Denver Water Operations Complex

Overview

TCC was selected in 2014 to be the preferred Master Developer by Denver Water to oversee and manage the redevelopment of their Operations Complex Master Plan in Denver, Colorado. TCC had been working with Denver Water for several years, having participated in the Master Plan process in 2012-2013 to provide a roadmap for this proposed redevelopment.

Denver Water is a water operations utility serving the City and County of Denver and surrounding municipalities. Denver Water had been located on its 34.6-acre campus just south of the Denver central business district for more than 130 years. At the project start, the site’s 14 buildings averaged 55-years old, and the outdated facilities had become inefficient and inadequate for a visionary water utility service provider. The new Master Plan advised that of those 14 buildings, only three would remain, and eight new buildings were constructed for a total of 332,000 square feet. Upon completion, TCC redeveloped the entire site, having overseen 12 planned building demolitions and constructed four industrial-use buildings totaling 123,000 square feet, a 360-space Parking Garage, an 8,000-square-foot Wellness Building, and the 187,000-square-foot High-Performance Office Building which serves as Denver Water’s new administrative headquarters.

Opportunity

The Denver Water Operations Complex is comprised of uses including the approximately 660-employee Administration Building, several industrial buildings including equipment shops, fleet maintenance, warehouses, trades buildings, and pipe/materials storage. Upon redeveloping the site, Denver Water retained its current site, improved public accessibility and the workforce environment, and addressed significant safety and security issues.

In early June 2015, the Board of Water Commissioners approved the 5-year, $195.8 million redevelopment project. RNL Design (now Stantec) was the architect on the project and Mortenson Construction was the general contractor. The long-term project with Denver Water was facilitated by Bill Mosher, along with Development Manager Lee Ferguson.

Sustainability was a critical driver in the delivery of the new, Class A, 187,000 SF High Performance Office Building completed in 2019. This building serves as the new Denver Water Headquarters and features several highly-sustainable elements: LEED Platinum designation and Net Zero Energy performance, achieved through on-site solar; and operates one of the leading-edge water management systems, with on-site water recycling and water capture utilized both for irrigation and toilet-flushing.