Alpine-Balsam Implementation

The two primary uses on the Alpine-Balsam site will be the new Western City Campus, a project being led by the city, and housing, led by Boulder Housing Partners (BHP). The city and BHP are working collaboratively as co-master developers of the site. The goals of the Area Plan will be realized through development of these two primary uses which will be brought through the city’s regulatory process prior to any construction beginning on the site.

Hospital deconstruction will be complete by the fall, and we are moving into the next stage. Flood mitigation is also required to be in place prior to any future development. Obtaining a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) by FEMA is a lengthy process and design work is currently in progress towards this end.

Photo: View of deconstruction progress.

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• Deconstruction of the hospital complete by fall 2023 The steel from the hospital has been removed and will be reused in several city projects, including the new Fire Station 3, currently under construction.
• At the completion of the project, a study of the embodied energy preserved on the Alpine-Balsam site will be finalized. The Brenton Building, Pavilion and parking structure have all been adaptively reused and many materials from the hospital are being directly reused in other building projects or preserved on-site.
• ZGF Architects was selected in July 2022 as the design team for the Western City Campus and tasked with proceeding on the design of the Pavilion Building renovation, new civic plaza, and other site elements. Staff engagement on the Western City Campus is currently underway while community engagement is planned for the fall of 2023. Since ZGF was selected, extensive work has been done to analyze the City’s needs, determine the required environmental and regulatory requirements, and develop funding strategies.
• Anderson Consulting Engineers was hired by the city to design the flood mitigation channel and facilitate the federal FEMA process (known as a Conditional Letter of Map Revision or “CLOMR” and Letter of Map Revision or “LOMR”) to redraw the floodplain map. Stream Landscape Architects was added to the design team in early 2022 to ensure aesthetic and natural elements envisioned in the Area Plan are realized. The design was submitted for a Floodplain Development Review permit in April 2023 and is expected to be submitted to FEMA for the CLOMR in late 2023. Concurrently, City staff are working with Mile High Flood District on construction contractor procurement so that construction can commence immediately upon receipt of FEMA authorization.

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