More Bio to Take Off
At Denver's Retired Airport

Biotechnology development in the Denver area is all about redevelopment. Besides the Fitzsimons project, the city's erstwhile airport, Stapleton, is being redefined in a 4,700-acre (1,902-hectare) residential and retail development that includes 200 acres (81 hectares) slated to become the Denver BioScience Center at Stapleton. Proximity is key here since the project is adjacent to Fitzsimons. National real estate developer Forest City Enterprises is developing the site.
        "We're going to be next to the Mayo Clinic of the West [Fitzsimons]," says Hank Baker, Forest City Stapleton senior vice president. "There will be a tremendous amount of compatibility."
        Baker says the idea is to provide space for maturing bio companies to develop manufacturing operations. Some of these may originate from the incubating firms at Fitzsimons. The Stapleton project is just in the early stages of planning and Baker says specific companies haven't been identified, but the site could eventually be home to up to 30 firms.
        "Colorado is lean in terms of the economic incentives it can offer companies moving to the state," Baker says. "But we're in an urban enterprise zone and we can offer certain tax incentives. And, we're just 15 minutes from the new airport."

A Glance Around the State

From a major power plant to a beer bottle factory, Colorado is in no shortage of interesting projects these days.
        While the state is best known for the beer made by Coors in Golden, Colorado is also home to an Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fort Collins. Suds made there will soon be filling bottles made by Owens-Illinois in nearby Windsor. The company's $119-million, 500,000-sq.-ft. (46,450-sq.-m.)

See the SITES Colorado Office of Econ. Dev. & International Trade www.state.co.us/oed Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority www.colobio.com Denver BioScience Center at Stapleton www.stapletondenver.com

glass container plant, its 25th in North America and 19th in the U.S., will begin production next January, say company officials. The company gave Windsor the nod over southeast Wyoming, citing proximity to its customer base and accessibility to natural gas, power, highways, railroad and labor.
        Progressive Insurance will soon occupy its new three-building, 300,000-sq.-ft. (27,870-sq.-m.) campus in Colorado Springs. The company will consolidate its sales and customer service centers in the complex. Progressive also operates campus locations in its headquarters city of Mayfield, Ohio, and in Riverview, Fla., near Tampa.
        And, to power the state's continued growth, Xcel Energy proposes to build a 750-megawatt, coal-fired generating unit at its Comanche Generating Station near Pueblo. The $1.3-billion project will employ about 1,000 during its three- to four-year construction phase and, when complete in 2009, will employ up to 40.