It finally happened.
After much adieu — from delays and rumors of impending doom to
promises of suburban revitalization and tax generation — Streets at
Southglenn officially opened amid fanfare on Aug. 28.
“This has been an amazing project,” Centennial Mayor Randy Pye
told a crowd minutes before the ribbon-cutting. “It’s one of those
projects you start with great enthusiasm, but then all of a sudden,
the economy goes away.”
The $310 million Streets at Southglenn had been slowed
considerably by the flagging economy. Its opening was delayed by as
much as a year. Leasing of business space has also been slower than
originally expected and the development’s luxury condominiums were
converted into for-rent apartments.
The pedestrian-friendly Streets at Southglenn mixes the three
R’s — retail, restaurants and residences — and has been seen as a
potential boon in sales tax for 8-year-old Centennial, a city that
in its early years struggled to support its services and
public-works projects.
Pye, a city founder who will step down in January, placed the
Streets at Southglenn opening on the former site of Southglenn Mall
in the context of Centennial’s 2001 grassroots incorporation.
“We made this promise to the community when we started forming
this city and said the one thing we would make sure would happen is
that Southglenn would be revitalized. I think we did that,” he said
to cheers from the crowd.
The much-touted project was seen as so important for
Centennial’s economic vitality that the city council created two
government entities — a self-taxing district on the 77-acre
property and an urban renewal authority — to help facilitate
Streets at Southglenn.
The ambitious “new urban” project led by Greenwood Village-based
Alberta Development Partners is one of the nation’s few large-scale
mixed-use projects to open this year.
Although Aug. 28 was the official opening of the development at
the corner of Arapahoe Road and University Boulevard, several of
its larger retailers, including Best Buy and Whole Foods, had been
open for months.
Anchors Sears and Macy’s, parts of the original Southglenn Mall,
were incorporated into Streets at Southglenn and remained open
throughout the three-year transition. More stores are expected to
open throughout the fall.
Southglenn Library recently unveiled its new location at its
namesake development. A multi-screen Hollywood Theaters and 202
apartment units are slated to debut later this fall. Office space
is available for lease.
Streets at Southglenn’s principal gathering place is the
Commons, a park with a large European-style fountain, a brick
fireplace, 30-foot trees and gardens.
Aside from its economic-development potential, Streets at
Southglenn has been seen as a venue that can help foster identity
and a sense of community in Centennial, a city cut eight years ago
from an unincorporated swath of Arapahoe County.
“Community is really what this is all about,” Alberta principal
David Goldberg told the opening-day crowd.
Centennial founder John Brackney, president of the South Metro
Denver Chamber of Commerce, echoed the feelings of many who have
seen Streets at Southglenn as a potential “downtown” for the city
of 103,000.
“I believe [Alberta principals] are heroes because this isn’t
just a development,” he said. “For many of us, this is a sense of
community. This is our hometown.”
Other city residents in the crowd were no less excited as the
ribbon was cut at the Streets of Southglenn.
Michelle Field, Mrs. Colorado International, sees Streets at
Southglenn as a new and exciting center for social gathering.
“This is a great place for my kids to meet friends. It’s going
to be a really safe place for my children and I think there is a
wonderful sense of community,” she said. “It feels like an old
town, but it’s new. It almost has that European feel to it where
things are smaller and closer together.”
