NAIOP Colorado has announced the project site for its 22nd Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge. This year, CU and DU students will showcase their skills by developing a project for the 48 acres at Victory Crossing in Commerce City, located next to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. The challenge commenced in January, with the final event and judging on May 2, 2024. Project sponsors, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, and the City of Commerce City hope this challenge will expand the existing 90,000-square-foot Commerce City Civic Center and surrounding area into a vibrant civic campus, creating an exciting new activity hub for the community and positively impacting the future generation of real estate leaders.
Challenge teams are tasked with creating a vertical mixed-use development on approximately 48 acres of land immediately west of Dicks Sporting Goods Park. The initial phase of Victory Crossing should create a new ‘hub’ for Commerce City as well as function as an entertainment district for events held at the stadium. The development may provide a mix of residential, office, civic, retail, and neighborhood commercial necessary to create a critical mass and destination address for Commerce City that is populated 18 hours a day and supports retail users. The student’s plans should also incorporate Commerce City’s need for a larger civic center building, which currently sits within the proposed site.
“Our community has looked forward to new investment in Victory Crossing for some time now, and we are extremely excited to see the RMREC teams get to work on breathing new life into the possibilities this area offers,” said Jason Rogers, city manager of Commerce City. “We believe Victory Crossing is primed for new opportunities, and along with our partners at KSE, we look forward to the new momentum this challenge will create in support of our City Council’s goals to meet the expectations of our community!”
Once part of the expansive Rocky Mountain Arsenal property belonging to the federal government, the Victory Crossing site was annexed into Commerce City in 2004 and saw the construction of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and the Civic Center in 2007. A longtime partnership between the city and KSE has set the stage for the property to become a beneficial community asset for Commerce City and nearby Denver residents alike.
As a part of the decision-making process, Alan Colussy, site selection chairman, states, “There’s a huge community benefit for someone like a Commerce City or another municipality…to really be able to see what these visions could be, and what to make of the property rather than just another deal.” The growth of Commerce City and a need to enhance its worth beyond stadium activities promises a Victory Crossing that lends itself to a civic campus where residents feel a new sense of community. As Matt Mahoney, senior vice president of KSE, states, “We have the potential to generate a truly unique regional destination characterized as a mixed-use neighborhood.”
Finalists for this year’s Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge will converge at the Hyatt Regency Denver Convention Center Hotel on May 2, 2024, to present their projects in front of an audience of real estate professionals and the Project Sponsor Team. The winning team receives scholarships, and their university will receive the coveted NAIOP cup. Tickets are available via the NAIOP website to watch the future real estate leaders impact our community and showcase their talents.
John E. Freyer, Jr., president of Land Title Guarantee Company, says it best: “It’s exciting to have the Challenge focus on a highly visible area of Colorado, as it has in prior years, providing ample opportunity for both problem-solving and delivering solutions within local communities.”
