DALLAS – The Denver suburb of Aurora has approved a $25 million tax subsidy to build a conference center hotel at the Anschutz Medical Campus.
The public finance and redevelopment agreement with the Denver-based investment firm Corporex Colorado and the Aurora Urban Renewal Authority was approved by the Aurora City Council on July 8.
Corporex will build a 245-room Hyatt hotel, a 30,000 square-foot conference center, and a 525-space parking garage with public financing by the city and AURA.
AURA will provide a combination of cash and bonds for the financing. The bonds would be paid back with the revenues from the operation of the conference center and garage and the incremental tax revenue from the development, according to city staff.
The city may issue a moral obligation pledge in case the revenue stream is not adequate to pay debt service, officials said. In such a case, the debt service reserve would be used to make the payment and council would be asked to consider a resolution that appropriates funds to replenish the debt service reserve.
The city attorney’s office issued an opinion that the moral obligation pledge did not constitute a general obligation commitment.
While the convention center and parking garage would be owned by AURA, under the hotel would remain privately owned. The Corporex project is expected to break ground on the $90 million project by the end of the year.
The Anschutz Medical Campus, named for Denver financier Phillip Anschutz, is a major redevelopment of the former Fitzsimons Army Hospital and is home to the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center that was relocated from Denver. The Anschutz Campus is expected to represent more than $4 billion of investment when completely built out.
With a population of 330,000, Aurora is Colorado’s third largest city, covering parts of Adams and Arapahoe counties on the east side of Denver. The city’s general obligation bond rating is AA from Standard & Poor’s and Aa1 by Moody’s Investors Service with stable outlooks. Fitch Ratings rates Aurora’s senior water revenue bonds AA-plus, with a stable outlook.
