ColoradoBiz Q&A: Tracy Huggins, executive director of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: Interview

The thousands of people who visited Denver this summer for the Democratic National Convention encountered a city that no longer rolls up the carpet at 5 p.m. The Denver Urban Renewal Authority has been behind many of the projects that have led to that renaissance, bringing new retail, lodging and housing downtown.

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Since 2000, Tracy Huggins has served as executive director of the authority, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Since 1958, DURA has provided more than $649 million in tax increment financing for more than 75 projects valued at more than $7.1 billion.

The authority has been a catalyst behind such projects as the Denver Pavilions, the Denver Dry Building, the former Adam's Mark Hotel (now Sheraton Denver), Elitch Gardens and the Lowenstein Theatre. It also helped finance the Lowry and Stapleton developments and Highlands' Garden Village. We talked to Huggins recently about DURA's achievements.

Q. The Denver Urban Renewal Authority celebrates 50 years. What do you consider some of its greatest successes?

A. I think one of the unique things about DURA's 50 years is the efforts they undertook in some of the earlier years and the foundation that those efforts laid for the transformation of down-town Denver.

You look at the pictures of slums, truly dilapidated housing that existed right in our city core and what an impediment that was to really turning Denver into a modern city. DURA played a really significant role in being the facilitators through which those challenges were addressed.

The renovation of Denver Dry Goods (first phase completed 1993) was absolutely at the top of the list of important projects, knowing that downtown Denver was really in a very serious state of decline. We had lost all of the department stores from downtown. Office vacancies were very high. I really believe had the Denver Dry project not been successful, we would have not seen the same level of investment that did occur during that same time period.

Q. DURA provides low-interest...