NORTHGLENN, CO-The city is launching a national search for a commercial real estate developer to build a regional destination retail and entertainment district immediately accessible from Interstate 25, Colorado's busiest highway. Northglenn's new town center development will initially take up 17 acres at the southeast corner of 120th Avenue and I-25, about eight miles north of Downtown Denver.

The city has acquired most of the land needed for the project. It also signed Century Theaters Corp. to anchor the new district with a high-tech, 16-screen theater complex. City officials are also actively meeting with retail, entertainment and restaurant companies around the country in an effort to sign high-interest stores and attractions that are unique to the increasingly typical mix found at other regional multi-use developments.

"Northglenn...is surrounded by the fastest-growing areas in the Greater Metro Denver region," says economic development director Stephanie Salazar. "We've done an enormous amount of preparation toward naming a development partner to help us create a vibrant new Downtown that serves both as a valued community amenity as well as an exciting regional destination. Our city has high expectations of us, and we'll have high expectations of our partner."

The 120th Avenue center is the flagship redevelopment project for Northglenn's Vision 2020, a long-range reinvestment and redevelopment plan that includes key land acquisitions, street improvements and city improvements. Northglenn's initiatives build on a five-year track record of successful public-private partnerships, which have created several new revenue sources including the popular Marketplace retail center at 104th Avenue and I-25.

City officials plan to narrow down the list of potential developers by mid-February and will name a partner company in May. Construction of the project is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter.