Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan
The Lutheran Medical Campus is located at 8300 W. 38th Avenue in the heart of Wheat Ridge, and it has operated as a medical use since 1905. A new Lutheran hospital is currently being constructed at the Clear Creek Crossing development, and the hospital’s move presents a rare opportunity to reimagine the future of the Lutheran Legacy Campus.
What's New?
SCL Health is now known as Intermountain Healthcare. The two merged into one organization in April of 2022. You can learn more about that here.
The hospital plans to stay at the Lutheran legacy campus (8300 W. 38th Ave.) until the new Lutheran hospital at Clear Creek Crossing has completed construction which is estimated to be done in late summer 2024. The legacy campus will then be de-commissioned before going on the market for sale. It won’t be until then that the City anticipates to see proposals for new entitlements at the legacy campus.
When the time comes, City staff will rely on the community-backed master plan for guidance.
Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan
The master planning process for the Lutheran Legacy Campus concluded with a public hearing on October 25, after which City Council approved and adopted the master plan. The document lays out the community’s vision and will serve as a roadmap for development over the next 15 to 20 years or more.
The overarching goal of this project was to invite as many people and perspectives as possible into the process. Thank you to the many hundreds of you who engaged and thousands of you who followed the progress. This was an unprecedented public process including in-person and online engagement options resulting in diverse contributions. The project outreach summary shows that thousands of people were aware of the project and many hundreds actively engaged in the process—thank you!
What is This Plan?
The master plan document reflects the vision of the community and is informed by a market study to ensure that the plan is realistic and has the best possible chance of coming to pass. This document outlines a framework for future development. It is not a site plan, it does not prescribe specific uses, nor is it a zoning document. Rather, it describes what the community likes and dislikes, it articulates goals and desires, and it creates guardrails. Ultimately, it communicates to future owners our expectations, without which the property could be developed in a way that runs counter to community wishes. The master plan has a lot of important detail, but in short it communicates three key expectations:
- that we expect a buffer and transition on the perimeter,
- that we will allow more flexibility on the interior, and
- that future owners need to explore ways to integrate existing assets.
The Lutheran Medical Campus has changed and evolved many times over the last 120 years, and this document recognizes the once-in-a-generation opportunity to consider the next many decades that lie ahead. The Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan is considered an amendment to the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Envision Wheat Ridge. It is a guiding document in that it outlines a long-range vision, it will inform future decision on development applications, and it will likely take decades to implement.
What’s Next?
With the plan now adopted, the City expects the property to eventually be listed for sale by SCL Health, and potential buyers will be provided with the master plan so they can understand the community’s expectations.
Once a buyer is identified they will work with the City to propose a zone change for the property. It is through the process of the zone change that the project moves from vision to reality. While the master plan is a guiding document, zoning is the set of rules and regulations that describe what specific uses are permitted and what structures will look like (height, setback, design, et cetera). The zone change process will be a public process and will be subject to review and approval by the Planning Commission and City Council; consistency with the master plan will be among the criteria for review. Following zoning, subdivision and site plan reviews will occur. As part of these entitlement processes, the City will review drainage plans and traffic studies.
Though the timing of next steps will depend largely on the market and a future buyer, the process of sale, entitlements, and construction often takes many years. The new hospital campus at Clear Creek Crossing is not expected to be completed until 2024, and the current Lutheran campus will continue to operate in the meantime.
While the current property owner—SCL Health—seeks a buyer, the City can in the meantime be exploring several next steps that are within its control. This includes three specific actions: exploring the creation of an urban renewal area, exploring the possibility of a charter height amendment particularly for the middle portion of the campus where some buildings already exceed 50 feet, and assessing the City’s facility needs to determine what public or civic uses may be suitable components of a redevelopment.
Since the property is held under private ownership, the City does not have full control over what this land will become, and this master plan will help guide prospective buyers to make the community’s vision a reality.
Plan Documents & Public Process
View and download the master plan and appendices files here. Please note they are large files!
- Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan (October 2021) and Appendices (September 2021)
- Summary of Outreach
Below are a few links to past meeting summaries to get an idea about what we are hearing from the community-at-large. Please note that this is not intended to reflect all public comment received. The master plan (also linked below) incorporates comments received through many sources including feedback in meetings, from surveys, over the phone, and from email. A full summary of outreach is provided above.
- Stakeholder Committee Meeting #1 Summary Board (April 2021)
- Focus Group Meeting #1 Summary Board (May 2021)
- Public Meeting #2 Presentation (June 2021)
- Summary of Phase 1 (Visioning) Public Input (July 2021)
- City Council and Planning Commission Presentation (August 2021)
- Public Meeting #4 Open House Boards (September 2021)