Council approves Prime West development agreement for Downtown Block C5; project includes 188 public parking spaces and TIF-backed payments

Westminster City Council approved on first reading a development agreement with Prime West Development LLC for Block C5 in Downtown Westminster, advancing a mixed-use project that includes 188 publicly accessible parking spaces and financing tied to tax increment financing (TIF) and a general improvement district (GID).

Heather Conover, identified in the meeting as a real estate development manager, described the expected revenue sources: “We're estimating about 500,000 in TIF once it comes online in about 2028 and about 250,000 in GID revenue.” She said the city also expects “estimated parking income” from the 188 public spaces and that staff had conservatively estimated about $40,000 a year from parking today.

Conover and other staff outlined the payment schedule the city will support for the development: $1.8 million at 50% completion, another $1.8 million at issuance of a certificate of occupancy, then five annual payments of a little over $930,000, with total purchase proceeds initially rolling in at just over $2.7 million. Staff said there is flexibility to prepay and that other Urban Mule area funds are available for payments if needed.

Council discussion focused on parking counts and long-term demand. Councilor Christine Ireland questioned whether the project would provide enough public parking under code assumptions, saying the code’s 1.5 spaces per unit metric would require 417 residential parking spaces and that the current plan “only leaves 49 parking places for the public.” Staff replied the development is using a shared parking approach and that roughly 45 of the 188 public spaces could be leased to residents as a second space, with other options for resident parking including the existing Eaton Street garage and on-street parking. Staff also said the shared parking model reduces the need to build a stand-alone garage and spreads demand across downtown parking assets.

Supporters said the project anchors ongoing downtown investment; opponents raised concerns about parking ratios and the number of for-lease units in the market.

The motion to approve the development agreement was moved by Councilor DeMott and seconded by Councilor Hutt. Roll-call vote for the first reading was: Hought/Hutt — yes; Nancy McNally (Mayor) — yes; Sarah Narmela (Mayor Pro Tem) — yes; Christine Ireland — no; Carmelia — yes; Dave DeMott — yes; Obi Izzati — yes. The motion passed 6-1.

Staff noted additional details on parking allocations will be included in the final agreement and that the project will be financed in part through the Downtown Westminster TIF and a GID when those revenues stabilize.