Rebecca Arnold, left, an executive with ScanlanKemperBard, the firm that owns York Street Yards, stands with Fred Glick, who is seeking to develop affordable housing next door. (BusinessDen file)
The Denver City Council on Monday voted 9-2 to rezone the York Street Yards property and adjacent parcels in Clayton, paving the way for a land swap deal and a housing project.
The move takes the retail-and-industrial complex between York and Steele Streets along 39th Avenue out of an outdated zoning designation, which owner ScanlanKemperBard, or SKB, said has hamstrung its growth.
The new zoning of I-MX-5 is an industrial mixed-use designation that allows up to five stories.
With the zoning code updated, SKB will trade land with neighboring developer Fred Glick so he and Philadelphia-based developer Pennrose can build a four-story, 75-unit income-restricted apartment building that will be “LGBTQ-affirming.”
“I think York Street Yards is arguably the most successful example of industrial mixed-use development in the city,” Glick said at Monday’s meeting.
Council members Shontel Lewis and Amanda Sandoval voted against the rezoning. Council members Amanda Sawyer and Sarah Parady were absent.
“My no vote is not a ‘no’ to the LGBTQIA+ community. I belong to that community – Friday was national coming out day — and it’s important to me,” Councilwoman Lewis said. “My no is because this is not how we should be operating as a council. I worry, in terms of my council authority, that we are giving you all decisions that we should be making as a council in the future.”
The crux of council opposition related to what members saw as a lack of certainty regarding the property’s future. Lewis and Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval said the rezoning amounted to relinquishing a large site without knowing what it might become down the road, especially given the lack of any formal agreements between developer and neighbors.
Councilwoman Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez voted in favor of the rezoning, but also expressed some concerns.
“As a fourth generation from Denver and having grown up in North Denver, I had to see so many community members including my family be displaced in the name of development … So, yeah, maybe I do have some trust issues. That’s part of this,” she said.
Over 100 letters of community support were filed for the project, including the Clayton neighborhood association.
“You don’t get 105 people positively supporting anything that comes, usually, before council, and this community has come together. Diverse populations of nonprofits, from folks that are indigenous to Clayton to folks that are across the city,” said Councilman Darrell Watson, who represents the district that includes York Street Yards.
York Street Yards, which used to be a pair of vacant former U.S. Army depots, was purchased by SKB in 2018 for $77 million, and company President Todd M. Gooding previously told BusinessDen the firm has invested a total of $160 million at the site. Tenants include electric car manufacturer Rivian, which has a service center there, and retail users such as Skiptown, an off-leash dog park and bar.
Glick, who lives next door, owns a small, half-acre green space at 3840 York St., which he calls the “Quad.” He plans to give that property to SKB in return for a nearly 2-acre vacant site on the other side of the development at 3897 Steele St., where the apartment building will be constructed.
A map of York Street Yards and adjacent properties that highlights the two parcels that are part of the planned land-swap deal. (City documents)
Rebecca Arnold, left, an executive with ScanlanKemperBard, the firm that owns York Street Yards, stands with Fred Glick, who is seeking to develop affordable housing next door. (BusinessDen file)
The Denver City Council on Monday voted 9-2 to rezone the York Street Yards property and adjacent parcels in Clayton, paving the way for a land swap deal and a housing project.
The move takes the retail-and-industrial complex between York and Steele Streets along 39th Avenue out of an outdated zoning designation, which owner ScanlanKemperBard, or SKB, said has hamstrung its growth.
The new zoning of I-MX-5 is an industrial mixed-use designation that allows up to five stories.
With the zoning code updated, SKB will trade land with neighboring developer Fred Glick so he and Philadelphia-based developer Pennrose can build a four-story, 75-unit income-restricted apartment building that will be “LGBTQ-affirming.”
“I think York Street Yards is arguably the most successful example of industrial mixed-use development in the city,” Glick said at Monday’s meeting.
Council members Shontel Lewis and Amanda Sandoval voted against the rezoning. Council members Amanda Sawyer and Sarah Parady were absent.
“My no vote is not a ‘no’ to the LGBTQIA+ community. I belong to that community – Friday was national coming out day — and it’s important to me,” Councilwoman Lewis said. “My no is because this is not how we should be operating as a council. I worry, in terms of my council authority, that we are giving you all decisions that we should be making as a council in the future.”
The crux of council opposition related to what members saw as a lack of certainty regarding the property’s future. Lewis and Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval said the rezoning amounted to relinquishing a large site without knowing what it might become down the road, especially given the lack of any formal agreements between developer and neighbors.
Councilwoman Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez voted in favor of the rezoning, but also expressed some concerns.
“As a fourth generation from Denver and having grown up in North Denver, I had to see so many community members including my family be displaced in the name of development … So, yeah, maybe I do have some trust issues. That’s part of this,” she said.
Over 100 letters of community support were filed for the project, including the Clayton neighborhood association.
“You don’t get 105 people positively supporting anything that comes, usually, before council, and this community has come together. Diverse populations of nonprofits, from folks that are indigenous to Clayton to folks that are across the city,” said Councilman Darrell Watson, who represents the district that includes York Street Yards.
York Street Yards, which used to be a pair of vacant former U.S. Army depots, was purchased by SKB in 2018 for $77 million, and company President Todd M. Gooding previously told BusinessDen the firm has invested a total of $160 million at the site. Tenants include electric car manufacturer Rivian, which has a service center there, and retail users such as Skiptown, an off-leash dog park and bar.
Glick, who lives next door, owns a small, half-acre green space at 3840 York St., which he calls the “Quad.” He plans to give that property to SKB in return for a nearly 2-acre vacant site on the other side of the development at 3897 Steele St., where the apartment building will be constructed.
A map of York Street Yards and adjacent properties that highlights the two parcels that are part of the planned land-swap deal. (City documents)
