'Science City' Plans In Broomfield To Echo NC Research Triangle

BROOMFIELD, CO – Broomfield's planned "Science City" development has been ten years in the planning, but has received new attention after a Colorado Open Records Act request showed Broomfield submitted the 1,100 acre property known as North Park or Baseline to Amazon for the company's HQ2. Amazon did not choose to build the headquarters in Colorado.

As first reported by Denver Business Journal, the "Science City" began a decade ago to create an Applied Research and Science Park in Broomfield that would draw science and tech companies as part of Denver's expansion to the north.

Charles Ozaki, Broomfield's city and county manager told Denver Business Journal that similarities and potential partnerships echo the resources at North Carolina's Research Triangle Park in the 1950s.

"The primary model that stuck out was the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. It occurred to us that there was almost a match with the resources we had," Ozaki said.

"Science City," bounded by Hwy 7 (Baseline Road), Interstate 25 and Northwest Parkway, east of Lafayette, is meant to attract science and tech businesses, with residential neighborhoods and a school to attract employees to live close by.

Already, developers have started to build on the site. Property owners McWhinney Real Estate Services and other partners have formed a private-public partnership for development of the area and 6,000 new housing units have already been approved for zoning, Denver Business Journal reported.

The project will include the new site for the Butterfly Pavilion and a 60,000-sq.-ft, research lab for the Center for Invertebrate Research and Conservation. The plan also includes a STEM K-12 school, apartment buildings, shops and "pollinator friendly open space."

READ MORE at Denver Business Journal

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