Success Stories - Siting Renewable Energy on Contaminated Land
Belmar Mixed Use Development, Lakewood, Colorado
Mixed Use Development with Largest Rooftop Solar Array in U.S. Replaces Contaminated Site
Site Description
Belmar is a planned mixed-use development located 10 minutes from downtown
Denver in Lakewood, Colorado. The development covers 22 city blocks on what
was once an abandoned shopping mall surrounded by asphalt parking lots. Today,
the area is a thriving city center that uses its facilities to produce renewable
energy.
Property History
The project site was the former site of the Villa Italia Mall, a vacant indoor
shopping center located in a blighted neighborhood. Villa Italia opened to great
fanfare in 1966, but its popularity declined over time and by the mid 1990s, most
of the stores were empty. Before redevelopment could take place,
the mall site required cleanup of soil contaminated over the years
with perchloroethylene (PCE) from two dry cleaning businesses
located in the mall.
QUICK FACTS:
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Current Status:
EPA Region 8, Jefferson
County, CO
47.5 acres
Mixed private/public
Indoor shopping center
Perchloroethylene (PCE)
Brownfields
Solar PV
Not publicly available
The Colorado Coalition;
Continuum Partners, LLC; City
of Lakewood; EPA Region 8
Completed October 2008
The Colorado Coalition, a collaborative redevelopment effort
between the state and seven local governments, received $5.1
million in a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grant from EPA's
Brownfields Program. The Coalition uses this RLF funding to
make low-interest loans for local Brownfields cleanup activities. In
2002, the Coalition issued a $1.95 million loan to Continuum
Partners, a private developer, for the cleanup and redevelopment of
the mall site. The developer demolished the mall, removed soil and
treated ground water contaminated with PCE before developing
the site. Completed in 2005, redevelopment of the property gave
Lakewood its first walkable downtown area, concentrated around
Lakewood's municipal buildings. The Belmar mixed-use
development includes commercial development, shops,
restaurants, entertainment and homes. The development also
incorporates renewable energy through solar photovoltaic arrays
atop three parking structures.
Renewable Energy Development
California-based Sun Power, Inc., designed and installed 8,300
photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on the parking structure roofs,
covering 190,000 square feet. The 1.7 megawatt (MW) array was
completed in October 2008. The array generates approximately 2.3
million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually, and supplies
all the electricity for the parking garages, equivalent to 5% of
Belmar's energy use. In addition, the Belmar development
employs solar-powered parking meters and street lighting powered
by wind turbines on light poles.
In 2008, Belmar collaborated with MMA Renewable Ventures,
leveraging tax credits and incentives to finance the solar PV
system. The solar parking structure was deployed under a long-term power-purchase agreement, in which electricity
sold to Belmar is competitively priced against retail rates, providing the development with a long-term hedge against
rising peak power prices. The Belmar solar project received a rebate to offset upfront construction costs, as part of the
Xcel Energy Solar Rewards Program. Xcel will purchase the renewable energy credits produced at Belmar in support
of Colorado's Renewable Energy Standard, which requires large utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from
renewable sources by 2020.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:
Urban Brownfields site restored to productive
use as walkable mixed-use development.
1.7 MW solar PV system mounted on three
parking structures provides 5% of commercial
center's electricity need, equivalent to 350
average homes.
Solar panels cover 190,000 square feet, the
largest rooftop solar array in the United States.
Long-term power-purchase agreement with
utility exchanges renewable energy credits for
below-retail electricity rates.
CONTACT: Continuum Partners, LLC: Stephanie Jackson, (303) 742-1528, stephj@continuumllc.com
U.S. EPA Region 8: Tom Pike, Project Officer, (303) 692-3398
To learn more about siting renewable energy on contaminated land, visit: www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland
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