Transit-oriented Development

(as published in the April issue of Colorado Construction magazine)

Doing TOD Right
Local planners weigh the advantages and disadvantages of transit-oriented development

By Melissa Leslie
Local developers are buzzing about the future of transit-oriented development as projects like FasTracks bring a multimodal transportation system to the Denver metro area and aim to change how the general public lives, works, commutes and plays.
Conscientious local planners, architects and developers agree that Denver's growth needs to be upward and inward, not out. That's why planning for good transit-oriented development is becoming a critical local issue.
Development on the existing RTD transit system is growing rapidly, according to a TOD status report released in December by FasTracks. “10,999 residential units, 3,729 hotel rooms, 2.8 million sq ft of retail, 4 million sq ft of office space and 1.6 million sq ft of convention/sports space have either been built or are currently under construction at station areas and bus transfer facilities,” the report says. “The TOD product delivered to the real estate market in 2007 represents 7.5% growth in residential units, 17.6% in hotel rooms, 4.3% in retail space, 7.2% in office space and 7.6% in institutional space.”

More TOD on Horizon
In 2004, Denver-area voters approved $3.95 billion for the construction of 119 mi of new commuter rail and light rail, 18 mi of bus rapid transit and other improvements throughout the region in an effort to alleviate the growing burden and congestion along the city’s roadways.
“FasTrack’s expansion will spark an increased interest in TOD,” says Charles King, president of King & Associates, which has worked on projects like Stapleton, Belmar and Loveland’s Centerra. “That interest will only increase because of the huge volume of new stations and new lines coming to the metro area in such a short period of time that will leave the market open for new development.”
“Voters took a big step when they passed FasTracks, and they will begin to see the benefit and value this project will bring,” says Jerry Jaramillo of Kiewit Building Group of Englewood, which played an instrumental role in helping to launch TOD with the completion of Denver’s T-REX project. “But it is going to take a mentality shift. TOD forces us to focus the development in the metro area. It helps keep infrastructure costs down and discourages sprawl.”
With increased high-density living choices available in Denver through projects like One Lincoln Park, Glass House, and the new condos at the Lincoln and Belleview stations, to name a few, options to create transit-oriented developments have also taken off.
“We are in a transit building boom,” King says. “I think everyone in Denver is beginning to understand that the more transit options we have available, the more competitive the area will be when companies like ConocoPhillips look to buy land and invest in a new workforce.”
Jaramillo adds, “Those who do understand what TOD is are focusing on medium- to high-density projects, but the key is putting these projects on a transit line.”
The FasTracks project is ambitious because of the ground it will cover 119 mi of light rail built in 10 years.
“Eventually, more people will use transit because it will be readily available and hopefully the access will motivate people to get out of their cars,” says Michael Leccese, executive director of the Colorado chapter of the Urban Land Institute, which has hosted a number of workshops since 2004 designed to spark good TOD.
“There has been a lot of talk about TOD, but not a lot of people have done it here, just yet,” says Ferdinand Belz, president of Cherokee Denver, developer of the approximately 7-million-sq-ft, mixed-use project located on the former site of the Gates Rubber Factory in Denver. “But, in general, what we have begun to recognize is there are more people moving back to the city looking for an environment that offers the opportunity to live, walk, shop and play in a centralized place outside of an automobile.”

What TOD Should Be
“TODs provide people with options so they can choose where to live, work, play and mingle. In the most successful TODs, transit stations integrate seamlessly into the community,” says TOD project manager Tom Boone with the Denver Regional Council of Governments.
Integrating TOD into a community is just one of the many key challenges that developers face. Other elements include a change in the public lifestyle, working with a number of investors and committing to the long-term construction schedule to fully develop a successful TOD.
“The TOD lifestyle is catching on with those tired of long car commutes, newcomers to the job market used to having transit options, empty-nesters and senior citizens ready to give up the hassle of owning a car,” Lecesse says. “But, in the end, we are encountering a change in the way communities are planned, and TOD will become part of the answer on what to do about increased congestion and how to sustain quality of life in Colorado.”
What TOD Is Not Denver has a handful of examples of successful TOD projects, including the 16th Street Mall and City Center Englewood. And, as more people in various demographics move into more urban environments, communities like City Center Englewood will become growing population centers, Jaramillo says. “But TOD isn’t something that people should depend on to restart economic growth. Rather, it has the adjunct effect,” he says.
One example of adjunct growth is the Englewood Station at Santa Fe Drive and Hampden Avenue. Located on the site of the former Cinderella City Mall, the light-rail station offers a park and ride for communities in the surrounding >> area, and it has been a key driver for the creation of a thriving walkable, mixed-use development.
“Denver’s Riverfront Park is also a project that is doing well,” Lecesse says.
On the other side, Nine Mile Station in Aurora offers ample parking for commuters but is an example of a transit station that has not yet sparked mixed-use, residential or other forms of development around Interstate 225 and Parker Road, King says.

Why It Can Work
“The Southwest Corridor Light Rail system is a great example of why developers need to be smart about the master development of TOD,” says Jaramillo, who cites the lessons from the corridor as an aid in the success of future development along RTD’s FasTrack corridors. “If you work early with government jurisdictions and run the plans by the public and private sectors, you will have a better idea of how to piece together the TOD within the community,” he says.
TODs must go through a public process, where everything can be pieced together with the surrounding community. Existing residents want to know what changes their neighborhoods will face through increased traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, and what benefits will come along with that increased traffic, says Jaramillo.
“When developing TOD, you don’t want it to become a stand-alone development,” he adds. “Each station is like a patch on a quilt with the common thread being the track line.”
Key challenges that coincide with the creation of a TOD are the number of ownerships invested that all may have a different goal. In many cases, transit stations must meet the rules and regulations of multiple jurisdictions, be created through partnerships between the public and private sectors, meet the needs of the neighborhood and there’s always the question of what to do about parking.
“There are many challenges to TOD due to the different product types,” says Belz. “We must always question if it is a pedestrian-friendly environment with sufficient density, and we must recognize that individual markets associated with TOD move at their own pace.”
Through the entire process, developers must always look to future and its unknown demands. “You can’t think that TOD is fast or easy,” Belz says. “A single-product development in the suburbs is difficult enough, but the variables of TOD compound on themselves and create a truly challenging experience.”