In recent months, the developer team for the envisioned project has been at odds with the city and unable to come to a solution on moving forward. Broomfield has sent a formal response to the developer team, rejecting their proposed “path forward,” and seeking to terminate the deal, according to an email from Julie Story, a city spokesperson.
The Broomfield Town Square is an potential walkable gathering place for the community that could act as the city’s downtown area, near 120th Avenue and Main Street. The project has been in the works for more than a decade, Story said.
The developer group recently , as well as an additional roughly $14 million in tax financing from the city. The group and sought to find a different path forward.
Last week, the developer group proposed a new path: The city could agree to the previously withdrawn extension request or pay $6 million to terminate the agreement, said Guyleen Castriotta, Broomfield’s mayor.
“We reject the developer’s proposed path forward, and we’re prepared to offer $2 million to terminate the agreement,” Castriotta said in a Thursday phone call. “It’s not a negotiation, and it’s not a reward for performance. It’s a practical business decision to restore certainty, regain control of our community’s future and allow Broomfield to pursue a partner capable of delivering the town center our residents have wanted for more than a decade.”
The development team did not provide any documentation or records to support the proposed $6 million price tag, and the city does not plan to negotiate further, Castriotta said.
Castriotta said she has supported the project since she joined the City Council about nine years ago.
“I want to state that we do remain committed to the vision,” Castriotta said. “We all embrace the idea of having that town center, that gathering place. So what’s changed is not our commitment to the project, but it’s really in our confidence in this developer to deliver it.”
“I got excited every time (the group) gave us a new date to break ground,” she added. “I go out and tell people, ‘Yay, it’s gonna happen!’ and then it doesn’t, and I feel stupid … I’m tired of looking like someone that doesn’t know what they’re talking about because I believe what they told us.”
The project has seen significant delays, with initial projections in 2021 estimating that the first of the construction would begin by early 2023. Then, a 2023 update from the developer team said the construction and opening of the first phase of the project, including the vacant Safeway building, was pushed back to 2025, according to a presentation in a July 16 council meeting from Nancy Rodgers, the city’s attorney.
In early 2025, the developer team moved the timeline again, saying a groundbreaking was anticipated by fall 2026. This year, the development team estimated groundbreaking would occur in 2027, according to the presentation.
According to the city’s agreement, the developer team has exclusive rights to develop on the land, north of 120th Avenue and east of Main Street, until 2044.
“The city can’t sell the land, it can’t bring in another developer, it can’t build something else,” developer Joe Vostrejs said in an April meeting. “The outcome of this skepticism is a vacant 40-acre site next to city hall tied up in legal agreement while we wait potentially for another 18 years.”
Castriotta said she’s unsure whether the development team would sit on the land.
“Should (the group) reject this offer, the city is prepared to maintain the status quo, continuing to meet its obligation under the existing agreement, which remains in effect, in hopes that the developer begins to perform,” Story’s email said.
