A move to create an aerotropolis in Denver is taking a big step forward with the announcement that both Denver and Adams counties are now officially behind the effort.
The idea has been bandied about for more than a decade as area economic development officials have discussed what to do with some 3,000 vacant acres that make up a portion of the Denver International Airport property.
Those officials have pointed to the vast site as a perfect open space to build industrial, healthcare, and high-tech facilities, as well as offices and housing.
What is now being called the Colorado Aerotropolis is largely animated by the simple presence of so much unused acreage. “Frequently, airports are built in areas that are already quite populated, and that’s going to be somewhat limiting,” Jeni Hall, director of Adam County’s Community and Economic Development department, remarked to the Denver Post.
But the space connected to the Denver airport is quite the opposite: the second largest open land mass in the world, according to sources.
In pushing for the development of the area, the Aerotropolis Regional Committee was earlier established and made up of representatives of both Adams and Denver counties, as well as the cities of Aurora, Brighton, Commerce City, Federal Heights, and Thornton.
Ironically, according to local officials, one of the biggest selling points to the Aerotropolis is the very fact that it is connected to the Denver airport, which was opened in early 1995 and is now listed as the third-busiest airport in the country with nearly 78 million passengers using the facility last year.
Similar aerotropolis projects have been launched at sites surrounding the Dulles International Airport in Washington, as well as the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, and Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.
According to the publication Airport World, such developments reflect the changing nature of airports in general, which have evolved from “primarily air transport infrastructure to multimodal, multi-functional enterprises generating considerable commercial development within and well beyond their boundaries.”
By Garry Boulard
