Denver Mayor Michael Hancock speaks in October to the Colorado Economic Development Commission about the National Western Center project. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)
How much will it take to launch Denver’s new city office that will oversee the $1.1 billion National Western Center project? The answer, contained in a new funding proposal under consideration by the City Council, is more than $1.3 million this year.
That’s what the city says it will need to staff up and pay three law firms that city lawyers are leaning on heavily to lay the groundwork for a project that will remake a big piece of north Denver.
The council’s Finance and Services Committee on Tuesday morning advanced the budget appropriation ordinance to the full council. The money to pay for it would come from 2016 contingency funds.
Mayor Michael Hancock already to head the new office. The proposed operating budget is $585,500 this year, including staff, services and supplies, and the salary for an assistant city attorney shared by the office and the North Denver Cornerstone Collaborative. Leid previously was director of the NDCC, a separate city office that, among a half-dozen initiatives in north Denver, spearheaded the National Western Center project’s formation.
The National Western office’s operating budget is expected to rise next year, according to a proposal summary, because the city will consolidate some staff and consultant contracts that this year are in the NDCC’s budget. The two offices will share some staff members.
This year, the largest chunk of the new office’s funding — $750,000 — would pay for outside legal services from Kaplan, Kirsch and Rockwell; Butler Snow; and Hogan Lovells. The city attorney’s office accepted bids from the three law firms for help with legal work on the massive project.
That includes providing research and advice on various aspects of the project — including figuring out the governance structure among several partners, likely resulting in the formation of a project authority late next year. They also will help work out how the project site will operate and potential sponsorship opportunities and naming rights for new buildings and for the campus, city officials told the committee.
The city’s master plan for the project — which is aimed at transforming the dusty stock show complex over the next decade into a year-round tourism, event, education and agricultural innovation center — is estimated to cost $856 million. Most of that will be covered by permanent hotel and car-rental tax extensions , the city is still working on , after partners’ contributions.
Colorado State University is making plans for $250 million in investments on the campus, most of which are separate from the city’s project total.
