A massive redevelopment project in Louisville continues to generate controversy. It鈥檚 known as
Once again, the redevelopment project is before the c. A prior proposal was approved by the council, but voters overturned it. The latest version would include a relocation of .
, editor, and publisher of BizWest, discussed the topic with KUNC鈥檚 Programming & Operations manager Desmond O鈥橞oyle.
The proposed Redtail Ridge includes a more than 400-acre development at U.S. Highway 36 and Northwest Parkway. Storage Technology Corporation had a large headquarters and manufacturing facility there until they sold to Sun Microsystems in 2005. Later, Sun Microsystems sold to the computer software company Oracle, moving those jobs to locations in Broomfield.
The Louisville property was purchased back in 2008 by ConocoPhillips, which planned a large renewable energy research facility there. It was slated to employ 7,000 workers, but that project never came to fruition. Then a Denver company bought the property and envisioned a massive redevelopment that would have included housing, manufacturing, health care, and other amenities.
鈥淚t would have encompassed about 5.2 million square feet. They eventually submitted a somewhat scaled down plan that won approval from the city council, but voters forced the council to shift gears,鈥� said Wood. 鈥淭he current developers, Sterling Bay, out of Chicago, have submitted a new 鈥榩lat,鈥� which is basically a plan as to how the land will be developed.鈥�
ConocoPhillips in preparation for its since-abandoned plans. The Denver developer, , proposed a development that has drawn opposition due to concerns over traffic, public spaces, sustainability, and other issues.
鈥淩ight now, we're looking at almost two decades of uncertainty about the fate of this property,鈥� said Wood. 鈥淎vista opened in Louisville back in 1990. And you can see it on the turnpike there up on the hill. That was after the Adventist health system closed Boulder Memorial Hospital, in part due to access issues. But it turned out that this new location back in 1990 shared many of those same issues.鈥�
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Avista is located on Health Park Drive, which dead ends at the hospital. The facility has no room for expansion, and the Marshall Fire demonstrated the particular vulnerability of that location. Flames came right up to the edge of the property, with only one way to evacuate. Hospital officials now want to where they say access would be vastly improved.
鈥淭hey actually have a contract to purchase land at Redtail Ridge. They've had that for a couple of years. But those efforts have been stymied by these continuing controversies over the project's fate,鈥� said Wood. 鈥淟ast week the city council met to consider this new plat for the project, which would include about two-and-a-half million square feet of space, including a life sciences campus as well as an Avista hospital.鈥�
But , during which council members will ask questions of the developers and the public will once again have a chance to weigh in.
