Aurora Entertainment Center Hitting First Bump; Affordable Housing Planned for Denver

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

The massive entertainment center planned by developer Gaylord in Aurora has been generating a lot of buzz since it was first announced. According to a story in the Denver Post, the necessary land for the project is an 85-acre lot in High Point, a master-planned 1,800-acre development owned by LNR Property LLC. The deal for that lot should go through by the end of the year.

The $824 million hotel and entertainment complex will house 1,500 rooms and 400,000 square feet of conference space. The project aims to bank on the relocation of the National Western Stock Show to a new complex situated in the vicinity of Gaylord’s massive hospitality hub. However, the entertainment center does not completely rely on the Western Stock Show.

The first trouble the project has encountered is getting the necessary funding. The development based part of its financial backing on money received under the Colorado Regional Tourism Act; the legislation was originally meant to provide two projects with $50 million every year for 30 years in incentives, but it has been modified so that two additional projects could receive funding,  with the total amount remaining $50 million. Aurora will file to receive the necessary funds, as they estimate the project will immediately generate $5.6 million in state sales tax annually.

Also making headlines, an affordable housing complex is set to be developed in Denver after the Urban Land Conservancy bought a Delaware Street property for a total of $1.197 million. The organization plans to develop a five-story building for affordable residential units. The money for the land purchase came from Enterprise Community Partners and the city’s transit-orientated development fund, the Denver Business Journal reports. The development, Evans Station Lofts, will comprise 50 units and 71,000 square feet of commercial space. The developer is Medici Communities LLC.