Wiens Unveils $45M Event Center

The event center proposed is to be owned by the Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority. Wiens Development Group LLC will oversee the construction and provide day-to-day management of the complex. Wiens Development is a joint venture between Wiens Capital Management LLC (owned by Tim Wiens) and Frew Management Group LLC (owned by John Frew). Frew will have principal day-to-day responsibility for the project.

The Broomfield Event Center will comprise approximately 180,000 sf of multipurpose space and will become the "Gateway to Broomfield" located just off the Boulder Turnpike at Wadsworth/Highway 287. It will be designed to host a variety of events, including sporting events, amateur youth sports, family-oriented entertainment and community-sponsored events.

"Arista will be complemented by this world-class event center, with both projects contributing greatly to the overall appeal of the Highway 36 corridor," Wiens says. "The event center will serve as a gateway for the entry to Broomfield, as well as a signature defining element for Arista as place and a destination. Additionally, the restaurants and retail shops on Arista Place, the neo-traditional main street, will enjoy synergies with the event center, which will anchor the east end of the block. With greater pedestrian activity will come heightened vitality--one of the fundamental objectives for the Arista project."

Frew, who once unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Denver against Wellington E. Webb, calls it an "exciting" project. "The Broomfield Event Center will be a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue," Frew says.

The City and County of Broomfield will be reviewing plans for the project over the next few months. Construction of the Broomfield Event Center is scheduled to begin in August with events beginning in late fall of 2006. Wiens Development is assembling a team of arena development specialists for the project, including Tim Romani and the ICON Venue Group LLC (projects include the Pepsi Center, Invesco Field at Mile High, Home Depot Center, Kodak Theatre, the Staples Center); Dan Villiant and International Coliseum Company LLC (projects include the Budweiser Center in Loveland; Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, TX; and arenas across the US); and Don Dethlefs of Sink Combs Dethlefs (projects include the Ritchie Center, CSU's Moby Arena, Fresno State's Save Mart Center, San Diego State's Moby Arena, Mandalay Bay Arena, Thomas & Mack Center and Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ).

"The event center will provide new entertainment opportunities for Broomfield residents and can provide a unique gathering space for large community and business events," Mayor Karen Stuart says. "Its location on Highway 36 in the Arista project makes it uniquely accessible to RTD services and complementing land uses."