Fitzsimmons Innovation Community
Structuring the Transition from Suburban Campus to Integrated Urban Place
Both an innovation district transformation and an act of city-building, this vision and development plan reimagines 184 acres north of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus — tripling development capacity from 6M to 18M square feet while creating a new mixed-use urban center for West Aurora.
Client: Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority
Role: Urban Design, Planning and Entitlement Lead*
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The campus contained significant institutional strength but lacked a coherent urban framework capable of organizing growth.
CU Anschutz Medical Campus as regional research anchor
Sand Creek ecological corridor and regional trail network
RTD rail station connecting the district to Denver
Overscaled arterial roadways and legacy military grid
Fragmented open space and campus circulation patternsDescription text goes here
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To attract world-class talent, research institutions, and startups, the district required more than laboratory space. It needed civic infrastructure and a recognizable center.
Establish a civic core for students, researchers, and the Aurora community
Transform streets from auto corridors into walkable connections
Organize open space into a connected civic landscape
Create identity and gathering spaces for the innovation district
Align growth with regional transit access
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The suburban campus model separates what urban life unites — work from home, learning from commerce, nature from daily life, institution from community. The Fitzsimons plan reverses that fragmentation, building an integrated district where health, education, and economic activity coexist at a human scale — a genuine place, not a campus. Anchored by CU Anschutz, one of the Front Range's premier engines of health innovation and job creation, the district is designed to attract and sustain the full ecosystem of research, enterprise, workforce, and civic life that a thriving innovation community requires.
The General Development Plan established the spatial and infrastructure framework necessary for the district’s next phase of growth.
Urban street and block structure to support density
Integrated civic open space network
Multimodal mobility system linking campus and transit
Development capacity expanded from 6M to 18M square feet
Entitlement strategy supporting phased district growth
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Role
Urban Design, Master Planning and Entitlement Lead*Mobility: Fehr & Peers
Civil Engineering: Matrix
Public Finance: Strae Advisory
