St. Andrew's, Denver, and the Denver Urban Land Conservancy have teamed together to create an innovative partnership to build affordable housing and other commonweal projects in downtown Denver, as well as assure adequate parking for the growing congregation.
St. Andrew's is located near the intersection of 20th and Lincoln in downtown Denver, and is surrounded by a sea of surface parking lots. The congregation learned that the parking lots on either side of the church property were being put up for sale as part of an estate settlement. Fearful that unbridled development could engulf the church (a 32-story condominium project is underway across Lincoln from the church), the congregation acted proactively to find a way to purchase the lots and, thereby, control their development.
"Our biggest obstacle to our objective of owning the lots was that we only had funds sufficient to finance half the projected purchase," said Tim Croasdaile, senior warden. "We needed a compatible partner that could help us complete the purchase."
St. Andrew's found that partner in the Urban Land Conservancy (ULC), a non-profit whose sole purpose is to preserve land for the common good. "We approached the ULC and determined that our joint objectives were in sync," said Croasdaile. What followed were discussions with the church, the ULC, the Alienation and Encumbrance Committee, the Standing Committee and The Chancellor to enable the creation of a joint venture, Caledonian Development LLC. The name of the LLC was chosen since St. Andrew's is the patron saint of Scotland, and Caledonia is another name for Scotland.
"A lot of people contributed to the success of this project including George Wing, chairman of the Alienation and Encumbrance committee, Chancellor Larry Hitt and Parishioner Bob Thibault and his firm, Patton Boggs, who provided the pro-bono legal assistance to create the LLC and to complete the real estate transaction," Croasdaile said. "With the purchase complete, the ULC and St. Andrew's as well as the surrounding neighborhood groups will begin a discernment process to determine the development plans, which we believe should be a two-year process," Croasdaile added.
The parking lot project is just one of a number of projects that St. Andrew's has on its plate. It is currently searching for a permanent rector, the Rev'd Carol Meredith is currently serving as interim rector. And, the congregation is in the midst of an expansion project to increase the capacity of the historic church by 50 percent – the church has retained the successor architecture firm of the original architect, Ralph Adams Cram, to design the addition. Cram designed many famous churches, including the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and St. Thomas on Fifth Avenue in New York City. St. Andrew’s is his only known project west of the Mississippi.
