Hillary Portel, executive director of the Englewood Downtown Development Authority, told the Budget Advisory Committee the DDA will invest nearly $3,000,000 in new projects, partnerships and events in 2026 as part of a multi-year push to implement downtown redevelopment.

Portel said the DDA is funded solely through tax-increment financing (TIF) — new sales and property tax revenue generated in the downtown district — and that those incremental revenues must be reinvested in the district. "We will invest nearly $3,000,000 into new projects, partnerships, and events that will further this mission," Portel said.

The presentation listed a portfolio of capital priorities the DDA expects to move toward construction in 2026–2027, including Old Hampton Complete Streets, South Broadway public-realm improvements and the Little Dry Creek Park & Plaza revitalization. Portel said the DDA has voter authorization to incur up to $70,000,000 in debt over the next 25 years to finance these projects and emphasized that the DDA has no power of condemnation.

Portel provided project-level funding examples: the DDA expects roughly $4.7 million in total revenue for 2026, plans ~$2.9 million in expenditures and anticipates adding about $1.8 million to reserves to fund priority projects. She described a recently secured grant of $7,000,000 for a streetscape project on Old Camden and said the DDA plans to contribute approximately $1,100,000 to that effort.

Portel also described the DDA’s nonprofit activation strategy in the city center, which has allowed three organizations to program and occupy vacant ground-floor space. "These groups do not pay rent; they pay utilities and janitorial and are expected to program the space," she said, noting the DDA’s marketing grants and a planned $40,000 contribution to tenant improvements for CAST Colorado in 2026.

Committee members asked about city contributions to the nonprofit occupants and CitySpark; Portel said the city is not currently funding CitySpark directly, that New Englewood (the current ground-lease holder) will transfer the property to city ownership as part of a lease termination next year, and that the DDA provides modest annual marketing grants of about $2,500 to each nonprofit occupant.

The DDA’s presentation also described three TIF subareas: the medical district (already collecting property- and sales-tax increment), South Broadway (collecting sales-tax increment) and the city center (where property-tax TIF has not yet been turned on to preserve the 30-year term for future financing). Portel said the DDA is considering turning on property-tax TIF for South Broadway to help finance the 2027 improvements.

Next steps: the DDA will continue advancing 60%-level design for South Broadway, begin capital work on Little Dry Creek Park & Plaza in summer 2026 and start financing and implementation activities for the Old Hampton project in 2026.