Sun Valley community leaders and stakeholders have submitted a letter to Mayor Mike Johnston and City Council asking the government officials to quickly decide whether they'd be interested in purchasing the defunct Zuni Generating Station from Xcel Energy.
It's been two years since residents on the westside expressed interest in turning the plant into a community-centered space after learning that Xcel received permission to "decommission, dismantle, and demolish all structures, and remediate and restore the former plant" to ultimately build a substation.
Since then, City Council has asked Xcel to halt plans to allow for more community discussion on the future of the site. Xcel agreed and meetings have occurred.
Xcel has decided it will not turn the site into a substation. Instead, the utility provider is solely focused on selling the property to the city or an outside buyer "committed" to using the space in a way that aligns with residents' view.
But with the mayoral transition, talks between the city and Xcel have reached an impasse, leaving residents wondering whether Xcel will eventually sell the site to a developer who won't take the community's desires under consideration.
The City and Xcel have a partnership where the city gets the first opportunity to purchase property from the utility, or first right of refusal.
Led by Historic Denver, which has partnered with residents to preserve the structure, several registered neighborhood organization sent Johnston's office a letter asking the city to exercise that right.
The coalition included groups like Sun Valley Community Coalition, La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Organization and Valverde Neighborhood Association, local businesses like Raices Brewery and several community-based groups including NEWSED and the Urban Land Conservancy,
"We are concerned that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could quickly slip away and call upon Mayor Johnston and Denver City Council to act," the letter reads. "We ask that the City and County of Denver exercise its right of first refusal to pursue taking ownership of the Zuni Steam Power Plant under Xcel Energy's Franchise Agreement and work with us to identify a potential development partner to bring the building back to life. We are ready to act as collaborators, advocates, and resources on this journey."
But the issue of exercising that right also stems back to the impasse between the city and utility provider. According to documents Denverite obtained from Community Planning and Development, the future of the plant revolves around who will fund the needed remediation to the site.
Currently, Xcel is only obligated to remediate the site up to "industrial standards." If the site is to be converted into a food hall, housing or park, it will need to be brought up to "residential standards," which is a higher level of decontamination.
Determining what is needed to reach "residential standards" requires a remediation study and at the moment, neither Xcel nor the city is budging on who would pay for that portion of the project.
Xcel's President Robert Kenney ultimately told the city in a June 26 letter that if they are "unable to conduct a remediation study" and if they are "unable to exercise its right of first refusal," Xcel will eventually have to move on and seek out other potential buyers.
Community leaders are hoping to meet with Johnston's office soon to stop any potential, and perhaps, unwanted development, hence the urgency in their letter.
"We envision a bright and vibrant future for the steam power plant," the letter wrote. "We see it serving local neighborhoods with uses that support adjacent communities through the creation of amenities and employment opportunities, pushing back on displacement and gentrification and creating the walkable 15-minute neighborhoods Denver aspires to. The buzz of electricity will be replaced by the buzz of activity as the Zuni Station becomes a community heart at the intersection of established and new neighborhoods in this rapidly developing area either side of the South Platte River."
Clarification: This story has been updated to add details regarding the environmental remediation process the site has to undergo.
