Greeley officials seek public input on proposed Cascadia project

GREELEY  — The City of Greeley is turning to residents to get their thoughts on the proposal to open a sports arena/hotel/water park in west Greeley.

The city will hold two open houses to discuss the $1 billion project proposed at the northeast corner of Weld County Road 17 and U.S. Highway 34 with a hockey arena, a hotel and convention center, a 12-slide water park, a plaza for restaurants, retail and community events, housing of more than 6,000 units, and outdoor recreation amenities, from horse trails to kayaking.

The first meeting will be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at The Belair at Zoe’s Café + Events, 711 10th St.

The second will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Feb. 1, also at The Belair.

“The goal is just to provide community members with an overview of the project and be able to ask whatever questions and/or share their perspectives with the city and the developer,” said Greeley mayor John Gates. The feedback will occur a few days before the council is expected to make its decision on the matter. That meeting is scheduled for Feb. 4, but the city council could also move it further out if need-be, Gates said. Gates said the city is still in its “due-diligence” phase and “getting closer every day,” to determining if the project is doable financially.

The council met behind closed doors Jan. 21 to discuss the project, but the group did not come out of their meeting with any formal decisions.

City officials have been pondering the project and crunching the numbers for a couple of months after Windsor developer Martin Lind proposed moving his hockey team, the Colorado Eagles, to Greeley, where he wants to build a bigger arena for the club and add more ice sheets for Colorado youth hockey. 

The largest portion of the expense is to extend city utilities to the west, which would fuel not only the West Side Project but surrounding developments that are on the books for commercial centers and residential developments. 

“If the project itself were to not perform to its highest expectations, we’re still building monstrous public infrastructure, a highway and utilities out there that will be here for generations,” Lind said in an interview.  “It’s a lifetime change for Greeley.”

The city also needs to solve some traffic issues at Weld County Road 17, which is in dire need of an upgrade. Lind’s proposal also calls for a bridge over U.S. 34 to bring north-south traffic to the center without the extra burden on Weld 17. The bridge also will hover above a mobility hub.

City leaders have talked with the prolific Windsor developer about creating a “destination” in west Greeley for more than a year. Cascadia, Lind said, on the surface is a celebration of water — in which Greeley’s history is steeped heavily. The city also contracted with CBRE to study the project’s financial impact. The project would require long-term financing that the city would guarantee.At first, Lind’s plan began as one that would bring a $1.2 billion impact to Larimer County, where his hockey team, the Colorado Eagles is based. That plan fell through, and Lind turned his attention east to Greeley to city leadership eager to strategically plan their western corridor, rather than settle for growth for the sake of growth.

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