Finance committee forwards DDA’s Sixteenth Street activation projects and gap loans to full council

The Finance & Business Committee on Tuesday voted to send a package of projects and funding agreements from the Downtown Development Authority to the full Denver City Council for approval, including gap loans for ground-floor retail activations on Sixteenth Street and funding to fill capital gaps for Skyline Park and Civic Center Park.

The committee acted after presentations from city staff and the DDA board on projects tied to the Amended and Restated Plan of Development that City Council adopted in December. Donna Wilder, director-level staff with the Department of Finance, told the committee: “We are here today really as a result of, the Amended and Restated Plan of Development, that was adopted by City Council in December.”

Why it matters: the DDA proposal packages public gap financing and loans intended to activate underused first-floor spaces, support conversions of historic buildings and seed park and cultural projects downtown. City staff said the investments are designed to generate tax-increment revenues that the DDA can reinvest in future projects; several of the funding agreements described require City Council approval because they exceed the DDA cooperation agreement thresholds.

Key projects and funding described to the committee included: - Green Spaces master lease (600 and 622 Sixteenth Street): a 17,500-square-foot program to operate roughly seven to nine ground-floor retail spaces with a master lease and below-market rates for local, minority- and women-owned…