Officials estimate that an “aerotropolis” of businesses around Denver International Airport could bring 74,000 new jobs to Adams County in the next 20 years or more.
Officials at the Adams County Economic Development office are doing a marketing study to figure out what kinds of businesses might want to move into the new aerotropolis. An aerotropolis is an urban plan designed to take advantage of the layout, infrastructure and economy centered around an airport.
“We’ll work on understanding who is our target audience, how do we compete with other aerotropolises around the world,” Barry Gore, Adams County Economic Development’s chief executive officer, said about the marketing study. “We’re in that discovery phase of trying to understand who is the market, what are their needs and desires, how do we compete.”
The marketing study comes after state transportation officials hired consultant HDR Engineering Inc. to complete a “vision study” for the region in 2016. At that time, officials came up with the new job estimate. An estimated 6,000 jobs would be created in the same time period if the region continued on its current growth path, according to the study.
The study also claimed that property values would rise around $30 billion by 2040 and additional tax revenue in the area would increase by up to $630 million. The numbers in the study came from the capacity of the surrounding land, said Chris Prius, an HDR transportation planner.
“We looked at the available land, and we looked at comparable densities of development for commercial developments around other airports,” Prius said.
Consultants made conservative estimates that also took into account how many jobs could be accommodated in the aerotroplis area over the more than 20-year period stretching out to 2040, Prius said. The vision study estimates represent a conservative best-case scenario, Prius said.
The surrounding communities – Brighton, Commerce City and Aurora – all would benefit from growth in the aerotropolis region, which is mostly undeveloped land, Prius said.
“All of those cities would realize some of those jobs sorted out through that large study area surrounding DIA,” Prius said.
The area mapped out for Aerotropolis Colorado stretches throughout Adams County, and encompasses parts of Denver. The northern boundary of the proposed area stretches just north of Colorado Highway 7, the western boundary stretches to the edges of Thornton, the southern boundary stretches just past Interstate 70 and Colfax, while the eastern boundary encompasses the majority of Adams County.
The aerotropolis around DIA started after voters approved the “Yes on 1A” campaign that non-aviation-related development on airport property. Such development previously was prohibited.
“It really is looking at what your assets are, what are your opportunities?” Gore asked rhetorically.
Gore used Atlanta and its airport as a possible model of what kinds of businesses might flock to Denver International Airport in the future. Atlanta is a “really big” distribution hub, for example, while Colorado probably will always be less of a distribution hub, Gore said.
“We don’t have a lot of opportunity for outbound distribution to the rest of the country because we are just far away from the rest of the population,” Gore said.