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Lowry Vista Editorial
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The Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle presented me with an opportunity to write an editorial on the proposed Lowry Vista development for their latest issue. I believe it is an accurate representation of the issues surrounding this parcel.
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Redevelopment Proposed at Alameda Landfill
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District 5 may one day see the landfill near Windsor Gardens on Alameda redeveloped into the “Lowry Vista.” The landfill is adjacent to the Westerly Creek dam on the north, Mira Vista golf course on the east, the AMLI Apartments to the west, and the Windsor Gardens senior community directly across Alameda to the south.
- The Lowry Air Force Base, a military installation since 1937, closed on September 30, 1994. At that time, the Lowry Redevelopment Authority (LRA) was created by the Cities of Denver and Aurora, with the responsibility of redeveloping the base.
- In 2002, the Air Force selected Lowry Assumption LLC (LAC), an affiliate of International Risk Group Redevelopment LLC (IRG), for privatized cleanup of the landfill and groundwater at the former base. LAC was required to follow federal and state cleanup standards, and is overseen by the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE).
- The LRA wanted the Air Force to approve a cap on the landfill to accommodate irrigation, to expand the nearby Mira Vista golf course. The Air Force refused to fund the extra cost of an irrigable cap.
- The cleanup remedy approved by CDPHE and implemented by LAC for the landfill consists of an engineered cap with a State Environmental Covenant restricting future activities on the property in order to protect that cap. The Covenant identifies the use as “open space/non-irrigated park.”
- The Covenant requires that the owner “not disturb the integrity of the final cover…or components of the containment system” unless the Covenant is removed or modified by CDPHE.
- In 2005, the Air Force sought to transfer all remaining lands at Lowry, approximately 720 acres – cleaned or not – to LRA. This was an all-or-nothing deal, meaning that the landfill was required to be included in the land transfer.
- Transferring the landfill to the LRA is problematic; the LRA will eventually cease to exist so it cannot own property in perpetuity. Any land owned by the LRA when it sunsets, including the landfill, would revert to the City and County of Denver (City).
- The City will not accept the long-term environmental liability of maintaining the landfill and cap.
- IRG was willing to accept transfer of the landfill and assume responsibility for its condition and the maintenance of the engineered cap. IRG assumed the risks associated with trying to redevelop the site, including the legal, regulatory, public outreach, and entitlement costs of such redevelopment. IRG can pursue potential redevelopment opportunities of the landfill through all normal regulatory processes.
- The Air Force obtained approval from the State of Colorado on December 28, 2005 to transfer the landfill and others parcels requiring cleanup or investigation to the LRA. IRG was identified as the future owner of the landfill and received title in January 2006.
- IRG has been working since 2006 on potential redevelopment of the landfill, including several meetings with the City, the LRA, State of Colorado and the Air Force. Development plans for the site are preliminary and conversations with all stakeholders continue.
- IRG will need to get approvals from CDPHE, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, the LRA and the City before moving forward with any plans to develop on the landfill.
- CDPHE requires a monitoring period of 30 years for any landfill cap.
- If IRG develops on this site and engineers a new cap, the 30 year monitoring period will begin again.
- Conceptual plans orient the site to view Long's Peak, and it incorporates and provides access to the existing natural elements of the dam and wetlands area.
- There is no single family residential currently planned. Suggested "anchor" stores could possibly include a specialty grocer, bookstore, movie theater, pharmacy, and/or outdoor recreation and fitness type retailers.
- This location will likely provide the land for a new Lowry Fire Station on the southwest edge of the property near Xenia Street, as the Public Safety bond question was approved by voters in the November 2007 election.
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$1 Million Paid to City for Environmental Cleanup Protection
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$1 Million Paid to City for Environmental Cleanup Protection
On December 27, 2005, the City & County of Denver entered into an Oversight Agreement with Lowry Assumption LLC (LAC). LAC is an arm of International Risk Group (IRG).
The Lowry Redevelopment Authority (LRA) hired LAC to handle the remediation of any contaminated soil at the former Lowry Air Force Base for a period of 10 years. As the LRA sunsets, right-of-ways will be dedicated to the City. To protect itself, the City required LAC to pay it $1 million to handle any contamination that may arise after LAC’s contract expires in 2015.
The payment of this $1 million was structured in such a way as to accommodate LAC’s (and by extension, IRG’s) anticipated cash flow, after the zoning of properties within Lowry that are owned by IRG. One of those properties is the landfill now being called Lowry Vista. Even if these properties never get zoned, LAC will owe the City $1 million total by 2015.
Right of way within the landfill redevelopment, however, will not be turned over to the City, so the City will not be responsible for any remediation on this property. The Lowry Vista Metropolitan District and/or the Air Force hold the liability for any potential future remediation of the landfill.
For more detailed information about this contract, please view these documents:
Located on 80 acres near the intersection of Alameda Avenue and Clinton Street, Lowry Vista re-envisions a former Air Force property as a thriving community. For more information about Lowry Vista, contact Marcus Pachner at (303) 825-1671. |
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