The District-Centennial FAQs

Last Updated: February 5, 2024

About The District-Centennial

What is The District-Centennial?

A:   The District-Centennial is a 43.87-acre area west of I-25 between IKEA and the RTD Dry Creek light rail station. The district is zoned Urban Center (UC) and envisioned to be a dynamic, mixed-use area. The District-Centennial will feature a network of walkable blocks, active streets, and public gathering spaces as required by the Jones District Regulating Plan. The first building within the District-Centennial is The Glenn, a 306-unit luxury apartment building built in 2018. Brue-Baukol Capital Partners purchased the developable land within the Jones District in 2018. In February 2021, the Jones Metropolitan District constructed the street network and installed wet and dry utilities that will serve future building sites.

View the timeline

What is the Jones District Regulating Plan?

A:   The Jones District Regulating Plan (“Regulating Plan”) is similar to zoning in that it provides the rules for how development within a portion of the City would occur. Regulating Plans establish the network and types of streets in the development, the building types, frontage types, and maximum building heights on each block; the number, general location, and types of residential units; and the minimum and maximum gross floor area and more. The Regulating Plan creates the framework for how individual buildings will fit into the District-Centennial (formerly the Jones District). In summary, a Regulating Plan shows how the Urban Center zoning standards will be applied.

What level of development is planned for in The District-Centennial?

A:   Four million square feet of building floor area, of which no more than 2,000,000 square feet of residential floor area or 1,806 dwelling units. Permitted uses include for sale and for rent townhomes and apartments, office, hotels, retail, restaurants, public art, outdoor public plazas, and outdoor public and private spaces.

What do pedestrian oriented developments such as the District-Centennial offer?

A:   Residents and office tenants are looking for mixed-use communities where people can easily walk to work, grab lunch, or a drink after work without getting in their car. Office tenants are better able to attract and retain employees if they can offer an inclusive, appealing, mixed-use community to work in. Sprawling, single use office parks are less appealing to today’s office tenants and employees, which is why other southeast metro transit-oriented design projects with a mix of uses have been so successful in recent years.

What is the build out timeline for the District-Centennial?

A:   Proposed build-out for the development of all buildings within the District-Centennial is expected to take 10-20 years, or around 2030-2040.

How can the City ensure that what is in the Regulating Plan gets built, and that it won’t just become all residential, all office, or all retail?

A:   The City cannot guarantee what is shown in the Regulating Plan will be built because development is driven by the private sector; however, the City can ensure what does get built complies with what is shown in the Regulating Plan. To ensure a mixed-use development, the City is requiring certain amounts of non-residential uses are built before all the entitled residential uses are built out, as now required within the Urban Center Zone District Standards.

As of February 2024, what is proposed for development?

A:   As of February 2024, Embrey is constructing two 6-story multi-family buildings of 306 and 304 dwelling units each; one building located on Jones District Parcel 6/7, and one on Jones District Parcel 8. See a map here(PDF, 479KB).

View Impacts to the Neighborhoods

What will the view of The District-Centennial look like from the neighborhoods to the east?

A:   The Applicant has provided an analysis of the views(PDF, 8MB) may be as a result of buildings at the District-Centennial (formerly the Jones District). These views(PDF, 8MB) are from certain vantage points along S. Yosemite St. and from within the surrounding residential neighborhoods, most notably Willow Creek. The views from these places show little to no sight impact. There will be a limited view impact from properties to the west because (a) many of the views are currently blocked by trees and (b) there are a number of buildings on the east side of S. Yosemite Street between E. Dry Creek Road and E. Nichols Avenue, which block the views of the taller buildings that would be located beyond to the east, and (c) the land to the west has a gradual slope up towards the Jones District which limits the impact of views as well. To illustrate these views, the Applicant showed every building at its maximum possible height, to a maximum of 15 stories.

Proposed Uses

What types of uses will be targeted for this development?

A:   The vision for the District-Centennial expects a mix of townhome, apartment, office, hotel, retail, restaurant, public art, outdoor public plazas, and outdoor public and private space uses. The Centennial Land Development Code determines the types of allowed uses within the Urban Center zoning district.

What types of retail and/or entertainment is envisioned?

A:   The vision for the District-Centennial expects a unique offering of restaurants and entertainment within the development, but it is still very early in the process and no definitive concepts have been finalized.

Connectivity

Will there be pedestrian and bicycle access to/from District-Centennial?

A:   The District-Centennial will be a walkable and bikeable community, both within its boundaries and with respect to connections to the surrounding community. Dedicated bike lanes within the development are anticipated. The Applicant is evaluating connections from the development to the nearby trails. The Applicant would like to ensure that its residents can easily connect to nearby bike corridors for their travel to/from work (reducing traffic impact on roads) and for the surrounding residential neighborhoods to easily walk or bike into the District-Centennial to access its restaurants and amenities.

What opportunities are there for connections across the highway to Inverness?

A:   There is an existing pedestrian bridge across I-25 at the Dry Creek Light Rail station which sits on the northern edge of the District-Centennial.

Open Space/Amenities

Will there be sufficient public space and amenities for District-Centennial residents so that they are not solely reliant upon surrounding residential neighborhood amenities (parks, trails, open space, playgrounds, etc.), including amenities for children on the site?

A:   Ample outdoor recreation opportunities for residents, including the amount and type of public space is required as part of the Land Development Code (LDC) Division 4-3 Form Standards for UC District. The specific amenities within the onsite private space, such as playground equipment, will be evaluated and determined in part by the residential unit mixes and product types developed.

Who will maintain the open spaces and outdoor amenity zones in the District-Centennial? Are those spaces open to the public?

A:   The streets and adjacent sidewalks within the District-Centennial are public streets and open to the public at all times. The streets and adjacent sidewalks will be maintained by both the City and the Jones Metro District. The public plaza will be maintained by the Jones Metro District, but will also be open to the public at all times with allowances for closures for community and special events. Individual buildings may also have open spaces, some being open to the public, and others (such as a rooftop deck or pool) will be private.

Design

Building heights – what is allowed and what is proposed?

A:   The Urban Center zone district currently allows for heights up to 15 stories within the Center sub-district and eight (8) stories in the General sub-district. The diagram here(PDF, 1MB) notes the minimum and maximum heights within the District.

What are the density limits?

A:   The District-Centennial is permitted to have up to 2 Million square feet (50 percent of the gross floor area) or 1,806 dwelling units, whichever comes first.

To capitalize on mountain views, was an alternative street grid layout considered?

A:   The City preferred to see the street grid remain as it was from the original 2013 Regulating Plan. The street grid is important in creating walkable blocks. The Regulating Plan utilizes the change in topography from east to west to design the development so most levels of all buildings in the development have significant mountain views.

Are there opportunities for a pedestrian mall along the streets within the District-Centennial, similar to Pearl St in Boulder or Larimer St in Denver?

A:   The District-Centennial will feature a public plaza that will be designed to be closed to vehicular traffic on special occasions, similar to what Larimer Square does on occasion in downtown Denver. Closing the public plaza full-time (like Pearl Street in Boulder) is not feasible as it is planned to be a north/south vehicular and pedestrian travel way, but the Jones Metro District is expected to plan unique and memorable events where the closure of the public plaza is desired.

Is there an opportunity for seasonal programming?

A:   The Jones Metro District believes seasonal programming could and should be one of the major differentiators of this development, setting it apart from other residential or commercial developments in South Metro Denver.

Will there be solar power or other clean energy production?

A:   While there is no requirement for solar or other clean technologies to be used within Centennial, The District-Centennial would be permitted to include different opportunities to utilize smart grid technologies within the development. This could include the use of roof mounted solar technology. Building roofs within the project may feature “green” roofs, possibly used for park/outdoor space.

Transportation

What are the traffic impacts, both within the project area and regionally?

A:   A Traffic Impact Study (TIS) was prepared by Brue Baukol and reviewed and approved by the City of Centennial. The TIS outlines what traffic mitigations are required to be provided by the developer. For the District-Centennial (formerly the Jones District), the developers of each individual lot are required to contribute monies to the City to be used for intersection improvements at a series of predefined intersections that are within the vicinity of the District-Centennial.

Link to full TIS(PDF, 12MB) (see attached)

Link to TIS Executive Summary(PDF, 24KB) (see attached)

What parking ratios are required in the Regulating Plan?

A:   Parking ratios are not included within the current Regulating Plan; however, the City requires a minimum number of on and off street parking spaces for each development.

See Land Development Code Section 12-5-201, Calculation of Required Parking Spaces and Section 12-5-204, Special Studies.

Will the parking lot for the Dry Creek station be expanded?

A:   No, RTD does not expect to expand the Dry Creek Station parking garage. The Dry Creek station garage is currently 90% utilized. As of Q1 2019, RTD’s utilization count notes the parking garage at Arapahoe at Village Center Station had a 61% over the previous 12 months. In general, both light-rail ridership and parking utilization are decreasing across the region. So, while trains and parking facilities may have been overcrowded in the past, there may be more room today or in the near future.

Will more train cars be available as many of them are already full?

A:   There is no plan to add additional rail trips to the I-25 corridor at this time. Trains run every 3 minutes through I-25 & Broadway during peak hours so no additional trips can be added without eliminating others or without additional infrastructure between I-25 & Broadway and Downtown Denver.

What will be done for u-turns to cut into Dry Creek light rail station?

A:   The proposed Regulating Plan amendment does not address the existing light rail station. If u-turns are an illegal traffic movement, signs will be placed on the roadway. The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office would be responsible for enforcing those signs on drivers.

Schools

How will the Cherry Creek School District (CCSD) accommodate future enrollment without negatively impacting existing residents?

A:   CCSD has many tools to manage shifting enrollment across the district. Choice and non-resident enrollment are all based on space available and can be adjusted to accommodate growth within particular attendance areas. Further, specific areas can be placed on “overflow enrollment” to other schools as a management tool. Overflow enrollment leaves existing families in place, but directs newly enrolling families to a neighboring school that has space available. Finally, the district can formally adopt new boundaries.

How does CCSD address transient populations?

A:   Students residing within a specific attendance area are entitled to school enrollment (per state law), regardless of dwelling type or residential status.

Economic Development

What is happening with existing vacant retail/commercial space in the City?

A:   While there are some noticeable empty storefronts in Centennial from recent retail store closures that occurred before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Centennial’s vacancy rates for office, retail and industrial space is consistent with metro Denver averages which are historically low due to consistent economic growth.

Why are we adding new office space when the current is not being used?

A:   Metro Denver companies interested in new office space are looking for safe spaces that are walkable to restaurants and retail near light rail in order to attract and retain employees at a time when unemployment rates for office based employers has remained low. Centennial has limited new office space that meets the current and future needs of these companies and their employees. Office buildings that have access to the newest comforts, technology, and HVAC systems will be in high demand.

What is the reasoning for mix of office vs. residential vs. retail?

A:   In order to create vibrant, walkable environments, workplaces (such as offices) need to be within walking distance of residential uses. Nearby residential brings activity to an area on the weekends and outside of work hours, which creates critical mass to support retail, restaurants, and services that cannot survive from solely daytime office workers. COVID-19 has illustrated that businesses that solely survive on daytime office workers have had difficulty compared to businesses in areas with residential or mixed uses. Having a mix of office, residential and retail uses in close proximity allows for uses to be more responsive to demands regardless of customer type or time of the day.

Housing

What opportunities are there for more affordable housing at the District-Centennial? Will there be any additional considerations given to our senior citizens or other groups?

A:   There is no requirement in the Land Development Code for a new residential development to provide a specific affordable or senior housing component. Future development within the District-Centennial anticipates residential uses in the District will include a mix of for-sale and for-rent with varying price points. This will ultimately be driven by market conditions.

Surrounding Uses

What are plans for the vacant parcel adjacent to The District-Centennial? What could be built there?

A:   The vacant parcel is under separate ownership and is currently zoned Business Park 100 (BP100) with conditions. The City is currently reviewing a site plan for two multifamily residential buildings, containing 223 units and 309 units each, with approximately 4,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.