Springfield board signals support to move Glenwood master plan from land-use to infrastructure phase

Springfield — City economic development staff on Nov. 24 told the Springfield Economic Development Agency board that the Glenwood master plan is ready to move from land-use approvals into infrastructure and predevelopment work, and board members signaled support to proceed.

Allie Camp, economic development manager, reviewed the project’s guiding principles — connecting the community to the river, following the Glenwood Refinement Plan, economic viability and being “right-sized for Springfield” — and outlined the planning and funding history. Camp said the Glenwood Urban Renewal Area uses tax-increment financing and that the agency has spent roughly half of the area’s maximum indebtedness, which is $32,860,000. “The preliminary master plan includes something called a phasing plan where essentially the infrastructure to the site needs to be delivered to support what development can be built off it in the future,” Camp said.

Camp recapped procurement and land assembly: developers Jill Sherman and Mark Mixas were selected in 2022; Raubroka Architects and Walker Macy were selected for technical analysis in 2023; CETA assembled almost 13 acres in the master plan area; Homes for Good controls about 1.2 acres and private partner Steve Roth controls about 8.14 acres. She said eight families on the site were relocated during 2024 and vacant buildings were demolished in November 2024 under an emergency procurement.

Camp said the property was annexed in May to allow single-jurisdiction land-use decisions and that zoning map, code and refinement plan amendments were submitted in 2025. She told the board the land-use code amendments would go to city council for second reading and decision on Dec. 1.

On financing and deliverability, Camp estimated the agency could currently borrow about $7.5 million using FY25 numbers and named other resources including state and federal programs and transient lodging taxes. She said $3 million from Representative Lively — money reallocated from another project budget because of timing constraints — will be made available to Glenwood. “That money will still be used for Glenwood,” Camp said.

Board members discussed how to compensate project partners for right-of-way impacts that cross partner property. Camp proposed using CETA-owned land as a form of proportional compensation; Board member Van Gordon said he was “comfortable giving staff direction that compensation could come in the form of land,” and other members expressed readiness to proceed with infrastructure work. Board member Moe emphasized existing utility access, noting earlier sewer work along Franklin Boulevard and the potential for Denver Water District funding to address an obsolete local water system.

Camp asked for direction on several items she will return with for board action: clarification of CETA’s appetite to invest in infrastructure and the scale of phases it can support, authority to explore land swaps and partner compensation mechanisms, procurement and project-management planning for the infrastructure phase, and draft memoranda of understanding with project partners.

The meeting began with a routine consent calendar that the board approved on a roll-call vote — seven yes, one absent (Lovell). The board adjourned after the Glenwood update.

What’s next: City council is scheduled to consider the land-use code amendments on Dec. 1; staff will prepare the preliminary master plan application, proposed MOUs and procurement steps for future board review.