Downtown Westminster – Westminster, CO

from Urban Energy & Advancement in Modern Malls

Belmar – Lakewood, CO

In 1977 the town of Westminster opened what would soon to be one of the most industrious shopping centers in the state of Colorado. A suburb between Boulder, and Denver Colorado the 118-acre lot was meant to serve as an economic hub and social center to Westminster for decades.

The mall was host to over 112 retail stores, and 6 anchor stores and was very successful over the

years (Downtown W). In contrary to the mall’s success in the 80’s, and 90’s the Westminster Mall began to see a decline due to an economic downturn in the early 2000’s and competitive market from existing nearby malls. Just 15 years after its final remodel in 1996 the mall was sold in 2011 back the city and had closed nearly all of its retail and anchor stores (Downtown W). Fortunately, almost 100 years after Westminster was founded, the city set forth a long-term strategic plan to repurpose the 118-acre old mall lot into their first official downtown, Downtown Westminster. Downtown Westminster

is designed to be host and center of economic, social, and cultural activity with intentions of growing decades and evolve even 100 years after initial construction. Already underway this development is to implement over 2,300 new

FIGURE 4.3 WESTMINSTER MALL 2011 Source: “Downtown Westminster.” City of Westminster Economic Development, 27 Oct. 2020, www.westminstereconomicdevelopment.org/places/downtown-westminster/.

FIGURE 4.4 DOWNTOWN WESTMINSTER MASTER PLAN 2013 “Downtown Westminster.” City of Westminster Economic Development, 27 Oct. 2020, www.westminstereconomicdevelopment.org/places/downtown-westminster/.

living units, 2 million sqft in office space, 300 hotel rooms, 750,000 sqft in retail space, and create over 12,000 new jobs (Downtown W). Coupled with over 18 acres of parks and public space this vibrant mixed use urban center has transformed what used to be underutilized, and mostly vacant mall space into a highly successful redevelopment project for the community to use at their disposal (Downtown W).