Aurora names East Colfax DDA board as new district moves toward launch
After voters approved the district in 2025, Aurora has named the inaugural East Colfax Downtown Development Authority board and outlined the entity’s first steps, powers and unresolved questions.
Aurora has named the inaugural board for its new East Colfax Downtown Development Authority, moving the voter-approved district closer to launch along the Colfax corridor.
The district was approved by eligible voters inside the proposed boundary in the Nov. 4, 2025 election. At a June 24 Planning and Zoning Commission study session, city staff said the measure passed with about 80% support.
The authority page on Aurora’s website lists Councilmember Alli Jackson and nine inaugural appointees: Amanda Blaurock, Alemayehu Eshete, Katie Goldman, Matthew Horne, Priscilla Montoya, Cynthia Moreno-Romero, Thoa Nguyen, Natasha Sztevanovity and Johnny Watson. Staff said at the June 24 session that City Council appointed the nine members on June 22.
The DDA is a separate governmental entity focused on the East Colfax commercial corridor. It will use tax increment financing, which reinvests future growth in district tax revenue back into the area. The city says that tool can support safety, infrastructure, small-business assistance, housing and broader economic development without creating a new tax.
According to the city, the district generally runs from Yosemite Street on the west to the Fitzsimons Urban Renewal Area near Peoria on the east, and from East 16th Avenue on the north to East 14th Avenue on the south.
Staff told commissioners the recently completed Colfax Community Vision and Action Plan will also serve as the DDA’s required plan of development. City materials and the June 24 presentation point to six priorities from that plan: housing and neighborhood stability, business support, arts and culture, public safety and security, cleaning and maintenance, and public space improvements.
Staff said the authority’s first meeting is expected to focus on adopting bylaws, setting a meeting schedule, choosing near-term priorities and beginning an annual work plan and operating budget. The city also says the district is not expected to collect or spend significant increment revenue immediately because that revenue will build over time.
Some details remain unresolved. Staff said a future community development corporation, or CDC, could add representation to the board, but public city materials do not yet show that seat filled. Commissioners also asked how independent the DDA will be from City Council, how property-tax and sales-tax increment will work in practice, and why the district does not stretch farther east. Staff said the eastern edge was limited in part by overlap with an existing urban renewal area and that the district could potentially expand later. The city’s DDA page likewise says adjacent properties may opt in over time.