A developer in Aurora, Colo., Rida Development, secured $500 million in private financing for the $824 million Gaylord Rockies hotel, enough to move forward with construction.
The 1,500-room conference hotel recede a commitment for roughly $300 million in funding in the form of tax incentives from the city of Aurora in 2011, and the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved another $81.4 million in May 2012. However, in the time since the project has been caught in limbo.
Gaylord Entertainment, the original developer of the property, backed out of the project two weeks after it received Regional Tourism Act incentives from the Colorado EDC, and after Rida became involved with the project 11 Front Range hotels filed a lawsuit for the EDC to reconsider the funding application. Two courts have ruled for Aurora so far in the lawsuit, but the hotels have appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
