Council OKs contracts for rooftop expansion

The Denver City Council signed off Monday on two key contracts for the upcoming $233 million rooftop expansion project at the Colorado Convention Center.

Fentress Architects, a hometown firm that designed Denver International Airport’s iconic tented terminal roof, will expand on its design for the previous addition and renovation project at the convention center, completed in 2004. Its new design contract is valued at up to $12.5 million.

The council also approved a three-year program management contract with Trammel Crow Company, worth up to $9 million. Both were approved in a block vote.

Plans call for the addition of 250,000 square feet on top of the Champa Street side of the convention center, including an 80,000square-foot ballroom and a large outdoor terrace with mountain and downtown views. The project also includes technology upgrades throughout the center and three lobby renovations in the existing structure.

To pay for the expansion, Denver plans to tap into voter-approved lodger’s and car rental taxes, an extra 1 percent surcharge on stays that was approved last year by midsize and large hotels in the city, and city income related to the convention center. Adam Phipps, the city’s project manager, told a council committee recently that the target to begin construction is late 2019.