Centennial developer to turn former hospital campus into new Wheat Ridge neighborhood

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — The Centennial developer E5X on Tuesday released its renderings for Wheat Ridge's newest neighborhood, which will be built on Intermountain Health's former hospital campus.

There's been no shortage of opinions regarding the master plan for the former home of the Lutheran Medical Campus. According to the city, more than 1,200 residents participated in surveys and meetings over several months before the plan was finalized in 2021.

"What came out was what we think the community wanted the most, which was low impact around the existing neighborhoods, 20% open space," said Chuck Moozakis, who served on some of the community boards that helped contribute to the master plan.

Intermountain Health

Meanwhile, some neighbors who live across the street from the proposed development said they cannot support more density.

"It's a disaster. High-density development is everywhere in this metropolitan area," said Elise Brougham, who is passionately opposed to the project. "That's a money pot for developers forever, because it's never-ending money on property that's there."

The community involvement that led to the master plan also inspired the specific zoning requirements for the land.

"Provide 20% of dedicated public parks, trails and green space. The heights and housing thoughtfully scaled to protect surrounding neighborhoods. Preservation of cherished assets such as the Blue House and chapel," Wheat Ridge City Manager Patrick Goff said of the zoning requirements.

• Watch our previous coverage of the zoning requirements in the video player below

The first renderings of the new neighborhood were released on Tuesday. In line with the master plan, the perimeter of the campus will have single-family homes or condos that are height-restricted. Taller multifamily housing will be toward the middle of the property. There is also space planned for a City Civic Center, and 20% of the land will be reserved for parks, trails or open space.

Neighbors on both sides of the issue told Denver7 they're worried the developer might try to wiggle out of the requirements.

"I am. I mean, that unfortunately happens a lot," said Moozakis. "We're expecting that the developer will abide by those restrictions."

"Obviously, there's nothing to say. The city invented zoning for this developer," said Brougham.

E5X Management

Denver7 took many neighbors' questions to E5X. A spokesperson for the developer said they were not involved in the zoning decisions whatsoever.

"That was really a pure process that the city and Intermountain engaged in with the community, coming up with a plan that was going to work for everybody," said Chris Elliott with E5X, "We didn't want to come in and interject during that. We wanted to let that play out before we really got involved."

We also asked if E5X anticipates any changes to the current zoning.

"No, not at all. We're really happy with it. We think that we can make it work. We understand the conditions that were put in place to benefit the neighborhood," Elliot said. "The city, the hospital, the neighbors were very practical in what their expectations were for the property and their vision for what they wanted to see, so it was very easy to slip into it."

E5X Management

The land is still owned by Intermountain Health. Negotiations on the sale of the property are expected to wrap up in the fall, with construction expected to take years to complete.

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