Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announces the land swap deal for Park Hill Golf Course on Jan. 15, 2025. (BusinessDen file)
Denver’s acquisition of the shuttered Park Hill Golf Course property is expected to close this fall, according to the city’s director of real estate.
Lisa Lumley told Denver City Council members Wednesday that the city hopes to secure a lease for the land ahead of that date, so that the public can access it this summer.
The 155-acre property along Colorado Boulevard is owned by Glendale-based Westside Investment Partners, whose efforts to jettison a conservation easement and redevelop a portion of the land were stymied by Denver voters at the ballot box.
Mayor Mike Johnston announced in January that Denver would acquire the property through a land swap deal. Westside is slated to get 145 acres south of Denver International Airport in exchange for the golf course property.
The City Council has to approve the land swap deal. Presentations to the body were supposed to begin in February but were delayed until this week. A final vote is expected next month.
Separately, the council will also vote on a rezoning of the property that would allow it to become a park.
In the late 1990s, Denver paid a previous owner of the property $2 million to install the conservation easement, which restricts use of the property to golf. The golf course closed at the end of 2018, about six months before Westside bought the property for $24 million.
While that easement stymied Westside’s plans, it won’t be a problem for Denver. Lumley said that, because the city owns the easement, it will go away once the city owns the land, in accordance with state law.
“This will happen automatically when we close,” she said.
A map showing, in orange, the land in Adams County that Denver intends to give to Glendale-based Westside Investment Partners in the swap. (Courtesy City of Denver)
Westside did not respond to a request for comment. The land the company is poised to get is undeveloped and in Adams County, east of E-470 and north of 56th Avenue. Costco and Walmart distribution centers are nearby. Amazon has been buying real estate to the north.
Lumley said the Park Hill golf property and Adams County properties have both been appraised at $12.76 million.
The yet-to-be-named park will be the city’s fourth-largest, behind City Park, Sloan’s Lake Park and Wash Park. Design firm Sasaki has been tapped to lead a community engagement process that will help determine how the park is ultimately built out. But the property will initially be something akin to open space, with minimal low-cost amenities such as picnic tables.
“It won’t look like your other regional parks,” Denver Parks and Rec Director Jolon Clark said. “It’s not going to be immediately greening up from watering.”
Clark also said the golf course’s onetime clubhouse has suffered from vandalism.
“Anything that can be stripped out has been stripped out,” he said.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announces the land swap deal for Park Hill Golf Course on Jan. 15, 2025. (BusinessDen file)
Denver’s acquisition of the shuttered Park Hill Golf Course property is expected to close this fall, according to the city’s director of real estate.
Lisa Lumley told Denver City Council members Wednesday that the city hopes to secure a lease for the land ahead of that date, so that the public can access it this summer.
The 155-acre property along Colorado Boulevard is owned by Glendale-based Westside Investment Partners, whose efforts to jettison a conservation easement and redevelop a portion of the land were stymied by Denver voters at the ballot box.
Mayor Mike Johnston announced in January that Denver would acquire the property through a land swap deal. Westside is slated to get 145 acres south of Denver International Airport in exchange for the golf course property.
The City Council has to approve the land swap deal. Presentations to the body were supposed to begin in February but were delayed until this week. A final vote is expected next month.
Separately, the council will also vote on a rezoning of the property that would allow it to become a park.
In the late 1990s, Denver paid a previous owner of the property $2 million to install the conservation easement, which restricts use of the property to golf. The golf course closed at the end of 2018, about six months before Westside bought the property for $24 million.
While that easement stymied Westside’s plans, it won’t be a problem for Denver. Lumley said that, because the city owns the easement, it will go away once the city owns the land, in accordance with state law.
“This will happen automatically when we close,” she said.
A map showing, in orange, the land in Adams County that Denver intends to give to Glendale-based Westside Investment Partners in the swap. (Courtesy City of Denver)
Westside did not respond to a request for comment. The land the company is poised to get is undeveloped and in Adams County, east of E-470 and north of 56th Avenue. Costco and Walmart distribution centers are nearby. Amazon has been buying real estate to the north.
Lumley said the Park Hill golf property and Adams County properties have both been appraised at $12.76 million.
The yet-to-be-named park will be the city’s fourth-largest, behind City Park, Sloan’s Lake Park and Wash Park. Design firm Sasaki has been tapped to lead a community engagement process that will help determine how the park is ultimately built out. But the property will initially be something akin to open space, with minimal low-cost amenities such as picnic tables.
“It won’t look like your other regional parks,” Denver Parks and Rec Director Jolon Clark said. “It’s not going to be immediately greening up from watering.”
Clark also said the golf course’s onetime clubhouse has suffered from vandalism.
“Anything that can be stripped out has been stripped out,” he said.
