Lone Tree breaks ground on High Note Park, city’s biggest park

Lone Tree has begun building the park city leaders say will help define its next growth phase: High Note Park, a planned 80-acre regional destination near Interstate 25 and RidgeGate Parkway. The city and South Suburban Parks and Recreation District broke ground on April 29 on phase one of the project, which carries a $31 million price tag and is set to become Lone Tree’s first and only regional park, and its largest once complete.

The first phase is taking shape at the northwest corner of High Note Ave and Lyric Street in the Lyric neighborhood on the east side of I-25. City project materials say it will include playground areas, a dog park, sports fields, a beer garden, a small stage, community seating, parking, lighting and landscaping. RidgeGate says that phase is expected to be completed in 2027.

For Lone Tree, the project is more than a new place to play. City planning materials describe High Note as a long-planned project tied to the vision residents voted for, and a catalyst for the city’s future growth. The park sits along Happy Canyon Creek near the core of the RidgeGate buildout, next to the future Lone Tree City Center, which RidgeGate describes as a 50-block urban center. It is also connected to RidgeGate Station and the broader transit network serving the Denver metro area.

That geography matters. The park is being built where housing, retail and transportation are converging east of I-25, and city officials are positioning it as a civic anchor for that expansion rather than a standalone amenity. The broader RidgeGate east-side community already includes more than 1,000 acres of parks, trails, natural habitat and open space, but High Note is designed to give the area a central public gathering place as development continues around it.

The timing also reflects Lone Tree’s scale. CBS Colorado reported that the city is now more than 10 times larger than it was 20 years ago, a change that helps explain why leaders are investing heavily in public space alongside roads, homes and commercial construction. Nearby families in the Lyric neighborhood, after years of living with construction, said the park signals that the promises attached to the area’s rapid buildout are starting to materialize.

The future park is also being framed as a cultural venue. The Lone Tree Arts Center is expected to help program the outdoor amphitheater planned for a later phase, while Lone Tree Brewing Company, the city’s first and largest independent craft brewery, is slated to operate the beer garden. For city leaders, High Note Park is becoming part of the infrastructure of growth itself, a place meant to serve residents now while supporting the next wave of Lone Tree’s development.