Promenade puts city on entertainment map

WESTMINSTER — The Promenade already has put Westminster on the regional

entertainment map, and new projects there like a Westin Hotel and Conference Center and lease

negotiations by high-profile retailers soon will help power this development’s pull.

“The city conceived and promoted the Promenade project as a unique family-oriented outdoor

pedestrian experience. Westminster doesn’t have a traditional older downtown,’ so we started

from scratch with a more contemporary version of a communitywide gathering place,” says John

Carpenter, Westminster’s community development director.

And FlatIron Crossing, a new mall under construction in Broomfield, got Westminster, as

well as other cities like Boulder along the U.S. 36 corridor, planning seriously on how to keep

people and future sales tax revenues at home.

“We have the (Westminster) mall, but it’s not unique,” Carpenter adds. “It’s a fairly typical

enclosed mall, so one of the objectives we’ve had in Westminster is to try to create a unique,

more pedestrian-oriented environment. That’s very hard to do and is a very high-risk venture in

suburbia.”

But that risk, so far, seems to be paying off.

The AMC Theater at the Promenade already is rated among the top 20 in the nation based on

the number of tickets sold. The theater brings in 2.3 millions people per year. And when the

Promenade is completed, the mixed-use facility will have something for everyone.

“We worked very hard to make it very special, and I think now we’re waiting for everything to

open, and it’s looking good,” says Mayor Nancy Heil. “The fruits of our labor are coming true.”

The city helped to entice businesses to the Promenade, which consists of retail, office space, a

hotel and ice rink, by providing sales tax rebates for some and by entering into partnerships with

others.

Patrons of the AMC Theater pay an admission tax, for instance, that goes back to the theater

to cover some of the costs of landscaping and architectural upgrades to the building. It was a way

to bring new, high-powered businesses to Westminster and to assure the developments would be

aesthetically pleasing, Carpenter says. “There would not be a Promenade were it not for some

major business investment,” he says.

Carpenter says the city experienced little resistance from residents or other businesses on the

assistance packages because the deals don’t subtract from revenues already coming into the city.

“The key to this is we can show convincingly that the Westin Hotel was never going to come

to Westminster unless we did an incentive deal, and AMC Theater was not going to do the

project in the configuration and the quality that they ultimately decided to do were it not for the

assistance from the city.”

The Ice Centre, which is expected to serve 1 million people per year, is a partnership between

the city and the Hyland Hills Park and Recreation District. It will be open to the public in July,

although hockey teams have been allowed to rent space in two of the rinks.

Jackson’s American Grill, a restaurant on site, also is expected to open in July. The city also is

developing a two-acre lake in front of the ice center.

The city paired up with officials from the Westin to attract the hotel and conference center.

The Westin will lease and manage the conference center, while the city will own the land and

building. Developers have finished half of the hotel and were pouring the seventh of 14 stories in

April. “The city’s major role is issuing bonds to finance the conference center, but the revenue

stream to repay the bonds is coming directly from the Westin,” Carpenter explains.

Although the hotel won’t open until March 2000, Heil says she can’t wait. “The name of it is

the Westin at Westminster, and that gives us a great deal of pride,” she says. “We might be

drawing people not only from our area, but from out of the state. We will be enticing other

people to come visit our city.”

Carpenter believes the theater also draws people to Westminster because of its stadium

seating and enhanced sound systems.

“I think people are voting with their bodies and saying, If I’m going to spend $6.50 for a

movie, I’d rather spend it at a space that has a very comfortable environment.’ The seats are very

wide. They have padded armrests that go up and down, so if you want to snuggle with someone,

you can do that.”

The Laramie Group, the Promenade’s leasing agent, expects to announce which retailers will

get space at the Promenade in 30 to 60 days. “They’ll be national tenants, and I think it will really

put Westminster Promenade on the map,” says Mary Beth Jenkins, president of the Laramie

Group.

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