WHEAT RIDGE — The City Council on Monday approved a redevelopment agreement with MVG Development to bring a Sprouts and senior residences to what has long been a blighted corner at West 38th Avenue and Kipling Street.
The city agreed to chip in $3 million to give forward momentum to the $24 million project, which will feature a 27,000-square-foot Sprouts grocery store and a 64-unit MorningStar Senior Living facility. Plans also call for a new Starbucks with a drive-through to replace the one that is there.
Up to $1 million of the assistance package will come from Wheat Ridge’s general fund, while the remainder will come in the form of a loan issued to the city’s urban renewal authority, which will pay back the money using taxes generated at the site.
Work at the southwest corner of Kipling Street and West 38th Avenue could get underway as early as next month, with demolition of existing buildings, including the one housing The Family Thrift Center.
The 6.3-acre project is the largest redevelopment effort in Wheat Ridge since the city’s urban renewal authority, Renewal Wheat Ridge, was formed in 1987, said economic development manager Steve Art.
It should be followed by an even larger overhaul of a defunct car dealership at the southwest corner of Wadsworth Boulevard and 38th Avenue later this year.
