Denver Council Weighs Zoning Request for Sears Property Makeover

DENVER-Tonight, the Denver City Council will make a crucial zoning change for the Sears site in the tony Cherry Creek North neighborhood, about three miles southeast of the CBD. Sears, local developer Nichols Partnership of Denver and Madison Marquette of Cincinnati want a zoning change that will allow them to more than double the 55-foot height limit currently in place for a new hotel and office tower. Much like the council’s decision last week for the subsidy for Denver developer Bruce Berger’s 1,100-room convention center hotel, there are strong emotions riding on both sides of this issue. And like last week’s council meeting, this one is expected to go well past midnight.

Nichols Partnership, headed by Randy Nichols of Denver, has found support from the Cherry Creek Steering Committee–an advisory board to the council and the Cherry North Neighborhood Association. The Denver Country Club Neighborhood to the west–one of the region’s most exclusive–wants the project downsized. They’ve already hired several law firms to launch a legal attack if council OKs the zoning change. They are calling for building heights not to exceed about 85 feet.

Proponents argue that of all the proposals floated over the years, this is by far the best. They say it will bring a hotel as well as an office building that would serve as the new headquarters for the Janus family of mutual funds, which currently is based within blocks of the project site.