Commerce City is moving ahead with the North Range Police Substation at the northeast corner of 104th Avenue and Potomac Street after months of council debate over how much the city should spend and how quickly.
The City Council voted 5–4 on second reading to appropriate $16.3 million from the unencumbered general-fund balance for construction, according to citizenportal.ai. That appropriation came through passage of Ordinance 2723, the outlet reported.
A Split Council and a Contentious Debate
The vote followed hours of debate about cost, size and community outreach, per the same outlet's reporting on the ordinance's second reading. Supporters pointed to public-safety needs and rising construction costs as reasons to move forward now, while critics called for smaller or phased options.
The debate centered on timing and scale, with critics questioning whether the full appropriation was necessary at once. The council ultimately sided with building out the substation at 104th and Potomac rather than pursuing a scaled-back or delayed alternative.
Design Budget Grows as Plans Advance
Since the funding vote, the council has also unanimously approved Resolution 20‑25‑184, a second amendment to d2c architects' professional-services agreement covering design and engineering work for the substation, the outlet reported. The amendment adds roughly $696,730 to the design budget and pushes the project's design from 30 percent complete to 90 percent, a scope that includes entitlement work and construction oversight, according to the same reporting.
Separately, the City of Commerce City has listed a solicitation for the project under RFP-PW-25-041, titled PD Substation North Range 104th & Potomac CMGC, according to a listing on bidnetdirect.com.
What Comes Next
The city has advanced design work and listed a CMGC solicitation for the project.
