Denver has chosen contractor Hensel Phelps to design and build a long-planned expansion to the Colorado Convention Center, enabling 25 additional events per year.

“The project, anticipated to be completed in late 2023, will expand one of the largest buildings in Denver, while ensuring it can continue to operate during construction and will play a key role in Denver’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the city announced. In April, the state worked with the Army Corps of Engineers to construct 2,000 beds at the center to function as a medical facility for discharged coronavirus patients if hospitals became overwhelmed.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure estimates that the project to construct the 80,000 square foot addition of a multipurpose room and terrace will support 2,691 jobs and generate $85 million annually from its use.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Phil Weiser reached settlements with the previous project manager and contractor for the expansion. After the project got underway in 2018, there was improper communication between the two entities, such that the contractor, M.A. Mortenson Company, received an advantage over others in the bid for the contract.

The project management group, Trammell Crow, agreed to a quarter-million-dollar payment to the attorney general’s office, saying, “this situation arose from the actions of one individual who violated Trammell Crow Company’s business values and principles.”

The city council will ultimately approve the contract, which is funded through a $104 million bond referendum and extension of the lodging tax from 2015. An additional $129 million will come from certificates of participation, to be repaid with tourism revenues, seat tax income from the convention center, and money from the Convention Center Hotel.