John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... Two teams of graduate students from the University of Colorado and the University of Denver, at 6 p.m. on Wednesday will share their visions for the development of the Denver Coliseum.
The City of Denver and RTD have teamed up with NAIOP’s Colorado Chapter for this year’s 8th Annual Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge. The Challenge asks student teams to evaluate and make recommendations for the Coliseum’s redevelopment as they compete with one another to present viable proposals. The city will take into account the students’ suggestions as future options for the site are developed.
The Denver Coliseum is the subject of this year's Real Estate Challenge between CU and DU.
For the last four months, nearly 50 students have analyzed every aspect of the feasibility of redevelopment, and two finalist teams have been chosen to present their findings to the city and RTD at a dinner banquet event this Wednesday.
RTD’s FasTracks plans, in addition to the emergence of the River North Arts District (RINO), have brought the Coliseum’s redevelopment onto the City’s radar screen. Upon completion, the North Metro Commuter Rail Line will run adjacent to the site, with the East Corridor line in close proximity. “The city is extremely excited about the prospects of the Coliseum site as a transit-oriented entertainment district,” said Kathryn Spritzer with the City of Denver. “We have seen these students come up with great ideas in past years and we eagerly await their proposals.”
Coliseum 58 years old
The property consists of 46 acres and in conjunction with the National Western Complex, has been the site of the National Western Stock Show for more than 50 years. Built in 1952 under the direction of Mayor Quigg Newton, the facility was designed to be Denver’s premier event venue. In addition to the Stock Show, the Coliseum is host to Disney on Ice, the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, and numerous high school, amateur and professional sporting events.
The City completed a $7 million renovation of the Coliseum in 2002. But the facility still needs a long-term renovation and improvement plan. While the Coliseum remains well utilized and is a great asset to the city, it is in need of major ventilation improvements, ADA compliance measures, and updates to dressing rooms, restrooms and the public concourse. The long-term future of the site will likely involve complete redevelopment.
Coliseum real-world challenge
“The Coliseum redevelopment provides the students with a real-world challenge that is not lacking in complexity,” said architect Al Colussy, Chairman of the NAIOP organizing committee. “The city, RTD, and NAIOP are working together to provide the students a great opportunity, and to provide the city with fantastic proposals from some of Colorado’s brightest young minds. The city and RTD have just been great partners.” One thing that will not happen this year, as it did in last year’s challenges, is that no land swaps will be allowed, Colussy said. The winning DU team last year proposed swapping a difficult site in Jefferson County. “I know we created a precedent last year, but we made it very clear to the students that their redevelopment plan had to take place on the Coliseum site,” Colussy said last week at the Downtown Denver Partnership annual meeting. Last year, the partnership’s meeting clashed with the real estate challenge, so Colussy made sure the two events did not conflict this year. Despite the conflict last year, more than 600 real estate executives attended the event.
“The ability to take everything that we learned throughout our academic career and apply it on a real world project was such an amazing experience,” said Cody Gale, a former competitor and owner of Denver Green Buildings. The competition exposes students to the top professionals in the commercial real estate industry; and in today’s economy, winning the competition may mean the difference between landing the perfect job and struggling through a difficult job market.
NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is the leading organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial and mixed-use real estate.
NAIOP provides unparalleled industry networking and education, and advocates for effective legislation on behalf of its members. NAIOP advances responsible, sustainable development that creates jobs and benefits the communities in which its members work and live.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865
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