The developers behind a sprawling business park in Aurora have begun the process, albeit a lengthy one, of seeking urban renewal project status in order to expand across another 418-acre site.
A public hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. on April 10 at City Hall. The Aurora City Council approved scheduling the public hearing at its Monday council meeting but did not discuss the agenda item. No members of the public commented on it.
Last year, Majestic Reality Co. requested the city’s urban renewal authority consider creating a new urban renewal area along with an incentive package to redevelop a parcel adjacent to the Majestic Commercenter. The center is a 1,600-acre business park whose tenants include Subaru, Amazon and FedEx, according to the center’s website. The center comprises 9 million square feet today and could stand at 15 million upon full buildout.
The 418-acre site today comprises almost entirely vacant land, is assessed as agricultural, zoned for business and tech uses, and houses four oil and gas wells. It sits between Picadilly Road and E-470, and East 38th Avenue and East 26th Drive, a few miles from the Denver International Airport.
The developers have plans for up to 5,250,000 square feet of new industrial space on the property, but also expect developing the site will require “significant public improvements totaling $22.5 million,” city documents say.
Those improvements include fixing or improving a bridge on Picadilly Road, addressing flood-prone areas by realigning a creek channel, and constructing a detention pond on the property.
A blight study commissioned last year by the Aurora Urban Renewal Authority and funded by the developers found five conditions of blight on the parcel in question. Those were:
- A predominance of defective or inadequate street layout. This was mainly because the parcel does not have a street network.
- Faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility or usefulness. The parcel has irregular boundaries and is subdivided by a creek and 100-year floodplain, the report says.
- Unsanitary or unsafe conditions. The blight assessment found multiple examples of this blight condition, such as the presence of flood-prone areas, the need for adequate storm water drainage and hazardous conditions for pedestrians.
- The existence of health, safety or welfare factors requiring high levels of municipal services or substantial physical underutilization of sites, buildings or other improvements. The report says nearby parcels are home to thriving businesses and industrial parks while this site is significantly underutilized.
- Unusual topography or inadequate public improvements or utilities. The analysis concluded a bridge on Picadilly Road is in “drastic need” of improvement to support development and reemphasized the lack of infrastructure at the site.
State statute establishes 11 conditions a property might have that qualify as blight, and a site must have at least four to be considered as an urban renewal area. If neither the property owner nor tenants object to an urban renewal project, a site only needs to meet one condition of blight.
The Aurora Urban Renewal Authority cannot take on urban renewal projects within the city unless the City Council decides through a public hearing that the site is blighted and meets requirements laid out in state law for urban renewal projects.
If the council designates the area as blighted, city staff can then begin drafting urban renewal plans, assess fiscal impacts and plan for potential tax increment financing agreements, according to staff memos.
Forming an urban renewal plan can take at least a year, if not longer.
The developer argues that metropolitan district bonds and tax increment financing will enable construction to start sooner and bring new property tax revenue and jobs to the area faster, according to city documents.
