Auraria Campus presents framework plan to Denver council committee, cites $6 million general‑fund shortfall

Auraria Higher Education Center leaders told the Denver City Council Budget & Policy Committee on Jan. 6 that a newly adopted Auraria Framework Plan will guide campus development and new revenue streams meant to cover a roughly $6 million annual shortfall in operating funds.

“My name is Colleen Walker. I’m the chief executive officer for the Auraria Higher Education Center,” Colleen Walker told the committee as she introduced the presentation. “But we are Denver’s oldest neighborhood, and that’s something that we really hold quite sacred.”

The presentation outlined the campus’s governance and three primary operating funds — a general fund for campus operations, a student revenue bond fund tied to the Tivoli Student Union and a parking enterprise — and described how campus leaders intend to rely less on parking revenue by growing auxiliary revenues and development opportunities.

“The issue we have is it’s costing us right now about $37,000,000 annually to operate the campus from a general fund standpoint. And so we have a $6,000,000 shortfall that exists,” Zach Hermsen, chief financial officer, said during the briefing.

Why it matters

Auraria hosts Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver), Community College of Denver (CCD) and the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver). Campus leaders said the three institutions together enroll about 41,000 students and employ roughly 5,000 faculty and staff, and that the campus generates substantial economic activity for downtown Denver. Council members pressed presenters on housing, transit, and how campus revenues are used.

Plan and near‑term projects

Carl Meese, deputy chief of planning and sustainability, described the…