GREELEY — Greeley City Council voted 5-2 on Tuesday to approve the plans for a $1.1 billion entertainment district that would transform the west side of the city.
Plans for the Greeley Westside Project call for an arena with three sheets of ice for youth hockey, a water park, a hotel and conference center. Future development would include housing, retail and a transit hub.
Water Valley Company will work with the City of Greeley on the 300-acre project, which will be bound to the south by Highway 34 and to the north by Highway 257, between County Road 17 and Highway 257.
"We hope that this project will help stop the leakage of sales tax dollars out of our community," said Greeley City Manager Raymond Lee before Tuesday's vote.
The arena will also become the new home of the Colorado Eagles, the Colorado Avalanche's AHL affiliate which announced plans to leave Loveland last summer.
"One of our biggest fears is that our community becomes a bedroom community, and a bedroom community, from a sales tax perspective, cannot support the type of growth that we are projected to have as a community as a whole," said Lee.
According to Lee, Greeley is expected to become the home of 260,000 people in the next two to three decades.
Franklin Hubbard and Stacy Thompson moved to Greeley two years ago. They said they often take their kids to Denver for entertainment.
"About once a week," said Thompson, referring to how often their family drives to Denver.
Hubbard said he is looking forward to what the Greeley West Side Project could bring.
"To have something more local, would be awesome," he said.
But not everyone is on board. Long-time resident Ulli Limpitlaw worries other projects will go to the wayside if this project is approved.
"We have so many things in Greeley that need fixing that will not get done because the money is going out there," said Limpitlaw, who has lived in Greeley for 44 years.
Limpitlaw also worries the development will draw visitors away from downtown. Denver7 took that concern to Greeley's city manager.
"I think there's two different experiences," said Lee. "West Greeley is going to give you the high-end. Downtown is going to give you more of an intimate feeling. And we think those two options really speak to the essence of what our community truly is, and it's a community for everyone."
Following the approval, the city will now work on zoning the project. Plans show design and construction scheduled through 2026, with hopes of opening Phase I of the project by July 2028.
- As part of Scripps News Denver's | Your Voice, Jaclyn Allen traveled to Greeley to hear from residents about everything from development to immigration to water rights to downtown festivals. Hear their celebrations and concerns in the video below:
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