Brighton bets on future with Adams Crossing

BRIGHTON – “Live, work, play” are the hot buzz words in mixed-use development these days, but few projects ever really pull off the “work” part, according to Kevin Hawkins, managing partner of WoodHawk Development. That’s why he’s so enthusiastic about the massive, $1 billion development his company is undertaking in fast-growing Brighton: Adams Crossing.

“Adams Crossing’s premier location is ideal for the primary employers we are recruiting to Brighton, especially those in the renewable energy cluster,´ said Raymond Gonzales, president and CEO of the Brighton Economic Development Corp. “It will also be a convenient place to live, with easy highway access to most metro destinations.”

The 780-acre site at the convergence of Interstate 76, E-470, Sable Road and 120th Avenue is planned for up to 2 million square feet of commercial space, 1 million square feet of retail space, 2,500 multifamily homes, 750 single family homes and 100 acres of open space and trails. In 10 years, when it’s all complete, Hawkins expects 22,000 people will live and work there.

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The community’s anchor – and the reason Hawkins is so confident about the project’s success – will be the 91-acre Adams County Government Center, which broke ground in May and is expected to be ready for occupancy in March 2011.

“Few mixed-use projects start off with a daily population of 1,250 employees and visitors, with another 2,100 to come,” Hawkins said. “We’re designing multi-tenant buildings for restaurants, child-care providers and other businesses to serve the campus population when they arrive in spring 2011.”

Hawkins expects to also build out the “work” component of his “live, work, play” community by attracting employers that want to be close to county government, as well as capitalizing on the area’s growing alternative energy industry – he envisions a cluster of energy companies locating at Adams Crossing in what will resemble a business incubator – and the development’s idyllic transportation access.

“You can’t beat the location for these prospects,” he said. “You can drive to Denver International Airport, I-25, or downtown Denver in less than 20 minutes.”

Hawkins said the biggest challenge to getting the project off the ground was – surprisingly – not financing: “We had a financing commitment in place before this economic cycle,” he said. “We were fortunate in that regard. We owned the property five years, since back in the good old days.”

It was the utilities.

“This area of Brighton has never had utilities,” he said.

City, county agreement key

And the area municipalities weren’t sure how or when or what entity should bring what where, until Adams County came to an agreement with the city of Brighton that said, in essence, if the county bought the property from the developer, the city would provide the utilities.

“There’s water and sewer on its way to the property as we speak,” Hawkins said. “All that will be done by the end of the year, as well as road improvements. It’s quite exciting to see it all come to fruition.”

Pat Myers, facility planning and operations director for Adams County, said coming to that agreement allowed the project to move forward. Now the project is on budget and ahead of schedule and he foresees it will have a positive impact on the county and Brighton.

“I think it’s going to be huge,” he said. “Development will really grow down there when the economy comes around.”

In the meantime, he thinks it will be a significant change for the county and the citizens to consolidate county government from several different locations into a one-stop shop.

The $94 million government center will bring the County Clerk and Recorder, the Board of Commissioners, Community Development, the County Attorney, Planning and Development, Public Works, Veterans Services and the Workforce and Business Center into one five-story Administration Building.

The building, which was designed by Denver-based Gensler, will incorporate stone, wood and brick with streamlined metals and glass. The sustainable structure will maximize natural light and fresh air ventilation, with solar panels for heating.

“Our design team focused on a simple building that engages the past with the future, the citizens with their government, and the surrounding landscape with the built environment,´ said Ala Hason of Gensler. “It’s designed to last a century and serve the citizens in a welcoming, efficient manner.”

The government center is being funded with the 0.5 percent sales tax increase voters first approved for transportation and infrastructure in 2001 and then extended through 2028 in 2006. That tax brings in about $10 million to $12 million annually, explained county finance director Richard Lemke. Since construction costs are upfront costs, the county also had to obtain financing in the form of a sale/leaseback transaction, using certificates of participation, on the jail.

The project is already having a positive economic impact on the area in the form of hundreds of construction jobs.