The Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed a lower courts ruling which dismissed a lawsuit filed by Aurora against a group of mainly downtown Denver hotels.
The , its urban renewal authority and a Houston-based developer of the proposed Gaylord Hotel, was County District Court in November 2014.
The district court dismissal was based, in part, on claims brought by the hotel group, which includes the Brown Palace, Magnolia Hotel, Oxford Hotel and the Broadmoor Hotel.
The court of appeals on Thursday announced its “judgement affirmed,” concluding, among other findings, “that the Hotels’ four claims had reasonable factual basis and cognizable legal basis, the district court properly granted the Hotel’s motion to dismiss.”
In 2013, the hotel group had sued in Denver District Court, seeking to overturn state tax incentives for the proposed Gaylord Rockies Hotel and Conference Center. That suit was dismissed by Denver District Court in April 2014.
Aurora then sued the hotel group after the group’s suit was dismissed in Denver.
As the court battles played out, development of the Gaylord progressed.
Land preparation for the hotel complex started in April 2015 and in December Marriott International and Rida Development Corp. announced the closure on a for the 1,500-room complex south of Denver International Airport.
The Aurora project will rank as Colorado’s largest hotel when completed in late 2018. It’s expected to employ 10,000 construction workers and bring up to 2,500 permanent jobs when complete.
The appeals court affirmation Thursday, however, included an “award of costs” to the hotel group which was sued by Aurora. A dollar amount was not announced.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or @kierannicholson
