will spend $195.8 million in the next four years to remake its Lincoln Park campus into an example of the every day.
Colorado’s largest water utility announced plans Monday to rebuild its 34.6-acre operations complex at 1600 W. 12th Ave., the utility’s hub for the better part of 100 years.
In place of its current campus, Denver Water intends to create a more efficient, sustainable and publicly accessible headquarters that CEO Jim Lochhead said he hopes will become a showcase for state-of-the-art water and energy conservation measures.
“We believe this is the future of water, in the West in particular. We’re facing climate change and drought and all kinds of other things,” Lochhead said. “Rather than talk about it, this is a real opportunity for us to do it.”
On the revitalized campus, the gently used water from sinks, clothes washers and showers, will be treated and reused in toilets and irrigation, where potable water isn’t necessary.
Stormwater runoff will be minimized and collected for reuse in irrigation. Rainwater will be harvested.
A geothermal well system, tied into a water conduit on 12th Avenue, will allow the utility to “extract energy from our own drinking water,” Lochhead said.
An “eco machine” in the new administration building’s lobby will look like a greenhouse but will be a working biotreatment system, on-site for irrigation or discharge into the South Platte River.
“We think we can be at the cutting edge, to help prove out a lot of the technology and sustainability concepts that can be replicated at other major developments in the city,” Lochhead said.
Funding for the project will come from the utility’s bond-supported capital program. Construction will begin this winter, with completion scheduled for late 2019.
The first phase will focus on rebuilding trade buildings, fleet maintenance and warehouses. After that, a new six-story administration building will go up on the north end of the site. The existing office building will be torn down to make way for employee parking.
As part of the project, Denver Water’s call center will return to the main campus, allowing the utility to sell the property to the south where it’s currently located, Lochhead said.
Denver Water is for the new administration building and LEED Gold for the operations buildings, although much of their plan goes beyond U.S. Green Building Council standards, said Bill Mosher, senior managing director of Trammell Crow Co. Trammell Crow is managing the project for the public utility.
“What’s anticipated here will venture out in some new ways that I think is going to be really exciting for the city,” Mosher said.
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/emilierusch
