Park Hill Golf Course is on its way to becoming a public park this summer after two Denver City Council committees forwarded plans for a land-swap deal and zoning changes to the full council on Tuesday.
Under the swap agreement, Denver would trade a 145-acre, city-owned property near Denver International Airport to Westside Investment Partners in exchange for the 155 acres of open space in North Park Hill that Westside owns.
The committee votes set the council’s gears in motion more than three months after city leaders first unveiled the plan.
“This was a very complicated deal to get done,” said Jolon Clark, the executive director of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
The committees approved the trade deal and a necessary rezoning of the land, but the full council still needs to consider both before the new park could open. Those votes are set to happen in May and June.
Park Hill Golf Course is valued at $12.76 million and the open space by the airport, located in Adams County off East 56th Avenue, is valued at $12.75 million, according to city documents.
Mayor Mike Johnston announced the deal in January. This is the first time it has been formally considered by council members since then.
Voters in 2023 rejected a plan to turn the land into a major mixed-use development that potentially would have included thousands of units of housing and acreage for open space. It has been closed since then.
As part of the deal, a conservation easement on the property that requires it to be used as a golf course will dissolve, city officials say.
Parks and Recreation is asking for input from the public on what to do with the space. A city survey is available online until May 18.
In 2026, the city will begin designing and constructing amenities for the park. In the meantime, officials plan to clean the area up and build low-cost amenities, including picnic tables and a possible dog park or disc golf course, for immediate use.
The council’s Finance and Governance Committee preliminarily approved the property exchange on Tuesday. Its Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee forwarded a zoning change that would allow the land to be used as a public park.
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