Developer seeks urban-renewal designation for raw land

It would be one of the city’s more unusual urban renewal projects.

A Colorado Springs developer and city government economic development officials are proposing to transform nearly 200 untouched acres in a fast-growing part of town into an urban renewal site — a designation typically reserved for run-down, problem-plagued areas.

An urban renewal designation would accomplish two things. It would help the developer get a massive new retail center off the ground. And, it would create an additional revenue source to help fund the final leg of the Powers Boulevard extension and connect it to Interstate 25 — a project the Colorado Department of Transportation says currently has a $50 million to $60 million price tag.

Developer Gary Erickson, who in 2005 purchased most of the undeveloped Northgate property on the city’s far north side, has proposed construction of Copper Ridge at Northgate. The project, on 192 acres east of the Air Force Academy and southwest of North Gate Boulevard and Voyager Parkway, would include big-box stores, an open-air lifestyle center akin to the Promenade Shops at Briargate, and an enclosed mall, according to a Nov. 10 letter from City Economic Development Director Lisa Bigelow to the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority.

By declaring the property an urban renewal site, future tax revenue generated by the project could be earmarked to pay for road improvements in the area — the biggest of which would be the final leg of Powers. It currently ends at Colorado Highway 83, but its proposed path would take it through Erickson’s retail center on its way to I-25.

The extension of Powers to I-25 would make Copper Ridge more attractive to potential retailers, real estate industry experts have said. A few years ago, a Copper Ridge marketing brochure showed a Cabela’s — the popular Nebraska-based sporting goods, outdoor equipment and apparel store — on the site.

Neither Bigelow nor Erickson could be reached Wednesday.

Spokesman Bob Wilson said Wednesday that CDOT is aware the city is looking at ways to help fund the Powers extension — such as federal government stimulus funds, as well as the urban renewal designation.  The Powers extension is a state responsibility, although construction won’t begin until 2012 at the earliest, Wilson said. The project would take about two years, he said.

CDOT has received financial help from cities and counties that want to complete a particular project, Wilson said. Douglas County, for example, paid for most of the cost of an I-25 interchange near Castle Rock, he said.

But several questions remain unanswered.

The city’s recent urban renewal projects have been troubled areas. For example, a portion of North Nevada Avenue was a collection of disheveled motels and small businesses before it was transformed into the recently opened University Village Colorado retail center.

The Copper Ridge site, however, is raw land. Will it meet the state of Colorado’s definition of blight? City officials will ask the Urban Renewal Authority today to launch a study to determine the conditions of the site, which is the required first step in any attempt to reclassify an area as blighted.

Also, the city’s Urban Renewal Authority must approve an urban renewal designation, which then requires the OK of the City Council.

Will both groups accept the notion of an undeveloped parcel as an urban renewal site? Or, will they see a way to generate new revenue, which would help complete the Powers extension — creating a long-sought bypass on the east side of the Springs that would connect Interstate 25 from the north of the city south to Fountain?

WHAT'S NEXT

The Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority meets at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 19 in City Hall, 107 N. Nevada Ave. City economic development officials are scheduled to provide an overview to the authority on a proposed urban renewal designation for the planned Copper Ridge at Northgate retail center. City officials will ask the authority to proceed with a study of the property to determine whether blighted conditions exist.

Contact the writer: 636-0228