CITY OKS PLANS FOR EMILY GRIFFITH PROJECT SUBSIDY

Denver has laid the groundwork to kick in tax money as part of the redevelopment of downtown’s former Emily Griffith Opportunity School block.

The City Council in a block vote Monday approved a cooperation agreement between the city and the Denver Urban Renewal Authority for the use of tax-increment financing, which would divert property and sales taxes resulting from the growth in valuation on the site in coming years. A week earlier, the council approved a related plan that authorizes the creation of redevelopment and tax increment areas.

Hotel developer Stonebridge Companies bought the site from Denver Public Schools for $26 million earlier this year. It has not yet announced redevelopment plans, and a spokesman declined to comment Monday on the developer’s time frame.

The council still would need to approve a redevelopment project before the city could spend any of the tax money it sets aside. The tax authorization expires at the end of 2020 if no project is approved.

Stonebridge has faced pressure from the hotel industry to build what would be the city’s second large convention hotel on that site, which is across Welton Street from the Colorado Convention Center. The council last year approved a landmark designation covering some of the block’s buildings, but the newer structures could be torn down. — Jon Murray, The Denver Post