The struggling Denver Pavilions could gain a new lease on life after a special city taxing district charged with helping revive downtown announced an agreement to purchase the open-air mall for $37 million.<\/p>\n
The property opened in 1998 on two blocks along the then-16th Street Mall. But it struggled when the pandemic drove office workers away and construction along 16th Street, set to wrap up this weekend, kept shoppers away. Valued at $140 million a decade ago, the mall\u2019s owners had defaulted on an $85 million loan due in July and were facing a foreclosure<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mayor Mike Johnston, Downtown Development Authority<\/a> board chair Doug Tisdale and City Council President Amanda Sandoval announced the purchase at an afternoon news conference held at 16th and Glenarm Place. The long-term plan is to come up with two or three mixed-use redevelopment visions for the site and then choose one with public input, said Bill Mosher, the city\u2019s chief projects officer.<\/p>\n The authority would then sell the Pavilions and two adjacent parking lots, which the DDA announced in July it would purchase for $23 million, to a developer willing to implement its plan.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat it allows us to do is be really specific about the kind of user experience we want at this site,\u201d Johnston said of the purchase. \u201cIf you are an out-of-state investor from Singapore and you own this property, you don\u2019t care if there are seven 7-Elevens on the ground floor, or if there are locally-owned and -run businesses that are some of people\u2019s favorite parts of the city, that they want to find downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n The site is only 60% leased after several high-profile departures, including the Hard Rock Cafe and the Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo.<\/p>\n Officials said they wanted to step in before the site deteriorated further and risked becoming blighted. They suggested a revitalized Pavilions could set Upper Downtown on a new course, in much the same way the redevelopment of Larimer Square, Union Station and the Milk Market did on the other end of downtown.<\/p>\n \u201cJust as the revitalization of Union Station brought new life to Lower Downtown, a reimagined Pavilions will rejuvenate the landscape of Upper Downtown, rendering it a vibrant Upper Downtown,\u201d Tisdale said.<\/p>\n The Pavilions intends to keep its current tenants, which include Maggiano\u2019s Little Italy, a Regal movie theater, an H&M store and a Lucky Strike bowling alley. The authority will also retain the current property manager, Mosher said.<\/p>\n The deal, which the DDA board approved on Tuesday, is expected to close in two to three months, Mosher said. The authority also allocated another $8 million for property improvements, leasing and redevelopment planning. The council will have a final say on the purchase and the future redevelopment plan, Sandoval added.<\/p>\n The agreement was approved by the DDA\u2019s board on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n The authority oversees a voter-approved tax district that uses a portion of tax revenue generated downtown to support projects that benefit the area. Last year, downtown-area voters approved an expansion of the district\u2019s boundaries and up to $570 million in new debt for revitalization efforts.<\/p>\n The district\u2019s setup means that the city can buy the Pavilions without tapping its general fund \u2014 which has been cut amid a budget crisis<\/a> \u2014 and without \u201cburdening our taxpayers,\u201d Tisdale said. Johnston emphasized that no citywide funds will be spent on the purchase or redevelopment.<\/p>\n