The federal government announced Thursday that it will begin the process of disposing of a 59-acre parcel it owns adjacent to a Lakewood light-rail stop that is ripe for transit-oriented growth.
The site, at the southeast corner of Union Boulevard and U.S. 6, had been the subject of a proposed swap with Lakewood whereby the city would acquire the land in exchange for building a $25.2 million lab for the federal government at nearby Denver Federal Center.
The , after Lakewood stalled on agreeing to the swap and the U.S. General Services Administration announced it would launch a “competitive procurement” process for the parcel.
Federal officials say several steps must be completed — including screening and inspection of the property and state environmental review in late spring or early summer next year — before a sale at auction would take place, most likely a year from now.
Before the exchange proposal was scuttled, Lakewood had hoped to own the site so that it could sell off pieces of the property to developers with the intention they be built out as part of a cohesive vision for the future Denver Federal Center Station neighborhood, complete with residential, retail and office space along a critical transportation spine between Denver and its western suburbs.
The exchange wasn’t without its detractors. Many residents were concerned about the financing details of the deal and about environmental remediation at the site, which was at one time home to the Denver Ordnance Plant.
