Hospitality & Tourism  October 2, 2015

Go NoCO officials to make pitch for state tourism money on Monday

DENVER — The developers behind four potential tourism projects in Northern Colorado will present their plans Monday morning to Colorado’s Economic Development Commission in hopes of receiving state funding to offset the cost to develop the projects they say will attract tourists and sales-tax revenue to the region.

On Monday, the commission will hear presentations and conduct a public hearing on the projects in Northern Colorado, and in the afternoon will do the same with presentations from representatives of the proposed Denver National Western Center.

The presentations and hearings will take place in the Four Seasons Ballroom at the Denver Convention Center, 700 14th St., Denver.

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Nonprofit Go NoCO, created by government entities and private businesses in Northern Colorado to apply for the grant, will make the pitch for The PeliGrande Resort and Windsor Conference Center in Windsor, The Indoor Waterpark Resort of the Rockies and the U.S. Whitewater Adventure Park in Loveland, and the Stanley Hotel Auditorium and Film Center in Estes Park. The group recently cut two projects from its application — a 263,000-square-foot sports and science complex in Loveland and expanded facilities at the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch.

Representatives from the Denver National Western Center will pitch their $856 million master plan to renovate the area around the Western Stock Show in Denver and turn it into year-round learning center and tourist destination that will tap into Colorado State’s agriculture and equine programs in a major way.

The commission and a third-party analyst will study the projects in a workshop set for Oct. 22. The analyst will follow up with the commission Oct. 28, and the commission is scheduled to make a final decision Nov. 12.

If selected, funding for the projects will come from the state through the Office of Economic Development and International Trade. It is made available through the Regional Tourism Act passed in 2009 that allows the rebating of state sales-tax revenue that new, out-of-state visitors would generate.

The Economic Development Commission, which oversees the process, can only award two more RTA grants; however, it is not obligated to award any.

Go NoCO’s officials said the combined attractions will bring substantial tourism and economic benefits to Northern Colorado and the state including:

  • 423,000 new out-of-state visitors to Colorado annually
  • $189.4 million in new state tax revenue over 30 years
  • $128.5 million in new tax revenue for Loveland over 30 years
  • $70.9 million in new revenue for Windsor over 30 years
  • $103.4 million in new tax revenue for Estes Park over 30 years
  • $55.9 in revenue impact for Larimer County over 30 years
  • 2,647 new permanent jobs and more than 4,100 construction jobs
  • $86,119,375 in net new state sales tax revenue from NNOSV in the RTZ

The four Go NoCO projects are:

Stanley Hotel Auditorium and Film Center: A permanent home of the horror film genre. The Stanley Film Center will include a 500-seat auditorium, creative classrooms, digital audio- and film-mixing studios, a sound stage, film discovery center and archive that will exhibit many of the crown jewel artifacts of the film industry, outdoor theater for films under the stars and more. It would be built and operated in partnership with an advisory board of filmmakers.

The PeliGrande Resort and Windsor Conference Center: A four-star golf resort and conference center in Windsor. The 300-room resort hotel also features two full-service restaurants, upscale lounge, a luxury spa, a fitness center, 58,500 square feet of ballroom and meeting space, and retail services. The PeliGrande Resort has secured a promise from the PGA to bring a Champions Tour event to the yet-to-be-built Raindance National Golf Course expected to be ready by 2018.

Indoor Waterpark Resort of the Rockies: The Indoor Waterpark Resort in Loveland would be accessible and visible from Interstate 25. It would feature a 75,000-square-foot indoor waterpark, 330-room hotel, a 55,000-square-foot outdoor waterpark and more than 20,000 square feet of other indoor attractions in its Family Entertainment Center.

U.S. Whitewater Adventure Park: The park, north of the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland, would be built around a 20-acre artificial whitewater river system that offers varying levels of difficulty designed to Olympic standards. It also would have recreational attractions including zip lines, high-ropes course, obstacle courses, a canopy tour, climbing wall, canyoneering, children’s play area and team-building area. The park would also contain a restaurant, retail shops, an amphitheater, multipurpose event space, and a variety of outdoor structures, including bungalows and outdoor patios.

Go NoCO is financially backed by the city of Loveland, the town of Windsor, Larimer County and several private partners led by Water Valley Land Co. in Windsor, Loveland-based McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc., the Grand Heritage Hotel Group based in Maryland, Fort Collins-based Spirit Hospitality LLC and FirstBank. Water Valley has put $25,000 into the Go NoCO effort, and the others listed above have put in between $1,000 and $5,000, according to the organization’s website.

DENVER — The developers behind four potential tourism projects in Northern Colorado will present their plans Monday morning to Colorado’s Economic Development Commission in hopes of receiving state funding to offset the cost to develop the projects they say will attract tourists and sales-tax revenue to the region.

On Monday, the commission will hear presentations and conduct a public hearing on the projects in Northern Colorado, and in the afternoon will do the same with presentations from representatives of the proposed Denver National Western Center.

The presentations and hearings will take place in the Four…

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