Developer plans $160M mixed-used project near Anschutz Medical Campus

 

A development company announced plans Wednesday for a $160 million mixed-use project near Aurora's

Anschutz Medical Campus on East Colfax Avenue.

The complex, dubbed Block 21 and proposed by Waveland Ventures LLC, would include a six-story hotel and conference center as well as a four-story, 100-unit apartment complex; stores; restaurants; and an “urban park.”

Waveland — with offices in the Denver Tech Center; Austin, Texas; and Milwaukee — says the name is a tribute to the old Army Hospital 21 that stood at the nearby Fitzsimons Army Medical Center.

The site is on East Colfax between Potomac and Xanadu streets.
“This project will be extremely catalytic for future development on Colfax Avenue,” Rick Hayes, CEO of Waveland Ventures, said in a statement.

Block 21 will be developed through a partnership with Jackson Street Holdings LLC and Arrival Partners LLC, Waveland said.

It hopes to begin construction by late this year.

Plans call for a 200-room hotel with 30,000 square feet of meeting space and a 500-space covered parking structure. Developers said they expect to announce a franchise deal with a hotel chain next month.

The proposed project is near the site where Corporex Colorado LLC — a unit of Corporex Cos. Inc. of Covington, Ky. — is developing the 32-acre Fitzsimons Village. A 153-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel opened there in 2011, and Fitzsimons Village also features an office complex used by Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Corporex has filed plans with the city of Aurora for another hotel at Colfax and Xanadu.

Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan, noting that the city is in negotiations with Corporex on those plans, declined comment on either proposal late Wednesday.

“I will say it is encouraging to see two companies interested in this part of the city,” Hogan said. “ It is a strong indicator of the changes occurring in Aurora, and is evidence of the urbanization of our community.”

Waveland, funded in 2002, specializes in venture capital and community development finance. It says it manages $800 million in assets.

Its community development arm has received $312 million in credits under the federal New Markets Tax Credit Program since 2007. The program aims to promote spur redevelopment in economically distressed communities.

Mark Harden directs print and digital news content for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Broadway & 17th" blog. Email: mharden@bizjournals.com. Phone: 303-803-9227.