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City and County of Denver adds roughly 8 acres to Triangle plan through land exchange
Summary
Project staff announced a land exchange that closed the morning of the meeting, giving the city an approximately eight-acre parcel (Lot O) in exchange for a one-acre Cup North parcel; staff said Lot O will be remediated and folded into the Triangle community vision process and returned to public ownership.
Project staff announced that a land exchange between the City and County of Denver and the Western Stock Show Association closed that morning, adding roughly eight acres known as Lot O to the Triangle community vision boundary while conveying the one-acre Cup North parcel to the Western Stock Show Association. Staff said the City will prioritize environmental remediation of Lot O, which shares historic urban fill and other environmental conditions with the DPS Bus Barn site, before any transfer or development takes place.
The exchange enlarges the Triangle planning area and will be included in upcoming community visioning and planning work. Staff said the exchange has been handled under the City's existing land-acquisition ordinance and that prior Council approvals cover the mechanism used. The team described Lot O's location as north of the DPS bus barn site and near the Johnson recreation center and park parcel; the Cup North parcel is south of CSU Spur and adjacent to the central utilities plant.
City staff emphasized remediation as a first priority. According to the project presentation, development areas will be remediated according to local, state and federal standards before development or transfer to community ownership. The project team also highlighted that the parcels will be considered as part of the Triangle community vision plan and that the City intends to avoid having these acres end up in private development without public benefit.
Why it matters: adding Lot O expands the acreage available for public assets, housing and community uses within the Triangle planning area. The team said the Triangle plan will aim to deliver a set of minimum public assets already identified in the framework agreement, including a minimum 10,000-seat arena, additional exhibition hall space, renovation and adaptive reuse of the 1909 arena, and associated parking. Staff also described minimum housing elements that appear in the GES community plan — for example, a target set of roughly 60 townhomes and about 120 apartment units among other uses — and said the city will pursue a community-ownership RFP that explicitly includes community land trusts as part of the implementation approach.
Next steps and follow-up: Project staff said the community visioning process will integrate Lot O into scenarios and that remediation, design and zoning steps will proceed through the city's planning and large-development review process. Rezoning and other formal approvals will require City Council action. Staff committed to continue sharing research documents (for example the Jacobs memo on ownership models) as the Lincoln Institute cohort and consultant teams finalize recommendations later in the planning process.
Sources: statements and materials presented by the project team during the Triangle community engagement meeting, including the announced land-exchange graphic and the planning-team presentation.
