City Council approves St. Julian Hotel expansion after contentious hearing; 6-3 vote

Boulder City Council on Jan. 16 approved a site review amendment for a new building adjoining the St. Julian Hotel in downtown Boulder, finding the proposal met city site-review criteria despite widespread public opposition. The council’s roll-call vote was 6 in favor, 3 opposed.

The approved proposal modifies an existing downtown site review to allow a 50,069-square-foot building with a ground-floor multiuse meeting space connected to the hotel, a mechanical mezzanine, and three levels of hotel rooms. The project includes a pedestrian corridor through the site and landscape improvements along Canyon Boulevard and the Tenth Street pedestrian connection.

City planners and the applicant said the addition will operate as a single, integrated facility with the hotel and provide occasional discounted access for nonprofit and civic users under an existing agreement among the city, the hotel’s owners and the Cajun (Cajid) parking entity. “The proposal complies with the relevant design guidelines and the urban renewal plan,” Shannon Moller, a planner with Boulder’s Planning and Development Services, told council during the staff presentation, summarizing findings that the requested height, setback and number‑of‑stories modifications meet site-review criteria.

The project required a public‑hearing decision because it seeks a height modification (up to 55 feet) and vested rights. Planning staff said the applicant has elected to satisfy the city’s community‑benefit requirement for a height bonus by paying an increased…