I had a call yesterday from a lady planning to move back to the Westminster or Arvada area, and one of her questions was, "What has been done about Westminster Mall?"
She and her husband moved ot of Colorado a few years ago, and even then Westminster Mall was deteriorating. So she was surprised she couldn't find anything about the renovation of this valuable piece of real estate.
Westminster Mall is just west of Sheridan, and between 88th Ave. and 92nd Ave. It's ideally located for a bustling urban center, being near the I-36 interchange, right across Sheridan from the bus transport station (500 busses per day) and park & ride, and proximate to the NW light rail line.
However, Westminster Mall is a privately owned business, not city owned as many believe. Built in the 1970s, it used to be the economic engine for Westminster. But it has been declining since 1999.
The mall got a $10 million facelift in the early 2000s, with $7.5 million of that coming from the City. But that shot in the arm didn't save the life of this aging mall. At one time there were 149 stores at Westminster Mall, now there are only 29.
I sat in on a town hall meeting hosted by Senator Evie Hudak, where City Manager Brent McFall described the City's vision for the property.
The City of Westminster has plans for an urban center with a mix of retail, office (multi-story towers), residential (2000-2500 units), and entertainment - all pedestrian friendly, characteristic of an urban downtown.
Mr. McFall said they expect this to be a '15-year time horizon'. He also said the present ownership 'is not cooperating very much'.
Well, I guess that's an understatement since the present ownership is now suing the City. Read about it here.
It will be interesting to keep an eye on this tug of war. Private ownership, allowing valuable real estate to decline, vs City tax interests. This is an important issue, because the renovation of this area could do good things for property values, rather than being a blight.
For now, you can see the City's project description online.
8/27/10 update - this comment was left on my aboutarvada.com blog and I wanted to pass the info along:
Thank you for providing information on the City of Westminster’s plans for redeveloping the Westminster Mall site.
I work for the city and wanted to add that we have a website specifically for the mall redevelopment project — http://www.westminstercenter.us.
Our objective with the website is to provide a convenient, one-stop information source for those interested in the project. Westminster City Council has a vision for this project of a unique high-density urban center unlike anything seen outside of downtown Denver. We need to be able to share that vision with our community.
In addition, a project of this size and scope — one of the largest of its type in the country — has many facets and will develop over a lengthy timeline.
We want our residents to see http://www.westminstercenter.us as the best source for the latest information on this project.
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I write posts on real estate issues and local events in the Denver metro area, especially those *communities between Denver and Boulder, as a public service. My hope is to give people an idea of the 'flavor' of our community, in case they're new or moving to the Denver area.
I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.
*Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood
Read more about Arvada Colorado, a historic small town between Denver and Boulder.
Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.
Copyright © 2011 Joetta Fort
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