The end of the line was project's beginning

$700 million development to rise at T-REX's terminus

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

A Denver development group is officially unveiling a $700 million, energy-efficient, transit-oriented development south of the Park Meadows mall.

Today, about 100 people attending the Urban Land Institute's annual convention will ride the $1.7 billion T-REX southeast light-rail line along Interstate 25 a month before it opens to the public and will tour the proposed mixed- use Lincoln Station site.

The 35-acre site is being developed by a local partnership of Westfield Development Co. and the longtime landowners, the Bradbury family.

"We felt this was the perfect forum for it, because you will have all of these intellectuals around the world who know about transit-oriented developments attending ULI," said Gary Woods, a real estate attorney who joined the Bradbury family as an equity investor about six years ago to work on the site, which the family has owned for about 45 years.

More than 2 million square feet of office space, 2,000 residential units and 50,000 square feet of retail are allowed on the site in unincorporated Douglas County.

Woods said he thinks it could serve as a model for a transit-oriented development that is anchored by offices rather than by residential or retail, as with other TODs.

Lincoln Station Investors LLC, the development partnership, coined a word to describe it: goburb.

"We're creating a goburb village, which is the intersection of urban and suburban," said Donald Slack, executive vice president of Westfield.

The density at Lincoln Station will be about three times that of a typical suburban development, said Randy Schwartz, of Westfield.

The first phase will be financed with $30 million in equity and $15 million in bank loans for tenant finish and brokerage fees.

The group is shooting for a silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, program for the office buildings.

"It's a cultural shift for us to really embrace sustainability," McClintock said.

In addition to insulated windows and indirect lighting, the project also will include an underflow air distribution system, which is considered healthier for employees than traditional air-flow systems.

Lincoln Station at a glance

• Where: South of Park Meadows regional mall and north of Sky Ridge Medical Center, along the T-REX southeast light-rail line

• Developers: Lincoln Station Investors LLC, a partnership of Westfield Development Co. and the Bradbury family

• First phase: One Lincoln Station, a 151,000-square-foot building designed by klipp; Clock Tower and South Street Station buildings, with 14,000 square feet of boutique office space and 21,000 square feet of ground-floor retail next to a pedestrian plaza; Station Street Lofts, a 72-unit residential building by Denver-based Level Development, with 8,000 square feet of retail to be owned by Lincoln Station Investors

• Timetable for completion: Construction is slated to start in February. Completion is expected in the next eight years.

• Environmentally friendly feature: Underflow air distribution system, which provides a steady stream of air from the outside, allowing office workers to control the temperature in their area from their desk.Source: Westfield Development Co. Llc

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207