Several months ago, Forest City announced the development of more neighborhoods north of 56th Street into the Rocky Mountain Arsenal area. More recently, the massive development company announced further expansion south and west. In fact, the new plans show Stapleton moving in and taking over neighborhoods including but not limited to Park Hill, Congress Park, Baker, and all the way Southwest to Mar Lee. “We’re aware it’s a pretty aggressive plan,” said Forest City President Phil Dargossi. “We’re always looking into growth. And the best opportunity for growth right now is moving west. Sure, we could move towards Green Valley Ranch, but there is a lot more work to do if we move that direction. We can gobble up these older, quaint neighborhoods, rebrand them a little, and suddenly they’re Stapleton boroughs.”
Most Stapleton residents don’t feel the aggressive plan has any legs. “It really doesn’t make a lot of sense,” said resident Kevin Sifers. “Do they plan to kick out existing residents and scrape the homes or do they simply just think they have the power to rename neighborhoods?” Paula Stagemeyer also thinks the plan is pretty arrogant. “Sure, things have gone well with this development and this neighborhood,” said Stagemeyer. “But, each Denver neighborhood has it’s unique set of people and characteristics. This really doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Forest City has not set a timeframe for the endeavor, but says they will use “all means necessary,” to make sure the plan comes to fruition. “Look, we are really good at creating neighborhoods,” said Dargossi. “So there’s really no evidence to say we won’t be good at taking over neighborhoods. It’s just our next step as a company, and something our stockholders are already looking forward to. Who won’t want to say they own a piece of Cherry Creek?”]]>