Government & Politics  September 23, 2015

Lafayette Commons rehabilitation project receives state award

LAFAYETTE — The Lafayette Commons building project in downtown Lafayette has received a Governor’s Award for Downtown Excellence in the category of Best Adaptive Reuse or Rehabilitation, using the tool of a city urban renewal authority.

The award was given by Downtown Colorado Inc. a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing Colorado’s downtown districts.

The Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority partnered with Chernoff Boulder Properties to reconstruct the historic façade on the Lafayette Commons building at the southeast corner of Simpson Street and Iowa Avenue.

The site was home to the Lafayette Bank, established by Lafayette’s founding mother and likely the first female bank president of the time, Mary Miller. The bank portion of the site burned in 1922, but the adjacent storefront remained. Through the years, the building was home to a library, the Rocky Mountain Fuel Store (a company store for miners), a dance hall and county administrative offices.

Lafayette Commons is now the site of 22 boutique office suites.

Chernoff Boulder Properties rehabilitated the building’s exterior, removing aging siding, rebuilding the structure behind the siding, replacing the exterior with period-size lapboard siding on the majority of the building, and reinstalling historically accurate corbels on the north elevation. On the western portion of the building, limestone block replaced the wooden siding to match historic pictures of the building.

Urban-renewal authorities are created by municipalities to redevelop areas within their jurisdiction that are found to contain blight or slum conditions and require public participation to attract redevelopment. An urban-renewal project is a public/private partnership. The majority of the funding comes from the private sector; public investment comes from tax-increment financing, which is the increased amount of property tax or municipal sales tax revenue collected within the URA’s district after the project begins. This new revenue is generated by the increased property values that result from the project.

“Lafayette Commons is sure to remain a keystone project as further development of the area continues under the direction and contribution of the Urban Renewal Authority,” Sally Martin, chairwoman of the authority, said in a prepared statement. “It has set the scene for many more good things to come. The building has an amazing history, and it continues with this Governor’s Award for Excellence.”

 

LAFAYETTE — The Lafayette Commons building project in downtown Lafayette has received a Governor’s Award for Downtown Excellence in the category of Best Adaptive Reuse or Rehabilitation, using the tool of a city urban renewal authority.

The award was given by Downtown Colorado Inc. a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing Colorado’s downtown districts.

The Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority partnered with Chernoff Boulder Properties to reconstruct the historic façade on the Lafayette Commons building at the southeast corner of Simpson Street and Iowa Avenue.

The site was home to the Lafayette Bank, established by Lafayette’s founding mother and likely the first female bank president…

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