The redevelopment of the former Stapleton Airport was an unprecedented step forward, not only for the City and County of Denver, but for the region and country. It meant transforming seven and a half square miles of tarmac, runways, hangers, terminal buildings and parking structures into 12,000 housing units, 10 million square feet of office and commercial, 1,100 acres of parks and open space, and a dozen schools. And the size of the 4,700-acre site presented a unique opportunity to completely re-think how brownfield development can address a myriad of social, environmental and economic issues.

Success depended on radically shifting the perceptions and methods of stakeholders, from City staff to design and engineering consultants to participating homebuilders. My greatest contribution was establishing a roadmap that inspired members of the development team to re-think their approach and practice. I led an effort to innovate the entire process: zoning and development standards; building design and production/construction; product segmentation; business deal structure; branding and marketing; and governance. All based, perhaps more broadly than any previous project of this scale, on the synergistic power of good urban design.

The end result is a community built to thrive, economically and socially, in strong markets and weak. We laid a foundation for Stapleton — in its design, planning, financing and deal structure — that sustained it during the Great Recession and positioned it for tremendous growth and success post-recession.