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online: Photos of Union Station from the 1870s to now. »denverpost.com/extras
A rise in station How visionary developers, determined politicians and supportive taxpayers redefined downtown Denver with Union Station at its hub.
By Mark Jaffe The Denver Post
At 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2012, three Denver real estate developers sat down for a hastily arranged breakfast at the Egg Shell in Cherry Creek. On the menu was an order for $6 million. A day earlier, two of the men, Walter Isenberg, CEO of hotelier Sage Hospitality, and Jeff Hermanson, CEO of restaurant and retail developer Larimer Associates, had, in Hermanson’s words, “fired” their equity partner on the project to reanimate Denver’s Union Station. The 120-year-old station’s $54 million transformation into a hotel, shops, restaurants and bars — now set to open July 26 — was to be a capstone in Denver’s march from a polluted, declining city to one of the nation’s fastest-growing urban areas. The project, however, could not go ahead, Hermanson said, with a partner who had “his finger on your chest, a partner not very comfortable with change or risk.” Work had begun the day before, and the contractor warned that to meet a drop-dead commitment to get Amtrak back into the station by March 2014, there could be no delays.
But now there was a $6 million hole in the project that could prevent it from going forward. The third man at the table was Chad McWhinney, a developer who had made his fortune on big projects in northern Colorado. Now a Denver resident, McWhinney was looking for opportunities in town. Hermanson and Isenberg laid out the deal. “How quickly can you make a decision?” Isenberg asked. “Five minutes for the right opportunity,” McWhinney replied. DENVER » 14A
“Everyone said no one would ever live downtown. The bankers and business people said this is a ridiculous conversation.”
UNION STATION, 2014. The 120-year-old facility after its $54 million renovation, part of the transformation and redevelopment of Denver since the 1980s. Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post
UNION STATION, 1890 S. John Evans, Colorado’s
territorial governor, organized local business leaders and formed a railroad company to link Denver to the Union Pacific line. Within days, they had raised $300,000. Citizens of more modest means were encouraged to make small donations or contribute labor to the project. The first train from Cheyenne pulled into Denver on June 24, 1870. Denver Post Library Archive
Dana Crawford, Denver developer
G AY M A R RIAG E BAN
SPORTS
State AG upholding law amid criticism
TULOWITZKI TAKES A NEW APPROACH
By Jon Murray and Jordan Steffen The Denver Post
After one judge struck down Colorado’s same-sex marriage ban and another allowed the rogue Boulder County clerk to continue issuing licenses to couples last week, Attorney General John Suthers — the man
charged with defending the ban — was standing firm. Several elected officials, including Gov. John Hickenlooper, urged him to back down. But Suthers instead publicly worried that the Boulder ruling, which spurred the Denver and Pueblo county clerks to start issuing licenses, would create legal chaos. He vowed to seek “resolution by
the state’s highest court.” Yet a tidal wave of court rulings striking down similar bans in the past year has given gay marriage indisputable momentum. For advocates — and for even some opponents — of same-sex marriage, it now has the air of inevitability, making efforts such as Suthers’ seem futile. SUTHERS » 8A
INS I D E Books » 8-9E | Crosswords » 14E | Lottery » 2B | Movies » 4E | Obituaries » 4-6B | Paper Trails » 13E
There are a lot of things different about 29-year-old Troy Tulowitzki these days, including his conviction to playing smarter and healthier. »1C
DENVER & THE WEST
1 DIES, 3 HURT AS LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN For the second day in a row, lightning killed a visitor at Rocky Mountain National Park and injured the victim’s companions. »2B