Judge sides with Lakewood in fee-in-lieu dispute over controversial apartments

The developer of a hotly contested, legislated and litigated apartment project next to Belmar Park must pay Lakewood $1.5 million in development fees, a judge has ruled. Kairoi Residential, of Texas, is constructing a 411-unit apartment complex on 5 acres of private property at the park’s eastern edge. That has led to years of protests and, in 2023, a change to a city statute that required developers to set aside some land for parks. That, in turn, drew a lawsuit from Kairoi, an injunction pausing enforcement of the new statute, and then a vote by the Lakewood City Council to undo the statute. Now, developers can pay the city a fee in lieu of dedicating parkland, as they could before the change in 2023. So, in May, the Lakewood Planning Commission voted 5-0 to approve of Kairoi’s project at 777 S. Yarrow St. A vacant office building there has been demolished to make way for it. But rather than drop its lawsuit in the spring, Kairoi rewrote it. This time, it took issue with the dollar amount it would need to pay Lakewood in lieu of dedicating parkland. “Had (Kairoi)’s plans and permits been approved in the ordinary course similar to how other multifamily attached dwelling developments have been, … there is no question that it would have been entitled to pay the fee-in-lieu amount that existed in April 2022,” its lawsuit said. That would be $2,100 per apartment, or $863,100. Lakewood disagreed with the math. Related Articles Colorado seeks developer to build on parking lot by Governor’s Mansion Judge stops forced sale of Vail condos after owners sue developer Knobel Former executives get prison for nearly $2M defrauding of Arrow Electronics Korean fried chicken spot in LoDo closes amid company-wide sales drop Colorado’s largest independent bank accepts $4.1 billion buyout offer from PNC Financial “(Kairoi) wants to lock in the 2018 value of Lakewood property for this development, even though seven years have passed since Lakewood set that valuation, and Colorado property values have increased over 60% in that time,” the city wrote in a June court filing. “Instead of paying Lakewood the fair market value of the land (at least $1,467,270), it wants to pay only $863,100, which is the fair market value of the land in 2018, not 2025.” Last Wednesday, Judge Jason Carrithers in Golden sided with Lakewood, dismissed Kairoi’s lawsuit and closed the case. His single-page order did not explain his reasoning. Lakewood was represented by Geoffrey Blue and Scott Gessler with Gessler Blue in Greenwood Village. Kairoi’s lawyers were Jason Dunn and J. Maxwell Porteus at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Those four did not answer requests for comment last week. Get more business news by signing up for our Economy Now newsletter.