The 50-acre site is owned by Cherokee Denver LLC, which plans to turn it into a $1 billion mixed-use community over the next 15 years or so. It represents the largest redevelopment opportunity only a few miles from downtown Denver.
If it is designated as an urban renewal site, Cherokee would be eligible for a subsidy. However, a group of community and labor activists called the Campaign for Responsible Development, protested the designation for the land.
The consortium, which includes representatives from ACORN, a grassroots activist group, says the Denver Urban Renewal Authority has provided more than $273 million in subsidies for redevelopment projects, excluding Lowry and Stapleton. Those subsidies have created 3,578 permanent jobs.
"That's a $76,00 cost to the taxpayers for each job created," says Colorado ACORN president Betty Wilkins. "It's outrageous especially when you look at the fact that the majority of these jobs are in the low-wage service sector lacking benefits," she adds.
Leslie Moody, Denver Area Labor Federation president, was equally as critical. "The city is facing a $50 million deficit that may cause workers to lose their jobs and city services to be cut," Moody says. "It's time that the city promote high road economic development that brings in quality jobs, otherwise our tax money is better spent elsewhere."
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