The National Western Stock Show and Rodeo (Eric Lutzens, Denver Post file )
Denver and Aurora are gearing up for a modern-day border war over the biggest deal to be announced in the region in a decade.
At issue is a planned Aurora hotel and theme park that could get the largest public subsidy the state has ever awarded, and the possible relocation of one of Denver's most beloved institutions — the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo.
It's a tale rife with all the drama of the Wild West, with some of the region's most prestigious law firms, an influential public policy consultant and the city of Aurora lining up behind Gaylord Entertainment Co., the Nashville, Tenn.-based company planning an $824 million hotel and entertainment complex on 85 acres in the High Point Development near Denver International Airport.
On the other side are downtown Denver boosters, retailers and business leaders who contend that the up to $300 million subsidy Aurora is offering the company, combined with the potential relocation of the National Western to a site nearby, will cannibalize downtown's convention and hotel business.
Josh Davies, a vice president at Denver-based Sage Hospitality, which has hotels downtown, said the project may be good for Aurora, but it's not good for Denver.
"The challenge with regionalism is you can't create a doughnut. If we keep shipping our tax base and our cultural institutions to cities in the ring around us, there won't be anything left to support Denver itself," said Davies, who also serves as president of the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association.
Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown said the development proposal and resulting tension suggest a fracture in the mostly cooperative dealings among economic developers and business advocacy groups.
"It reveals that regionalism and intergovernmental cooperation look great on a bumper sticker or in a speech, but actually we're all territorial animals," he said.
Absent from the debate is Gov. John Hickenlooper, who during his eight years as Denver mayor touted regionalism as critical to the health of the city and surrounding communities. He deferred comment, saying the state Economic Development Commission would be involved in approving a possible tax subsidy for the project.
The region's power brokers are forming a posse around the deal, with attorneys Steve Farber and Ed Barad of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck representing LNR Property LLC in the sale of land to Gaylord; Hogan Lovells attorneys Cole Finegan and Craig Umbaugh representing Gaylord; and Maria Garcia Berry and Porter Wharton of CRL Associates acting as consultants to the stock show.
Two well-known local public relations specialists are involved: Wendy Aiello of Aiello Public Relations is representing Aurora, and Pete Webb of Webb PR is handling Gaylord's communications.
"We've assembled a really good core team of people to work on this," said Wendy Mitchell, president and chief executive of the Aurora Economic Development Council. "We've assembled the brightest and best of all disciplines."
A group that includes the Downtown Denver Partnership, tourism organization Visit Denver and the Hyatt Hotel Authority has commissioned a study to determine if Gaylord's analysis of the deal holds up.
Gaylord's study says it will bring thousands of jobs to the state, including 3,174 to Aurora, 548 to Denver and 2,794 others statewide. It also is forecasting $284 million in new spending in Aurora, $61 million in Denver and $273 million statewide.
Walter Isenberg, chief executive of Sage Hospitality, said he has not formed an opinion about the Gaylord project but believes further work should be done to determine the impact of the project before public money is used to build it.
"I'm opposed to blindly giving a private corporation $300 million without at least asking some specific questions and getting answers," said Isenberg, who serves on the boards of Colorado Concern, a powerful business group, and Visit Denver, which is responsible for marketing metro Denver as a convention and leisure destination.
"If we had $300 million in tax-increment financing to give 600 small businesses across the state $500,000 each to start new retail ventures, and if each one of them hired three people, you'd create as many jobs as they're talking about at Gaylord," he said. "I am not against Gaylord or anyone else. I'm saying let's be thoughtful and measured in making this decision."
Isenberg's company operates 17 hotels in metro Denver, including five downtown and one near DIA.
Though few involved in commissioning the study will publicly admit they are opposed to the Gaylord project, in private conversations they've said just that. And tensions are high even among those who appear to be on the same side.
"This is a contact sport," said one person close to the deal who asked not to be named.
Aiello has taken heat for a Facebook post she made a few days after Gaylord announced its plans to build a complex that will include 1,500 hotel rooms and 400,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.
Speaking of the proposal to relocate the stock show from its location north of downtown Denver, above Interstate 70 off of Brighton Boulevard, to a spot next to Gaylord, she wrote: "Aurora is Colorado too, people. And they will take good care of the Show."
National Western has been talking for years about relocating from its complex. The buildings on the site are considered obsolete, and the stock show has no place to expand.
But the stock show's lease runs until 2040, so the organization needs Denver's consent to move. National Western representatives will be talking to a City Council committee Tuesday.
Gaylord has said that the stock show would be an ideal partner if it were to relocate to an adjacent site, but its deal is not contingent on that happening.
The Gaylord complex does, however, hinge on a state program created under the Regional Tourism Act to help finance the project. Applications are due Thursday, and officials from the state economic development office have said they expect to receive as many as 30 proposals from throughout the state.
Though he hasn't received any calls lobbying for or against the Gaylord project's expected bid for $170 million in subsidies over 30 years, Economic Development Commission member Howard Gelt said he anticipates there will be a heated debate.
"I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure on both sides," he said.
Denver Post staff writer Steve Raabe contributed to this report. Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com


Gaylord project may hinge on state incentives


A state financial incentive for the proposed Gaylord hotel in Aurora could become a pressure point for backers and opponents of the $824 million entertainment complex.
A nine-member state panel will decide whether Gaylord receives up to $170 million in sales-tax rebates to help fund development of the project.
The city of Aurora is pushing hard for the hotel and conference complex near Denver International Airport. Downtown Denver backers fear it could draw convention and hotel business away from downtown.
The Colorado Regional Tourism Act, created by the state legislature in 2009, will award up to $50 million a year in sales-tax rebates for projects of an "extraordinary and unique nature," according to the act's guidelines.
Eligible projects must show that they will generate a substantial increase in out-of-state tourists.
Gaylord could receive an estimated $5.6 million a year in rebates over 30 years if the application is approved by the Colorado Economic Development Commission.
The body's chairman is Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort. Other members include former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, former state economic development chief Don Elliman, dairy owner Dick Robinson, investment banker J.J. Ament and attorney Howard Gelt.
Gelt said last week that he has not received any calls lobbying for or against the state subsidy for Gaylord.
Applications for the tax rebates are due Thursday. The commission will rule on the applications by March 1.
Steve Raabe, The Denver Post