Any day now you will vote on ballot issue 1A, the West Greeley project along U.S. 34 often called Cascadia, a venture between the City of Greeley and Windsor-based developer Martin Lind. The vision involves Greeley owning an arena with three sheets of ice, an upscale hotel, and a waterpark — all valued at around $1.1 billion, as well as signing a 40-year lease with the Colorado Eagles Hockey team. The developer in turn will produce an 834-acre master-planned community surrounding this entertainment district owned by the city.
In May of 2025 the City Council approved the joint endeavor, but a group called “Greeley Deserves Better” sought to require the approval of Greeley’s voters through a petition process. Despite obtaining sufficient signatures, after two negative legal rulings, it was too late to get on the November ballot.
Rather than waste time and money on appealing those decisions, a similarly motivated group called “Greeley Demands Better” circulated a new petition authorized under Colorado law to repeal the zoning of the joint endeavor for a minimum of one year. Zoning is essential to the project and in 1A the voters are asked to repeal the zoning. A “yes” vote by the majority of voters will, at a minimum, slow the process for a year.
You may say “why bother?”
During this freeze the council, including two new members who have pledged to work on consensus-building, can slow down and carefully study the following:
• Whether the city’s participation in the project is economically feasible in view of a study which predicts a debt service gap of $41.5 million dollars per year for nine to 16 years. This gap must be covered by the city’s taxpayers as our moral obligation.
• Whether there are contractual off-ramps to the project if it becomes clear that continuing is not financially viable.
• Whether neighboring municipalities of Windsor, Johnstown or Loveland, all of whom will benefit from this development, can join us in this venture and spread the taxpayers’ risk.
• Whether the failure of the Future Legends Sports Complex in Windsor and the Noah’s Event Venue in Westminster can teach us any valuable lessons as Greeley takes on similar projects in Northern Colorado.
• Whether the business of running an upscale hotel is properly in the city’s domain. One study predicts the occupancy rate will start at only 65% and will only achieve stability at 83.5% in 2037. A public-private partnership might be more appropriate.
• Whether there are other investors, including the developer, who might be interested in any public-private partnership on any piece of the city project or are margins too slim to entice investors.
• Whether it is appropriate to use 46 public buildings, including such essentials as the city hall, police department headquarters, fire houses, and our recreation centers, as collateral to finance an undertaking which may lead to significant losses.
These are just a few of the concerns of the signatories on the petition.
To put the matter in perspective, the 2025 annual budget for the city was approximately $583,000,000, but our exposure on Cascadia is up to $1.1 billion, twice our annual budget. With most of our significant assets put up as collateral, this is not the type of project that one rushes without a painstakingly careful analysis. While the project itself looks lovely, the risk to the citizens is immense. At a minimum, let’s try to share that risk.
Vote “yes” on 1A and let our council members, our fiduciaries, spend additional time examining alternative courses of action.
Pam Shaddock is a retired teacher and lawyer, a former Greeley City Council member and former Regional Director for Northeastern Colorado in the office of a U.S. senator.
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