Transcript Urban Renewal in Colorado’s Front Range

URBAN RENEWAL
in Colorado’s Front Range
Center for the American Dream
Independence Institute
Jennifer Lang
Outline
• Tax Increment Financing
• Urban Renewal and Transit
• City Examples
• In the News
Cities with Urban Renewal
Authorites, 20+
Urban Renewal Devices
• Tax Increment
Financing (TIF)
• Bond Issuance
• Property
Improvement Fee
(PIF)
• Public/Private
Partnerships
• Eminent Domain
• Blight: 4 out of 11
criteria must be met
• Colorado Urban
Renewal Law
31.25.101-115
How it works
• No mill levy with TIF
• URA assesses need and does economic research,
history, potential of area
• Any new development generating a higher increment of
tax is then diverted from regular property revenues and
used to repay URA bonds or developers
• Any pre-existing structures in a TIF district reassessed
with higher value, taxes go to city
• 25 year time window for Urban Renewal tax increments
• 25 years worth of that tax revenue increment is being
diverted away from schools, public services
Current and Recent Urban Renewal
Projects in the Denver Metro
Arvada City Center
Arvada Ralston Fields
Arvada Jefferson Center
Aurora City Center
Aurora Fitzsimmons Medical Research Campus
Aurora/Fletcher Plaza Original Downtown
Boulder Valley Regional Center
Boulder 9th & Canyon
Broomfield West 120th Avenue Gateway Corridor
Broomfield Hunter Douglas Project
Broomfield Shopping Center
Broomfield U.S. 36 Interlocken Business Center
Broomfield Events Center, Arista TOD
Englewood City Center/TOD
Golden Safeway
Golden Bent Gate/Outdoor Gear
Golden Gem/office/retail
Golden Clear Creek Commons Senior Center
Golden Clear Creek Square/Jackson Ct
Golden Gateway Station/PUD
Lakewood Belmar
Lakewood Creekside (Colfax-Wadsworth)
Thornton 104th to 84th Avenue
Westminster Mandalay Gardens
Westminster NorthGate, 72nd-Federal
Westminster South
Wheatridge Town Center
Wheat Ridge 38th Ave Corridor
City and County of Denver
Current TIF Districts
Alameda Square
American National
California St. Parking Garage
City Park South
Downtown Denver
Northeast Park Hill
Pepsi Center
Point Urban
South Broadway
Executive Tower Hotel
St. Lukes Hospital #1
Guaranty Bank
St. Lukes Hospital #2
Highlands Garden Village
Stapleton Development
Lowry Urban Development
Mercantile Square
Elitch's
Westwood
38th and York
TAXES
• Denver URA (urban renewal authority)
4.27 % URA of total city and county tax
• Broomfield URA
5.08 % URA of total city and county tax
Tracking Tax Dollars & URA
• Abstract of
assessment
• TIF districts
• URA in Miscellaneous
section `
Denver City and County
Loss to DURA
$10,930,735
Denver School System
Loss to DURA
$15, 425,592
Transit and Urban Renewal
FasTracks is driving URATransit Oriented
Developments (TOD)
Marketed as smart growth and progressive
Glosses over fact of financing
Could be in anytown USA
TOD PLAN
Source: http://www.denvergov.org/TOD/Source:
City of Englewood (EURA)
• 55 acre Cinderella City Mall into TOD
• Bonds sold in 1985, TIF in early days
– Currently, EURA bonds in default for
$45 million, not backed in full faith/credit by
city
• Repayment accelerated
• Bondholders sued EURA to require city to
pay the debt of EURA
City Center
Englewood, Colorado
Results
• What you subsidize you get more of –
what you tax you get less of.
• Lost accountability
• Corporate welfare
• Challenges: Unclear Market
Demographics and Demand
• Creating a certain life style and making
them pay for it, sacrificing schools, fire,
police, and public services
Belmar- City of Lakewood
Lakewood Reinvestment Authority
Former Villa Italia Mall
104 acre URA site
Windmill Farms in the parking lots
Belmar
Parking
Garages
Lily pads, polka dots,
retro
Smart Growth = Building up
Full of infill
Fancy gov’t housing?
Will urban renewal need
urban renewal in 20 years?
High Density Living: Look up to
see the sky, nevermind the skyline
City of Louisville
Louisville Revitalization Commission
• August 16, 2006, Public
hearing was standing
room only, 100+
• Delayed a decision to
created a UR area along
Hwy42
• Eminent domain seizure
concern
• Purpose: to create higher
sales tax revenue to
compete with other cities
• Vague goals, what will
this accomplish?
• Conflicting numbers in
the projections/impacts
– City estimates $77.5
million in new tax
revenue over next 25
yrs, most that would
be put back in URA
– County estimates a
loss of $16.5 million to
the county in next 25
yrs
City of Boulder
Boulder Urban Renewal Authority
• Tension: urban renewal & historic preservation
• 9 historic districts
• 2 urban renewal projects
– Boulder Valley Region Center started 1979
• Redeveloped old mall, $20million in bonds sold
– 9th and Canyon
• 200 room hotel and 556 public parking garage
• Bonds issued through parking district,
• TIF $500,000/yr
• Next: Transit Village Area Plan-TOD
TIF Reforms?
Transparency
Accountability
Public hearing for community desires
URA is not elected, but appointed by the mayor
and approved by city council, five year terms
Financial Safeguards
Democratic, rather than collective
Redefining need, blight, and public good
Reveal the true market price without TIF
Economic feasibilities studies
Ownership and private investment benefit
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
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Research needed
Public Awareness
Future landscape of Denver Metro
Truth seekers
When will it stop
Beyond Smart Growth-the next big trend
Backlash
Stop ignoring market indicators of how people
want to live
Questions?
Thank You
• Independence Institute associates- Joe, Kay,
Anne, Julie, Dennis
• Randal O’Toole