DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[llamaorama]

You know what though, in Dallas, downtown is one of like 3 "urban" places to live available in a metro that is like 3x the size of Denver's, and has a certain appeal even if compared with other cities its kind of terrible. So maybe people will pay a premium to rent an apartment there that's suboptimal because it was carved out of an office building. Also maybe there's more sentiment for keeping the skyline intact - local government will cave on tax breaks, etc before letting any of those towers get torn down. That would look so bad for Dallas.

But in Denver there's a lot of choice for an urban lifestyle in the many vibrant neighborhoods surrounding the CBD, and a large stock of really nice, new, light-filled, high-ceiling, amenity-rich apartment and condo towers. Also unlike Dallas, few of Denver's 1970s/1980s high rises are regarded as architectural beauties, most of them are ugly brown and black striped boxes. And the few blocks that are considered the true central business district of downtown have the least energy, at least that's how I remember it when I visited Denver last.

So who knows, in Denver maybe imploding those vacant 80s savings and loan era boxes with their mostly parking garage bottoms and replacing them with densely packed 20-30 story mixed use buildings similar to around Union Station and Golden Triangle would give downtown a boost. Downsized office occupancy in nicer buildings would be better than no office occupancy when companies sign leases in the burbs, and the population density and mixed use vibe would clean up some of the grime that exists at street level.

[CONative]

Plans submitted for an 18-story residential building for Central Park station? I said this many years ago when so many haters had opinions about the lack of density in Stapleton/Central Park/Northfield when the development was in its infancy -- that it would take time to create the density on an 8 square mile area; AFTER the single-family and other multi-family is finished. You can't create high density in 8 square miles overnight. It's simply too huge. These other designated high-density lots were deliberately left vacant to wait for when the market allows by the Stapleton development plan and city.

As you drive through today, you can see this happening now that plots of land are more scarce. This article also shows plans for more density of buildings at Northfield -- eliminating parking lots for multi-story residential buildings along retail.

https://frontporchne.com/new-develop...and-nw-aurora/

[COtoOC]

Originally Posted by CONative

Plans submitted for an 18-story residential building for Central Park station? I said this many years ago when so many haters had opinions about the lack of density in Stapleton/Central Park/Northfield when the development was in its infancy -- that it would take time to create the density on an 8 square mile area; AFTER the single-family and other multi-family is finished. You can't create high density in 8 square miles overnight. It's simply too huge. These other designated high-density lots were deliberately left vacant to wait for when the market allows by the Stapleton development plan and city.

As you drive through today, you can see this happening now that plots of land are more scarce. This article also shows plans for more density of buildings at Northfield -- eliminating parking lots for multi-story residential buildings along retail.

https://frontporchne.com/new-develop...and-nw-aurora/

This is exciting and hopefully it gets built. I've lived in Stapleton/CP for almost 20 years now and it finally feels a little urban. My neighborhood is definitely walkable anyway.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by CONative

Plans submitted for an 18-story residential building for Central Park station? I said this many years ago when so many haters had opinions about the lack of density in Stapleton/Central Park/Northfield when the development was in its infancy -- that it would take time to create the density on an 8 square mile area; AFTER the single-family and other multi-family is finished. You can't create high density in 8 square miles overnight. It's simply too huge. These other designated high-density lots were deliberately left vacant to wait for when the market allows by the Stapleton development plan and city.

As you drive through today, you can see this happening now that plots of land are more scarce. This article also shows plans for more density of buildings at Northfield -- eliminating parking lots for multi-story residential buildings along retail.

https://frontporchne.com/new-develop...and-nw-aurora/

There's actually two 10-story plus proposals at Central Park Station. You have this tower and also another proposal that was submitted by Ulysses Development for a 1,000 plus unit project on the RTD Park lot just to the west of the 18-story proposal.

Excited for the redevelopment of the Northfield Parking lots as that will add a couple thousand additional residents to an area that has added thousands of units over the last five years- there's some real, accessible density that's going in there. It's also a chance create more of a town center feel at Northfield that's currently lacking along with additional first to market retail. I'm personally tired of having to go down to the Stanley for my yuppie shopping experience.


Funny that Front Porch or Central Park Scoop hasn't mentioned the Whole Foods at CPB and 40th that's going through permitting or the rumors of a Trader Joe's at Northfield. The grocery shopping experience in Central Park pathetic since both King Soopers are barely a tick above the Target and the small grocers are so high-priced.


Then there's the rumored Dicks and Lifetime Fitness replacing Macys....

[COtoOC]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

There's actually two 10-story plus proposals at Central Park Station. You have this tower and also another proposal that was submitted by Ulysses Development for a 1,000 plus unit project on the RTD Park lot just to the west of the 18-story proposal.

Excited for the redevelopment of the Northfield Parking lots as that will add a couple thousand additional residents to an area that has added thousands of units over the last five years- there's some real, accessible density that's going in there. It's also a chance create more of a town center feel at Northfield that's currently lacking along with additional first to market retail. I'm personally tired of having to go down to the Stanley for my yuppie shopping experience.


Funny that Front Porch or Central Park Scoop hasn't mentioned the Whole Foods at CPB and 40th that's going through permitting or the rumors of a Trader Joe's at Northfield. The grocery shopping experience in Central Park pathetic since both King Soopers are barely a tick above the Target and the small grocers are so high-priced.


Then there's the rumored Dicks and Lifetime Fitness replacing Macys....

I can walk to the Stanley so I'm good there lol! I'd heard the Whole Foods rumor, but a TJs and Life Time Fitness would bring my entire world into the 80238.

I'm surprised, with all the housing and hotels now near Northfield, that they haven't expanded the shopping and dining options yet. There's so much space for expansion. We tried Waldos over the weekend after a movie and it was good.

[AHS1983]

https://coloradosun.com/2025/01/24/donal...-order-45000-federal-employees-colorado/

[TakeFive]

Sometimes there's an upside to the downside

Metro Denver apartment rents plunge in fourth quarter as a blizzard of new units descend on market
January 24, 2025 By Aldo Svaldi -- The Denver Post

Metro Denver’s apartment market experienced its biggest quarterly rent decline on record as a massive wave of new supply swamped demand, causing vacancy rates to rise in every market, according to an update Thursday from the Apartment Association of Metro Denver.

The region added nearly 20,000 new apartments last year, about double the typical pace seen in recent years. And while demand rose to the occasion, with 14,082 additional units leased, that absorption turned negative in the final three months of the year, causing worried landlords to cut rents to remain competitive.

High unemployment and a weak economy aren’t to blame this time around. Rather, supply has gotten ahead of demand in an unprecedented way, Bruteig said.

What about 2025?

Another 15,000 new apartments are expected to come online this year, before a sharp decrease in the years that follow.

Looking ahead, growth in population is an open question but maybe there's benefits to no longer being a high growth city/metro.

IMO, an urban-suburban neighborhood like Central Park should be well positioned for new development (except 2025 could be quiet everywhere for new construction).

Nice Find:

Originally Posted by AHS1983

https://coloradosun.com/2025/01/24/donal...-order-45000-federal-employees-colorado/

It's really hard to predict how impactful this may be but certainly more bodies downtown would be a plus.

There's so much going on at the Federal level it's also hard to predict government employee levels going forward. Even the City of Denver which has grown their employees by large numbers 'may' find the need for more 'efficiency' depending on... too many factors to predict.

[AHS1983]

It may be that all federals returning to work 5X/week will have a positive feedback loop with Colorado state and Denver city employees.

Watch and wait, I guess.

[wong21fr]

A legend in the preservation and development of downtown Denver has passed:

Denver Preservationist Dana Crawford Dies

Had the pleasure of working for Dana for a summer internship in college. It was a great exposure to understanding the intricacies of the development process and also how crazy it could be.

[Fritzdude]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

A legend in the preservation and development of downtown Denver has passed:

Denver Preservationist Dana Crawford Dies

Had the pleasure of working for Dana for a summer internship in college. It was a great exposure to understanding the intricacies of the development process and also how crazy it could be.

Sad news. I met Dana a few times. She was a legend.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

A legend in the preservation and development of downtown Denver has passed:

Denver Preservationist Dana Crawford Dies

Had the pleasure of working for Dana for a summer internship in college. It was a great exposure to understanding the intricacies of the development process and also how crazy it could be.

What a wonderful memory to have.

[TakeFive]

I decided I'm jumping on laniroj's Bandwagon -- (Part One)
but since I don't understand half this crap I'll just sit in the back.

https://coloradosun.com/2024/12/12/denve...,output%20against%20a%202021%20benchmark.

The clashes between business and regulators will only get harder as a host of climate rules across multiple sectors of the economy kick in and business owners start seeing the bills come due.

“We’re all trying to be good partners. It’s not like we drive down the street and throw used motor oil out of our car as we’re going,” Supple said. ... In filing their lawsuits earlier this year, critics of the state and Denver rules said it will take them billions of dollars collectively to comply, which they call a “boatload” of money from owners without major gains on carbon reduction.

So a ton of pain for little gain? "You can't make this stuff up."

A Beautiful State and City in a Sea of Red?

Quick Story

Back in October I picked up a couple of Gen Z Hispanics. Soon as we started rolling they brought up that they were going to vote for Trump. They wanted to know about me? I simply stated "that for reasons that they wouldn't care about, I couldn't vote for Trump but I did understand their feelings." After I dropped them off at a really cheap hotel in a gritty area, I knew then "that it was over."

FWIW, I voted for "Henry the Hippo;" he/she/it did not win.

I've never seen such a disconnect between our over-bearing overlords and the average Joe and Juanita who is primarily worried about paying next month's rent.

Let's move to Part Two

[TakeFive]

Part Two

Let's do some macroeconomic projections like good old demand/supply - even though there are many iterations we'll try to keep it simple.

Definition: by rent rates we mean "Effective Rents" which is stated rents minus incentives.

Scenario One

Over the next three years, the rental market tightens and rents go up by ~ 20%. Not so good for affordability but good for landlords facing higher insurance costs etc and coming climate requirements. Seriously, many like to carp about affordability, then turn around and make things worse due to various requirements. "You can't make this stuff up."

Scenario Two

The more likely scenario with many more units yet to complete and vacancy growing is that rents go down ~ 20% which is good for affordability but not so good for Landlords.

Welcome to the Golden Triangle
January 15, 2025 By Sarah Horbacewicz -- CBS News

Elevators at the Civic Loft apartments in Denver have been broken since Saturday in a building that's 14 floors high. After four days, some residents with disabilities feel stuck in their apartments and other residents are struggling with pets that can't climb all the stairs to go outside to use the bathroom.

This property has had issues with their elevators since 2021. At some point they may need to install new and reliable elevators instead of relying on duct tape. But given the vacancy in general and if it gets get worse for this property given its falling reputation perhaps they won't have the money to fix things. Then what happens. Well they could give the project back to the lenders and let them worry about it. The lenders could then sell it for half its original value so new owners could fix things.

Could Denver become a City with a reputation that owning apartments is a tough investment? "Just make sure you buy low." Shall we call it the Denver apartment Doom Loop? Eh, that doesn't seem possible does it? As I like to say "It's just not a (big) problem -- until it is."

[DUPio]

Long time lurker here. Will be moving back to Denver after 6 years in Phoenix. Used to get a lot of great development info from this page as well as DenverInfill’s blog but both seem to have much less activity than before. Is there somewhere else people have migrated to? I can always pull info from the development board meetings obviously but it is extremely appreciated when others do the work to filter through it all.

Thanks

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by DUPio

Long time lurker here. Will be moving back to Denver after 6 years in Phoenix. Used to get a lot of great development info from this page as well as DenverInfill’s blog but both seem to have much less activity than before. Is there somewhere else people have migrated to? I can always pull info from the development board meetings obviously but it is extremely appreciated when others do the work to filter through it all.

Thanks

BuildUpDenver on Twitter/X and DevelopingDenver on Instagram are two sources that do a lot of combing of Denver's development review portal. There's no real discussion to speak of, though the NIMBY do create tons of comments on DevelopingDenver's posts about parking and Denver going to shit.

[TakeFive]

Updating Rockefeller Group

1) Oops; mistakes happen. Yesterday Mile High CRE announced the opening of The Juniper, a 264-unit luxury apartment project in Parker CO. I recall thinking "that was fast." Today, they've revised/reposted a description of the project. MGL, their partner points to a mid year opening for Phase One and a Phase two opening in 2026.

2) In 2023, Rockefeller purchased a 35.6-Acre Parcel in Thornton from Confluent Development for "25 Commerce Park," a three-building, 453,550-square-foot industrial project. Confluent Development had obtained all entitlements and approvals for the project. Project is now finished and there's only 131,250 SF left to lease out. CBRE has the property listed for sale or lease.

3) Rockefeller completed the Patten Gray apartments in the Golden Triangle last year. The Denver Post recently reported the opening of "Flora," a new café, cocktail and wine bar in the building. Their units are pricey (it's a nice project) and they are offering up to 10 weeks free rent which seems to be the new norm.

4) Last year also saw the completion of Paradigm River North with partner Jordon Perlmutter & Co. Law firm, Davis Graham & Stubbs has leased 80,000 SF.

5) Rockefeller entered the Denver market by partnering with Golub in the purchase of the Greyhound block. Perhaps forget the office and create a nice residential block?

[TakeFive]

Downsize Me

State agency downsizing footprint by a third in move within downtown
January 28, 2025 By Thomas Gounley -- BusinessDen

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment will downsize its footprint when it moves its main office within downtown Denver later this year. The state agency has leased about 131,000 square feet in the office tower at 707 17th St., a spokesperson told BusinessDen last week.

City Center- 707 17th Street (Brookfield Properties) - (new address)


Photo credit: Brian LoBue (SKYDB)

Current (old) address is at 633 17th Street

[Fritzdude]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

BuildUpDenver on Twitter/X and DevelopingDenver on Instagram are two sources that do a lot of combing of Denver's development review portal. There's no real discussion to speak of, though the NIMBY do create tons of comments on DevelopingDenver's posts about parking and Denver going to shit.

Ha.. you ain’t kidding about the negative Nancies that comment whenever a new Instagram post is made available by DevelopingDenver. I think they do a great job, but every critic has to complain about the homeless, Mayor Johnson, and the liberal policies that are killing Denver. I think the brain rot that started with politics has seeped down into every aspect of life, including urban development.

[AHS1983]

Originally Posted by Fritzdude

Ha.. you ain’t kidding about the negative Nancies that comment whenever a new Instagram post is made available by DevelopingDenver. I think they do a great job, but every critic has to complain about the homeless, Mayor Johnson, and the liberal policies that are killing Denver. I think the brain rot that started with politics has seeped down into every aspect of life, including urban development.

Don't ever go on NextDoor. Boomer NIMBYs galore.

[AHS1983]

Posted on r/Colorado by a flight instructor.