Colorado & Denver Offering Incentives To Keep Alterra Mountain Company From Moving Out Of State
Denver, Colorado — The move of one of the biggest ski resort conglomerates could help bring more life to a vacant building in downtown Denver.
The Denver Post reports that the Colorado Economic Development Commission and the Denver Downtown Development Authority are offering financing for Alterra Mountain Company to move its headquarters to 101 W. Colfax Avenue in Denver.
Currently, Alterra’s headquarters is situated at Zeppelin Station. That building is situated at 3501 Wazee St in the River North (RiNO) district of Denver. However, Alterra is looking to relocate to Upper Downtown, or somewhere outside of the city. This is partly because Alterra uses only around 40% of Zeppelin Station.
On Monday, the Colorado Economic Development Commission greenlit $1.9 million in tax credits (Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits), a $1 million loan (with no interest), and a $1 million grant as part of “Project Odyseus.” While Alterra would use part of this building, the plan would be to recruit other outdoor-oriented companies to the facility, with some of the grant money being available for relocation. The vacant building was the former home of The Denver Post.
This follows the approval of a $7 million loan (at 2% interest) that the Denver Downtown Development Authority approved last Wednesday, which is tied to the $1 million loan offered by Colorado.
“This project would help revitalize a vacant building to create a hub for outdoor businesses in the metro area,” said Sean Gould, who’s the deputy director of financial analysis for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade’s (OEDIT) Business Funding and Incentives Division.
Denver or Salt Lake City?
However, Alterra hasn’t agreed yet to move to this new location.
Issuing these funds typically isn’t allowed for companies that are just looking to stay in Denver. Also notable is how quickly this was put together, as it’s a process that typically takes months. Based on the rapid approvals of these financial incentives, there’s likely fear that Alterra could end up moving elsewhere.
The Alterra Mountain Company reportedly is considering moving to other locations, including Salt Lake City. An anonymous source told Building Salt Lake that the CEO of Alterra (likely referring to former CEO Jared Smith) said that being in Salt Lake makes more sense for the company. Alterra owns two ski resorts around Utah’s capital, and has partnerships (via Ikon) with various other mountains in the area. It’s also possible Salt Lake City and the State of Utah will offer or have offered their own package of financial incentives to Alterra.
The situation reminds me of when sports teams threaten to move to another city because their stadium situation isn’t ideal, but the city/state then pitches in millions/billions to keep them there. While less costly than those situations, it’s possible Alterra is using Salt Lake as leverage to find a better home in Denver.
Image/Video Credits: Shift4, Google Maps
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