The University of Colorado Foundation is buying Independence Plaza to expand CU Denver, which says it plans to turn the office tower into “a workforce/economic/business development and job creation hub.”
In an application seeking money from the Denver Downtown Development Authority, CU said it wants to use only part of the 25-story, 567,000-square-foot tower for educational purposes.
It also wants to establish an “innovation and entrepreneurship hub” there.
“This Hub will drive new business development by hosting/incubating/accelerating regional startups in a co-located fashion with CU Denver, supporting both the local entrepreneurial community and CU Denver’s growing innovation ecosystem,” according to the application.
The application says the building would also be used for “community- and government-serving functions,” without elaborating.
BusinessDen obtained the application through a public records request. Parts of the application were redacted by the City of Denver.
BusinessDen broke the news in early May that CU was under contract to purchase the tower, which sits on a full city block in the heart of downtown. It is just 21% occupied.
In its application, CU said the total project cost would be $70 million, and it requested $35 million from the DDDA. But Jennifer Woodruff, a spokeswoman for CU Denver, said those figures will change when the university system submits a new application later this week.
The original application says CU wants DDDA money to help renovate the building, to establish the innovation hub and to offer low-interest loans to companies building out office space.
“By bringing students together with employers, students will gain real-life experiences and businesses will have direct access to their future workforce,” the university wrote.
CU already has some downtown property holdings. CU Denver’s business school is at 1475 Lawrence St. One block away on 14th Street are two more school buildings, including the 14-story Lawrence Street Center, home to offices for the chancellor and provost.
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