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The Denver Downtown Development Authority finalized $210M in financing for its revitalization efforts after the city council approved a loan and credit agreement.
The agreement, first reported by the Denver Business Journal, provides the development authority with a $160M fixed-rate loan and a $50M revolving line of credit, both from PNC Bank. The financing will fund payments on a 2017 loan and finance downtown development projects.
City council members unanimously approved the agreement on Monday.
Last year, voters supported a ballot measure to allow the development authority to increase debt by up to $570M to be used on revitalization efforts, including new development, adaptive reuse projects, improving infrastructure and adding public amenities.
The city and development authority approved the first round of projects in July, investing $100M in business support, housing, redevelopment and improving public spaces.
The development authority also purchased the Denver Pavilions shopping center earlier this fall for $45M, planning to attract new tenants and redevelop the parking lots.
A memo from city staff says the financing tools not only allow the city and development authority to pay off existing obligations and commit to development projects, but the credit line also provides the flexibility needed to fund short-term projects and repayment projections.
Repayment for the loan and line of credit will come from the tax increment financing generated within the development authority boundaries.
The DBJ reported that the development authority’s TIF revenue is strong, with the first quarter of 2025 seeing a 1.6% increase compared to the same quarter in 2024.
Reports from the development authority also show downtown is making gains in its effort to recover from the effects of the pandemic. September foot traffic reached 93% of September 2019's total. Return-to-office trends are also improving, with weekday employees at 64% of September 2019 levels.
So far this year, 57 ground-floor businesses have opened downtown.
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