Based on feedback over the last month, RTD executive management has decided to delay by one month the presentation to the Board of a recommended action. We now have one more stakeholder meeting set up on March 10th at which we will be presented the recommendation from the Expert Panel. The Stakeholder Group will have the opportunity to finalize our recommendation with full knowledge of the Expert Panel’s recommendation. RTD staff will use the feedback from the Expert Panel, DUS Stakeholder Group and EPS (financial consultant) to create a recommendation that will be presented to the Fastracks Monitoring Committee on April 5th and the entire RTD Board will take up the matter on April 19th. There will be opportunity for additional public comment at the April 19th Board meeting.
Agenda:
Goals:
- Set Schedule
- Review Draft Recommendation
3:00 Schedule – Bill Sirois, RTD
3:40 Continuation – Stakeholders’ recommendation to RTD discussion
4:00 Adjourn
Stakeholder Recommendation:
Overview:
DUS Historic Building Stakeholders
- DUSPA - Elbra Wedgeworth, Jerry Glick
- City and County of Denver - Diane Barrett, Ellen Ittelson
- Union Station Advocates -Anne Hayes, Ron Straka
- Downtown Denver Partnership - John Desmond
- Lower Downtown District Inc. - Holly Barrett, Chris Shears
- Historic Denver - Annie Levinsky, John Olson
- Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association - Mike West
Recommendations cover these topics
- Redevelopment goals
- Criteria to apply to any redevelopment idea (in an expanded submittal)
- Illustrative scenarios - apply the criteria to three possibilities
- Process
1. New uses must activate the building.
2. New uses will return Union Station to the transportation hub it once was.
3. New uses will give life to the public plazas and vice versa.
4. The central train room must remain a focal point.
5. Redevelopment must preserve the building's history.
6. New uses should serve the neighborhood and the station district plan.
7. New uses must allow the building to be financially independent or have a dedicated funding
8. source.
A more detailed set of criteria that expands this list of seven goals is attached.
Scenarios
We examined three scenarios and discussed whether each could meet the goals. While each has advantages and challenges, we determined that all three are viable alternatives that can realize the goals.
Scenario 1
1st Floor
- Retail attraction (specialty market or unique store)
- Destination restaurant
- Includes Amtrak and transit services
2nd Floor
- Office single tenant or multi-tenant
3rd Floor
- Office single tenant or multi-tenant
Scenario 2
1st Floor
- Hotel function
- Hotel restaurant
- Includes Amtrak and transit services
2nd Floor
- Hotel rooms and back-of-house
3rd Floor
- Hotel rooms
Scenario 3
1st Floor
- Civic or cultural destination
- Destination restaurant
- Includes Amtrak and transit services
2nd Floor
- Civic/cultural and office space
3rd Floor
- Office space
Process
To secure the best possible future use for Denver Union Station and the best possible development
agreement for RTD and the public, we recommend (all but 1, TBD) that the RTD Board issue a request
for proposals and select a development partner in a competitive process. Two considerations with
respect to this process will be the timing of project funds for core and shell improvements and
identifying Federal procurement requirements; resolution of these will make it possible for potential
development partners to create viable proposals.
Criteria
We recognize that it may be difficult to satisfy each and every item in the list that follows and we recognize that pursuing some of these objectives may foreclose the ability to pursue others. Nonetheless, we believe it is important to consider all of these objectives.
New uses must activate the building.
- Uses should draw in visitors, residents and workers in Lower Downtown, the Commons neighborhood and downtown Denver, as well as create a destination for people everywhere in the Denver region.
- A majority of new uses should be destination-oriented uses which meet the needs of transit users in peak and non-peak times and the needs of Lower Downtown, the Transit District and adjacent areas at all times.
- Uses should draw in travelers on bus, light rail and commuter lines and enhance the transit/traveler experience:
- Those who will move quickly through the station to catch a train or bus and those who travel to the station and then move quickly through the station to their downtown destination·
- Those who will use their limited time in the building on the way to or from a transit trip for a quick bite to eat or a cup of coffee or to get a piece of information about their travel
- Those who arrive and have time to shop, eat a leisurely meal, or walk through an exhibition that entertains, instructs or inspires.
- Those who will be there for arriving or departing travelers.
- New uses should give the building life day and night, seven days a week.
New uses will return Union Station to the transportation hub it once was.
- The central train room, as an integral part of the public realm that connects Wynkoop Plaza and the new train hall, needs to be accessible at all hours of transit operations.
- Uses in the train room should relate to the new train hall and create a visual connection through the historic central train room on the new train hall side of the building.
- New first floor uses should activate the central train room, including accommodating Amtrak's needs with sufficient square footage in appropriate locations.
- Suggested uses must recognize that the Union Station Project as a whole is a transportation project, and new uses must be compatible with FasTracks and Amtrak customers.
New uses will give life to the public plazas and vice versa.
- Uses on the first floor of the north and south wings must relate to and take full advantage of the public plazas on the Wynkoop side of the building, drawing users into and out of the building and creating east-west pedestrian movement.
- New uses on the ground floor of the historic building and in the new wing buildings offer an opportunity to activate the plaza space and should complement each other.
The central train raam must remain a focal point.
- The central train room should not be substantially divided and the volume of space should maintain visual access to both sets of grand windows to the east and the west. Users should perceive the central train room as a singular space.
- While the integrity of the central train room is important, this should not exclude the possibility of using the mezzanine as an integral part of the space and making it publicly accessible.
- Uses adjacent to the central train room (on both first and second floors) are critical to help activate the space, provide natural surveillance (eyes on the space) and provide a visual connection from the exterior to and from the central train room.
Redevelopment must preserve the building's history.
- Individual architectural features identified as original throughout the Historic Structures Assessment, regardless of their construction date, and the various finishes and materials that make up the walls, floors, and ceilings should be given every consideration for retention prior to planning for modifications.
- Critical deficiencies, as outlined in the Historic Structures Assessment, should be addressed in any plan going forward and repairs to serious deficiencies should be given careful consideration when choosing any use or layout.
- The central train room restoration should make the train room active while utilizing and preserving some or all of the benches in some configuration (repositioning, relocating or making them movable).
- The uses must fit the physical constraints of the building envelope.
The new uses should serve the neighborhood and the station district plan.
- The uses should support and complement the development program in the rest of the station district, Commons and Lower Downtown neighborhoods.
- It is important to encourage uses unique to Denver, the transit district, Commons, Lower Downtown.
The new uses must, in the aggregate, allow the building to be financially independent, or the uses should have a dedicated funding source.
- Using historic preservation tax credits, even though that could require selling the building to a private interest for at least some period of time, should be considered in financing the restoration and revitalization of the building.
- Public/private partnerships should be encouraged as a way to meet the dual need for the building to serve the citizens of Denver, and to be financially self sustaining.
- Uses must generate revenue for building renovation and cover building operations.
- Uses must support tax generation in the project area which is essential to repay project debt.
