursday, claims the city wants to demolish the 33-year-old mall and resurrect it as a retail, office and residential complex in order to increase sales-tax revenues.
It is illegal under state law for a government to take property to enhance tax revenue or boost economic development, said Leslie A. Fields, attorney for the Westminster Mall Co.
“While a condemnation case has not yet been filed by the city, the aggressive actions taken by the city over time with respect to the mall constitute an exercise of dominion and control over the mall property for unlawful economically-driven reasons,” she said.
In an e-mail, Westminster City Manager Brent McFall denied the city has violated the law.
“Based on what has been presented in the complaint, we see no merit to the Mall Company’s allegations and are confident that we will prevail once the matter is adjudicated in a court of law.”
Besides eliminating a manned police station at the mall, the city has reduced the number of officers on patrol there, creating the impression that the mall is less safe than it once was, according to the suit.
Also, Westminster installed a new water line in 2009 adjacent to the center, but it won’t be activated until new development occurs, the suit said.
And the Westminster Economic Development Authority purchased a nearby restaurant and demolished it “in plain view of all visitors to the mall and the traveling public,” according to the suit.
The development authority also bought a building attached to the mall from Macy’s and refused to continue payments that the department store chain had promised, the suit said.
As a result of the city’s actions, “the property is unmarketable,” the mall company claims in the lawsuit, filed in Jefferson County District Court. “No reasonable prospective buyer, tenant or investor is interested in owning or using the property for anything other than short-term uses.”
At one time, the mall near U.S. 36 and Sheridan Boulevard was a retail magnet that drew customers from throughout the metro area. But shoppers have abandoned its shops for FlatIron Crossing, which opened in Broomfield in 2000, and other new retail complexes.
Sales-tax revenue collected at the mall has plunged 70 percent since 1999.
City officials have for years talked about redeveloping the property. They believe it could become a vibrant mix of retail and residential development, serviced by commuter rail and the Regional Transportation District’s park-n-Ride complex just off U.S. 36 and West 88th Avenue.
The city declared the shopping center a blight last year and marked it an urban-renewal area.
In his e-mail, McFall said the mall ownership presented no objections when the City Council created the urban-renewal area. “Pursuant to Colorado’s Urban Renewal Law, the City conducted a study of the property and in that study, the property was determined to be blighted. … The Westminster Economic Development Authority is currently working in furtherance of its legally adopted urban renewal plan to facilitate redevelopment at the site.”
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
