One bid for Eastlake Grain Elevator redevelopment

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

ornton City Council will mull over a plan to redevelop the Eastlake Grain Elevator after they said they need more time to think over a new proposal.

“It’s not a no,” said Mayor Jan Kulmann.

e new proposal was presented to the council at the April 4 planning session.

Chad Howell, the redevelopment administrator for the city, explained the proposal to the council. Business venture Cul de Sac submitted the proposal. Cul de Sac’s idea would include a main bar area, an elevator, a patio area, outside picnic tables, re pits, cornhole, a repurposed caboose, an indoor/outdoor slide, a mini observatory, a mezzanine with 40 seats on the 2nd oor, event space, a game room, outdoor play spaces and 94 parking spaces. ere would also be a partnership with the University Astronomy Department to create the observatory. Adams12 Five Star Schools would also be partners to create outdoor play spaces. e proposal comes with strings attached. Cul de Sac is asking for the city to pay $3.2 million for the necessary infrastructure and sell the land for $1 which will act as collateral to nance the project. However, they agreed to reimburse the city for the value of the land if the project is sold in the future. e proposal comes after one initially failed. e Carlsons, the devel- oper of a proposal from 2022, asked for the city to pay for the infrastructure and also buy the land for $1. ornton also bought the land from Lee Carlson in December 2001 for $570,200. Based on the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI In ation Calculator, that number in today’s dollars is almost $900,000.

Food would be provided by food trucks and the redeveloped grain elevator will incorporate historic elements of the original facility, Howell said.

Cul de Sac also said they will need to secure a nancial partner to underwrite the project in return for a portion of the company and Cul de Sac plans to initiate the project as soon as the nancing can be put in place.

At that time, three developers submitted proposals for the Eastlake project, but Kulmann said the other two developers didn’t meet the city’s criteria. is time around, the city sent out a request for proposals for the redevelopment on Jan. 13 and only one was received, which was from Cul de Sac.

During the planning session meeting, City Councilor Karen Bigelow said she’s heard from many developers say that water issues and the city’s approval process were reasons they don’t want to build in the city.

City Councilor Kathy Henson recommended council wait on Cul de Sac’s proposal until after the strategic planning session so the members can have a candid conversation about what they want that site to look like.