Denver council approves Five Points urban redevelopment plan (neighborhood, zoning)

[Dorthy]

Denver council approves Five Points urban redevelopment plan - The Denver Post

A view along Welton Street in Denver's Five Points on Monday. The rising economic tide hasn't boosted the fortunes of the Welton Street Corridor, so the city of Denver is contemplating declaring the main commercial drag through Five Points blighted. Predictably, there are loud voices on all sides of the issue.

I think that this is a very bad idea. While the commercial main drag in Five Points may not be bustling, I don't see how it is "blighted" or in such a state of disrepair that the only option is to tear it down and rebuild another boring strip mall predictably with a Starbucks, Chipotle and and Einstein's bagel. The main drag has historical significance and once it's gone, it's gone forever.

Thoughts?

[robertgoodman]

A) They are not going to tear down the entire strip
B) 2010 Zoning prevents strip malls on that stretch
C) The historic buildings can and will still be protected by Denver's historic preservation laws
D) Blighted designation opens up TIF financing which can help fund adaptive re-use of historic structures (the REI was a good example also in yesterdays paper).
E) They have plenty of parking lots, vacant lots, and non-historic blighted structured they can re-develop. That is what they are likely targeting for complete re-development.

I haven't seen how the blighted designation is actually worded (the DP misrepresents a lot of things), but if they did blight every building in that corridor I would say that's a bit of an overreach and I would object to that. A lot of buildings/property in that corridor have responsible owners so they are in good working shape, but other parcels have clearly been neglected for decades.

[hammertime33]

Fantastic news

[zenkonami]

I quite like the corridor. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing a little more pedestrian activity there. All the better if it could rise again as a scene for music and the arts. I understand it's origins may have been rooted in the days of segregation, but some phenomenal jazz came out of Five Points back in the day and it'd be cool to see modern music pick up the slack. Cervantes is at least a good start.

[Katarina Witt]

Designating an area "blighted" makes it eligible for special financing.

Denver Urban Renewal Authority | Denver, Colorado | Section 1

[Dorthy]

Originally Posted by robertgoodman

A) They are not going to tear down the entire strip
B) 2010 Zoning prevents strip malls on that stretch
C) The historic buildings can and will still be protected by Denver's historic preservation laws
D) Blighted designation opens up TIF financing which can help fund adaptive re-use of historic structures (the REI was a good example also in yesterdays paper).
E) They have plenty of parking lots, vacant lots, and non-historic blighted structured they can re-develop. That is what they are likely targeting for complete re-development.

I haven't seen how the blighted designation is actually worded (the DP misrepresents a lot of things), but if they did blight every building in that corridor I would say that's a bit of an overreach and I would object to that. A lot of buildings/property in that corridor have responsible owners so they are in good working shape, but other parcels have clearly been neglected for decades.

Thanks. That is all very good info. The DP mention eminent domain which made me think that they were going to do a lot of tear down and that is a scary thought considering DURA tore down large sections of downtown Denver in the past. If all they do is offer financing opportunities and work to fix things up, preserving historic structures then it could be a very positive thing for the area.

[Dorthy]

Originally Posted by zenkonami

I quite like the corridor. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing a little more pedestrian activity there. All the better if it could rise again as a scene for music and the arts. I understand it's origins may have been rooted in the days of segregation, but some phenomenal jazz came out of Five Points back in the day and it'd be cool to see modern music pick up the slack. Cervantes is at least a good start.

Yes. Preserving the historic character of the neighborhood would be a positive.