Lakewood Planning Commission unanimously recommends Bend at Lakewood urban renewal area complies with comprehensive plan

The Lakewood Planning Commission voted unanimously Jan. 22 to recommend that the Bend at Lakewood Urban Renewal Area be found in compliance with the City of Lakewood comprehensive plan.

The recommendation followed a presentation by Ann Ricker of Ricker Cunningham, comments from developer representatives with Lincoln Property and a staff recommendation. Planning staff asked the commission to forward the finding to city council.

The finding matters because an urban renewal designation enables tax-increment financing and other tools the Lakewood Reinvestment Authority may use to address conditions that the statute defines as blight and to support redevelopment. The commission’s vote does not itself create the urban renewal area; it forwards a recommendation to the City Council for final action.

Ann Ricker, principal and owner of Ricker Cunningham, told commissioners that an urban renewal plan functions largely as a financing document. “This is really almost more like a financing document,” she said, and described the statutory objectives that urban renewal tools must meet, including mitigating conditions of blight and advancing community goals. Ricker’s presentation said the consultants’ condition survey found nine of 11 statutory factors present on the roughly 59-acre site west of the Federal Center, and she explained that Colorado urban renewal plans typically anticipate a 25-year tax-increment financing (TIF) period.

Ali Meister of Lincoln Property, representing the property owner with Scott Caldwell, said the project is planned as a phased, mixed-use redevelopment. “We have 2,000 units at full build out,” Meister said, and added the developer’s current target is that 10% of those units be affordable — roughly 200 units — with more than 100,000 square feet of retail planned and a seven-phase build-out. Meister said commitments on affordability will be documented in the resolution to council and in the intergovernmental agreement negotiated with taxing entities.

Planning staff recommended the commission forward a finding that the proposal is consistent with the adopted comprehensive plan. “The recommendation from staff is that the Planning Commission recommend to city council that the Bend at Lakewood Urban Renewal is in compliance with the comprehensive plan,” staff said during the meeting.

Commissioners asked questions about how the developer would secure affordability commitments, how remediation and infrastructure costs would be covered, and how tax-increment financing (TIF) affects taxing entities. Ricker and the developer described common safeguards in public–private partnerships: affordability commitments recorded in resolutions and intergovernmental agreements, environmental and remediation studies already underway (including a Phase I), and financial underwriting from banks or bond markets that mitigate large cost overruns. Ricker reiterated that the consultants intentionally documented multiple statutory blight factors — including environmental constraints and infrastructure limitations — while noting that many factors relate to site conditions rather than the presence of existing buildings.

During discussion of state law and housing goals, commissioners asked about the state’s transit-oriented housing objectives. Staff said Lakewood is working with the state to refine transit-area designations and that, when combined with existing and proposed projects along the Union Boulevard corridor, the planned density for this property (about 34 units per acre based on current developer figures) contributes toward the city’s targets. Staff also said the developer indicated the plan could accommodate more units if future phases or property transfers warrant higher residential intensity.

Commissioner Buckley moved adoption of the staff-provided draft resolution; Commissioner Furman seconded. The roll-call vote was 7–0 in favor (Buckley, Furman, Grama Leonis, Kolkmeier, O'Neil, Overall and Peters). The motion approved the recommendation to forward the compliance finding to City Council.

The commission closed the public hearing with no public speakers in the chamber and no in-person testimony. The item now proceeds to the City Council, which will review the urban renewal plan, the staff record, the intergovernmental agreement(s) with taxing entities and any proposed affordability commitments before any formal adoption or implementation steps occur.

Details from the meeting: the site discussed is approximately 59 acres west of the Federal Center and adjacent to the Union Boulevard corridor and the Federal Center campus. The developer’s preliminary program described a phased project with roughly 2,000 residential units at full build-out, more than 100,000 square feet of retail, a seven-phase schedule and a developer target of 10% of units designated as affordable (about 200 units). The urban renewal consultants reported nine of 11 statutory blight factors identified in their condition survey; Colorado’s urban renewal law requires a minimum finding of four factors in general (five if condemnation is contemplated). TIF in Colorado generally uses a 25-year timeframe in the consultants’ presentation. The Planning Commission meeting began at 7:02 p.m. and adjourned at 7:58 p.m.

(Quotes and attributions above come from the meeting transcript. All figures and commitments reported were described by speakers as proposals or targets pending final agreements; any contractual or fiscal commitments will be established in council-adopted documents and intergovernmental agreements.)