[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 22 (Friday, February 1, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6184-6185]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-1908]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION


Public Building Service; Notice of Availability; Final Master 
Site Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Denver 
Federal Center, Lakewood, CO

AGENCY: Public Building Service, General Services Administration.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, and the President's Council on Environmental Quality Regulations 
(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), as implemented by General Services 
Administration (GSA) Order PBS P 1095.4D, GSA announces its Notice of 
Availability (NOA) of the Final Master Site Plan Final Environmental 
Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, 
Colorado. GSA proposes to implement a Master Site Plan for the Denver 
Federal Center, a federal facility, that addresses opportunities for 
future site redevelopment. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
presented two action alternatives, the Federal Quad Alternative and the 
Federal Mall Alternative; and a No Action Alternative. Subsequent to 
public review and comment, GSA determined that the Federal Quad 
Alternative, with modifications, would be the preferred alternative. 
The Federal Quad Alternative, with modifications, is the concept 
identified in the Final Master Site Plan.

DATES: GSA will execute a Record of Decision (ROD) based on the FEIS no 
sooner than March 3, 2008, or 30 days after the date of publication of 
this Notice of Availability in the Federal Register and after 
publication of the related notice by the Environmental Protection 
Agency.

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the Master Site Plan and FEIS, contact 
Lisa Dorsey Wild (formerly Morpurgo), Senior Project Manager, at the 
U.S. General Services Administration, Rocky Mountain Region, Denver 
Federal Center Service Center (8PD), P.O. Box 25546, Building 41, 
Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO, 80225-0546. Or visit the Web site at 
http://www.gsa.gov/dfcsiteplan and follow the instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lisa Dorsey Wild at (303) 236.8000 
ext. 5039, by fax at 303-236-5328, e-mail at [email protected], or 
mail at the above-listed address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Denver Federal Center is a 640-acre 
secured federal facility operated by

[[Page 6185]]

GSA. The Federal Center was acquired in 1941 by the U.S. government and 
is currently used for office, research, and administrative purposes by 
26 federal agencies. There are approximately 4 million square feet of 
space in approximately 50 active buildings at the Federal Center, and 
there are approximately 6,000 on-site employees. The site, formerly 
part of unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado, was recently annexed 
into the City of Lakewood. Annexation has no affect on the federal 
ownership or management of the site. GSA recently sold 65 of the 
facility the City of Lakewood through the federal land disposal process 
for construction of an inter-modal transit station and relocation of 
St. Anthony Hospital. GSA proposes to implement a new Master Site Plan 
for the Federal Center that will address new opportunities for site 
development. The FEIS, prepared to comply with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), evaluates the proposed Master Site 
Plan alternatives and identifies the environmental effects associated 
with implementing the proposed alternatives. The Draft Master Site Plan 
and draft Environmental Impact Statement released in April 2007, 
evaluated two action alternatives, the Federal Quad Alternative and the 
Federal Mall Alternative; and a No Action Alternative. Under the No 
Action Alternative, GSA would not implement a new Master Site Plan for 
the Federal Center. Though currently planned upgrades to site 
infrastructure would move forward contingent upon funding, existing 
resources would not be leveraged to attract capital to the site, a new 
vision for growth would not be established, and the value and appeal of 
the Federal Center site would not be maximized. Under the No Action 
alternative, it would become increasingly difficult to maintain the 
resources on the site to serve Federal tenants and overall community 
needs. During the public review and comment period conducted between 
May and June 2007, over 300 hundred individual comments were received 
from 198 tenants, neighbors, groups, city, state, and federal offices. 
The Federal Quad concept, with modifications, is identified in the 
Final Master Site Plan and as the preferred alternative named in the 
FEIS. The defining characteristic of the Federal Quad Alternative is 
the central ``Quad'' that would be located in the center of the Federal 
Center site. The enhanced streetscapes throughout the campus would 
encourage area employees and residents to walk to and from transit and 
into adjacent districts. The Quad would be the heart of the plan and 
would be woven into the fabric of the surrounding neighborhoods and 
commercial districts via road and land use connections. The Quad would 
be surrounded by complementary office buildings, including secure 
federal buildings, non-secure federal buildings, and research 
buildings. A total of 227 acres (or approximately 36 percent of the 
total site) would be designated for open space use. The Federal Quad 
Alternative includes a development plan with approximately 3.6 million 
gross square feet of new development, plus 1,400 residential units, 
organized around a formal open space/park area that suggests a 
university campus setting. The primary change in this alternative 
between the Draft Master Site Plan and the Final is additional 
residential units in the northwest area of the site in the vicinity of 
the anticipated transit-orientated development and intermodal station. 
The modified Federal Quad Alternative as presented in the Final Master 
Site Plan for the Federal Center reflects GSA's preferred development 
strategy.

    Dated: January 24, 2008.
Steven M. Burke,
Acting Director, General Services Administration, DFC Service Center, 
PBS, Rocky Mountain Region.
[FR Doc. E8-1908 Filed 1-31-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-BK-P