DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

I also happened to find this 'breaking news'. Quite hilarious.

Seattle cop says ‘criminals are running this city’ in brutal resignation letter
Aug 9, 2023 by BY Jason Rantz

Welcome to the Emerald City

My niece just had her truck stolen in Denver, They (my niece and her parents) spotted it literally every day for a month.. called the police each time. They kept refusing to show up to recover it. The truck was basically a billboard with a very distinctive paint job. It was recovered after being towed for illegally parking AFTER it was painted. To get her own car back she had to pay 300.00 to get it out of the police lot.

You could maybe tell them the police are overwhelmed. sure maybe. but try to tell them why they have to pay to get their own car back. Which criminals are running things exactly?

Please tell me why anyone should care when police feel like their feewings are hurt or they are under siege. I can see the need for police.. I'm not about to advocate for defunding them completely. But my niece and aunt/uncle sure are. They are legitimately wondering how their life would be worse with no police at all (how many people would actually be prevented from being robbed or shot - police only get involved after those happen and usually just throw the first off-white person they see in the area in jail over it anyway - their words not mine). I have a hard time blaming them.

[rds70]

In development news:

The latest proposal for 650 17th Street, a 39 story hotel/apartment building. 223 hotel rooms, 320 residential units, 430 feet:

[mhays]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Kiss of Death?


So Seattle is rated 2nd for tech talent (CBRE 2023) to only San Francisco.

Seattle is rated 3rd in number of homeless people (May 2023).

But if this is San Francisco, can Seattle be far behind?

Hundreds of government employees in San Francisco told to work from home due to the high levels of crime in the area
August 12, 2023 By Jyoti Mann


I also happened to find this 'breaking news'. Quite hilarious.

Seattle cop says ‘criminals are running this city’ in brutal resignation letter
Aug 9, 2023 by BY Jason Rantz

Welcome to the Emerald City

You'll have to speak up...our population grew by over 2% last year within city limits. The city has problems but it's trending right...and don't fall sucker to everything you hear.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

Originally Posted by rds70

In development news:

The latest proposal for 650 17th Street, a 39 story hotel/apartment building. 223 hotel rooms, 320 residential units, 430 feet:

I'd certainly take that over the parking lot. Does this proposal have a serious developer behind it?

Also, it looks like the old retail buildings have been demolished in Golden Triangle at the site of Parq II. I wonder if Parq II will actually begin construction though with 955 Bannock under construction right beside it.

[AHS1983]

Originally Posted by AHS1983

I've run across some interesting Denver webcams on YouTube that I'd like to share.

View of downtown from the Elevate building at 4100 E Mississippi.

(currently having technical problems but due for a fix very soon)

This cam is fixed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-9LrAFMTXM

[Matt]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

I'd certainly take that over the parking lot. Does this proposal have a serious developer behind it?

Also, it looks like the old retail buildings have been demolished in Golden Triangle at the site of Parq II. I wonder if Parq II will actually begin construction though with 955 Bannock under construction right beside it.

Not a fan of anything that isn't a supertall on this site. Once hope was let out of the bag, I can't settle for anything less than 1,000' here.

For historic reference, this is the building that was demolished to make way for the parking lot on the site:

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

I'd certainly take that over the parking lot. Does this proposal have a serious developer behind it?

Also, it looks like the old retail buildings have been demolished in Golden Triangle at the site of Parq II. I wonder if Parq II will actually begin construction though with 955 Bannock under construction right beside it.

Greystar is also the developer of 650 17th Street.

Originally Posted by rds70

In development news:

The latest proposal for 650 17th Street, a 39 story hotel/apartment building. 223 hotel rooms, 320 residential units, 430 feet:

Looks nice!

The DBJ is reporting that the site of the recent homeless sweep is now being demoed for what they call the Ballpark 659 unit residential towers.

Chicago-based CMK Companies brought forward their initial plans for two 25-story residential towers resting on top of a four-story podium at 2215 California St. last year.

Now, the developers have reached another milestone in the project by beginning demolition on the site. In addition, the developer’s formal site development plan, which needs to be approved ahead of securing building permits, was submitted in June and is currently in review with the City and County of Denver.

[TakeFive]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention

Originally Posted by AHS1983

This cam is fixed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-9LrAFMTXM

If I didn't pull on your chain, who would?

Originally Posted by mhays

You'll have to speak up...our population grew by over 2% last year within city limits. The city has problems but it's trending right...and don't fall sucker to everything you hear.

Any city that is Amazon-powered with 55,000 employees in 10 million square feet of office space hardly has anything to worry about. And that doesn't include the up to 3 million more square feet and 10,000 employees across the water in Bellevue.

You were right about investment locations. Three writers with POLITCO map the 1st 200 projects approved under IRA.

Side Topic

‘Bidenomics’ delivered a once-in-generation investment.
August 15, 2023 BY Lisa Mascaro - AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — There are so many dots on the maps they blur into blobs — each one reflecting trillions of public and private dollars flowing in the U.S. this past year to build thousands of roads, bridges and manufacturing projects in communities large and small, in states red and blue.

Now rounding year one, it remains a work in progress. The Inflation Reduction Act, the Chips and Science Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are coming into fruition at a time of economic churn and stubborn inflation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Politics aside, this is a Good Read.

Then on the same day we get this:

Fitch warns it may be forced to downgrade dozens of banks, including JPMorgan Chase
AUG 15 2023 By Hugh Son - CNBC

A Fitch Ratings analyst warned that the U.S. banking industry has inched closer to another source of turbulence — the risk of sweeping rating downgrades on dozens of U.S. banks that could even include the likes of JPMorgan Chase

Makes you wonder if we aren't living in two different realities. While much of the infrastructure investment may not help office space in San Francisco or Chicago I have to believe while there may be some damage from older office buildings for example but most banks are holding construction loans and they should weather the turbulence IMO.

It is fair to say given the interest rate environment refinancing's will be more difficult and new starts will be few for the balance of this year. Then we'll see.

[TakeFive]

Thanks Matt; fun retro look.

Originally Posted by Matt

Not a fan of anything that isn't a supertall on this site. Once hope was let out of the bag, I can't settle for anything less than 1,000' here.

For historic reference, this is the building that was demolished to make way for the parking lot on the site:

-----------------------------

There's a lack of respect for older things IMO

Can somebody go by the 112-year-old Alameda Bridge over Interstate 25 and the South Platte River and pass along my last respects. Apparently they're just going to throw this out as if it were trash

[jhwk]

Originally Posted by rds70

In development news:

The latest proposal for 650 17th Street, a 39 story hotel/apartment building. 223 hotel rooms, 320 residential units, 430 feet:

Is this still Greystar or are they out? Also interesting that this is shorter but will have more units than the previous proposal (not the condo grifters, the second one).

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by rds70

In development news:

The latest proposal for 650 17th Street, a 39 story hotel/apartment building. 223 hotel rooms, 320 residential units, 430 feet:

Let's hope this new one doesn't get killed due to the request for a curb cut adjacent to the alley that the city wouldn't budge on. The back and forth between the engineering team and DOTI was atrocious and doesn't surprise me why the last project didn't move forward. I'm all for better streets, etc but this last case was in the realm of insanity. There needs to be a happy-medium, but absolutes are the new way to play in the world.

[TakeFive]

This could be BIG

https://kdvr.com/news/local/16-downtown-...sidered-as-possible-housing-conversions/

“If the top 16 buildings from Denver’s analysis were converted to residential uses, this could add over 5,000 units to our downtown neighborhood,” said Jon Gambrill, managing director of Gensler’s Denver office, in a news release. “This would also convert upwards of 4.3 million square feet of office space to new residential uses.”

Backstory

The study found 21 buildings that are considered “good candidates” for conversion based on walkability, natural light, parking, building age and potential unit count. This was later narrowed down to 16 by the architecture firm Gensler, which the city partnered with for this project.

Even if you cut this in half to 8 building conversions it would still be of immense benefit.

[TakeFive]

More good news for Denver's downtown

Here's the KEY piece:

https://www.9news.com/article/news/local.../73-0d42a21d-2470-4a16-9b84-91c0fa948d86

"This fits the design of how the services operate," Johnston said. "We want to take what has historically been very concentrated services for a large number of people in a small part of the city, and decentralize those. So you have people in smaller communities spread out in different parts of the city with different kinds of providers who provide different kinds of support."

Backstory

DENVER — The City of Denver is seeking bids for service providers who can serve 40 to 100 people at seven to 10 planned "micro-communities" for people experiencing homelessness.

Johnston said the city is putting out the request for proposal (RFP) on Wednesday and is seeking any organization willing and able to provide the requested services. Johnston said the RFPs are focused on soliciting smaller, local, community-based nonprofit organizations, which he said is different from how they've been structured in the past.

The city is seeking bids for site operations, wrap-around services, direct provisions from community-based providers and more, Johnston said.

I've said forever that the concentration of services downtown is a magnet for drawing in homeless people. There's no reason all services can't be provided wherever homeless housing is provided.

They also announced the acquisition of the Stay Inn Hotel located in the 12000 block of E. 38th Ave, which had been in the works for a couple of years awaiting federal funding.

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Let's hope this new one doesn't get killed due to the request for a curb cut adjacent to the alley that the city wouldn't budge on. The back and forth between the engineering team and DOTI was atrocious and doesn't surprise me why the last project didn't move forward. I'm all for better streets, etc but this last case was in the realm of insanity. There needs to be a happy-medium, but absolutes are the new way to play in the world.

I've made my fair share of DOTI comments on this forum and appreciate you pointing this entity out for what it has become - which is a static entity with no employee empowerment to make reasonable decisions which leads to DOTI singlehandedly killing projects and/or making them worse. DOTI is the biggest obstacle to development in Denver, hands down, after lack of appropriately zoned land.

[bobg]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Let's hope this new one doesn't get killed due to the request for a curb cut adjacent to the alley that the city wouldn't budge on. The back and forth between the engineering team and DOTI was atrocious and doesn't surprise me why the last project didn't move forward. I'm all for better streets, etc but this last case was in the realm of insanity. There needs to be a happy-medium, but absolutes are the new way to play in the world.

Do you know where I can find a link to the details on that back and forth? I only know what's been mentioned on this forum

Generally the curb cuts and curb space downtown is chaotic, and adding to that chaos isn't good (especially on a road people routinely speed on like 17th). There's a very busy bus stop on 17th/california adjacent to an even busier 17th st bus lane, and of course the light rail on California which makes it hard to find an obvious place for a curb cut. Having had an office on the other side of the alley I know that alley is very wide already to accommodate the angled loading zone.

I'd be inclined to agree with DOTI on the surface, but the devil is always in the details.

[rds70]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Let's hope this new one doesn't get killed due to the request for a curb cut adjacent to the alley that the city wouldn't budge on. The back and forth between the engineering team and DOTI was atrocious and doesn't surprise me why the last project didn't move forward. I'm all for better streets, etc but this last case was in the realm of insanity. There needs to be a happy-medium, but absolutes are the new way to play in the world.

The plan for this building does show a curb cut directly adjacent to the alley. However, this proposal does not have access to the alley like the previous version. I don’t know if that will make a difference?

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by jhwk

Is this still Greystar or are they out? Also interesting that this is shorter but will have more units than the previous proposal (not the condo grifters, the second one).

Nope, looks like Harbringrer is currently trying to develop this one solo. Let’s all recall how their previous attempt went.

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by bobg

Do you know where I can find a link to the details on that back and forth? I only know what's been mentioned on this forum

Generally the curb cuts and curb space downtown is chaotic, and adding to that chaos isn't good (especially on a road people routinely speed on like 17th). There's a very busy bus stop on 17th/california adjacent to an even busier 17th st bus lane, and of course the light rail on California which makes it hard to find an obvious place for a curb cut. Having had an office on the other side of the alley I know that alley is very wide already to accommodate the angled loading zone.

I'd be inclined to agree with DOTI on the surface, but the devil is always in the details.

Huh? There's a 1.5 lane buffer (bus lane) between the sidewalk and all that vehicle "traffic" you're talking about. This is not a vehicle/pedestrian interface safety thing. The # vehicle trips a project like this would generate would be negligible in that aspect. This is a 16' alley just like all the others, but 600 17th Street is maybe setback an extra 2' for whatever reason.

No part of Downtown Denver is chaotic, at least not comparatively with other large cities. For one, it's only remotely busy for 3 hours per day, half in morning and half at night. Two, 17th Street has almost no traffic for a big city downtown street. Many areas of the western world are much busier with vehicles AND pedestrians and manage to get by with all smorgasbord or curb cuts, loading zones, buses, trains, and LOTS of vehicles/people interfacing.

Do you work for DOTI?!?! My apologies in advance.

[bobg]

Originally Posted by laniroj

Huh? There's a 1.5 lane buffer (bus lane) between the sidewalk and all that vehicle "traffic" you're talking about. This is not a vehicle/pedestrian interface safety thing. The # vehicle trips a project like this would generate would be negligible in that aspect. This is a 16' alley just like all the others, but 600 17th Street is maybe setback an extra 2' for whatever reason.

No part of Downtown Denver is chaotic, at least not comparatively with other large cities. For one, it's only remotely busy for 3 hours per day, half in morning and half at night. Two, 17th Street has almost no traffic for a big city downtown street. Many areas of the western world are much busier with vehicles AND pedestrians and manage to get by with all smorgasbord or curb cuts, loading zones, buses, trains, and LOTS of vehicles/people interfacing.

Do you work for DOTI?!?! My apologies in advance.

I do not work at or for DOTI which is why I don't know what was said, and am trying to understand the rationale before jumping to conclusions.

Do you know why they nixed it? Or know where that communication can be found?

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Brainpathology

My niece just had her truck stolen in Denver, They (my niece and her parents) spotted it literally every day for a month.. called the police each time. They kept refusing to show up to recover it. The truck was basically a billboard with a very distinctive paint job. It was recovered after being towed for illegally parking AFTER it was painted. To get her own car back she had to pay 300.00 to get it out of the police lot.

Sorry to hear about your niece; can't imagine the frustration. Trucks are the hot target in Denver apparently.

Have you seen any of the viral videos of Flash Mob robberies in L.A?

Flash mobs invade luxury L.A. retailers with brute force, overwhelming numbers

Dressed in monochrome black and gray head to toe, they stormed through the doors of the Nordstrom at the Westfield Topanga mall Saturday afternoon.

More than 30 masked robbers, men and women, flowed into the Canoga Park store, immediately heading for the top-dollar purses, clothes racks and jewels.

Mayor Karen Bass was not a happy camper. Coincidentally, POLITICO has a nice piece on my 'favorite' Mayor.