GLENDALE — The city of Glendale unveiled a $175 million dining and entertainment development that officials say will return the small city to the destination it was in decades past.

Glendale 180 — formerly referred to as the Glendale Riverwalk project — will bring in 300,000 square feet of leasable space and more than 2,200 parking spaces to 42 acres of land between Colorado Boulevard and Cherry Street on the south side of Virginia Avenue, abutting the Cherry Creek waterway.

“This is the next phase in the rebranding of Glendale,” Glendale deputy city manager Linda Cassady said at the unveiling reception. “It’s going to bring Glendale back to the dynamic area it was 40 years ago. It’s designed to complement the Cherry Creek Shopping Center.”

The site will feature 151,725 square feet of food and beverage, 109,000 square feet of entertainment and 42,500 square feet of retail.

The hope is to allow for common consumption at bars and restaurants, meaning that patrons could buy a drink at one bar and bring it with them to another, according to Michael Gross, project representative for Glendale 180.

Parking will consist of one underground level of parking, about 500 spaces of surface parking and a large parking garage.

The project is scheduled to break ground this fall with an opening planned in the fall of 2017.

“The hope is that it’s the ultimate entertainment destination in Colorado,” said David Glover, principal architect for Gensler, the architecture firm working on the project.

The city also announced that Houston-based Wulfe & Co. would be the developer for the site. The Laramie Company is handling leasing and anchor tenants should be announced soon. The project will be funded with both private and public partnerships and include the city selling bonds to help pay for some of the infrastructure work needed.

In 2012 a variation of the Riverwalk plan was turned down for regional tourism funds.

Glendale has seen a development resurgence recently with the City Set development on the south side of Cherry Creek Drive and Colorado Boulevard, anchored by the Hilton Garden Inn hotel and the surrounding restaurants and bars.

The city is also an international destination, according to Mayor Mike Dunafon, thanks to its label as Rugbytown USA and the success of Infinity Park. He said this new development will complement that.

The original strategic planning for a project near the river took place in 1998 and the ideas have changed over the course of that time, but the goal of Glendale 180 has always been to recapture when Glendale was a natural attraction with sites such as the Colorado Mining Company, Cooper Theater, the Lift dance club and Celebrity Sports Center.

“Our desire is to get back to entertainment district of ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s that matriculated out of here,” Gross said. “The main reason for the name Glendale 180 is that we’re going back to our roots.”

Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc