DENVER | Main Development Thread #6

[bcp]

Originally Posted by Denver

Anyone want to share some info on "19th & Wewatta Luxury Apartments." Permit is only file with the city but that is all the info I have.

http://www.denvergov.org/tabid/437373/Default.aspx

really the only parcel there is the one east of the KS project? i seem to recall it was originally slated for 12 or so stories of office building.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by bcp

really the only parcel there is the one east of the KS project? i seem to recall it was originally slated for 12 or so stories of office building.

RDS posted this rendering a couple of months ago:


Denver Cityscape

I believe that this is a Nichols Partnership project on the 20th & Chestnut block for the portion that they still own. It seemed that the original proposal was for an office/hotel project on that site, but that has evolved.

[RyanD]

I've seen 5 different renditions of this project. From small-ish to quite large. I'm curious what it will actually be!

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by DownhomeDenver

Yeh thats been in the works for a while. Hopefully it will happen. It's a Shea project so who knows. It would be a big improvement for that intersection based on what's currently there.

If Shea Properties wants to get back on my good side, all they have to do is break ground on 999 17th Street.

[bcp]

that would be awesome to lose a half-block of parking in a such a key location

[enjo13]

They're out there grading the lot across 17th from the platform today. They've put down a ton of gravel. Looks like temporary parking, but I'm going to choose to interpret that to mean they're getting a staging area going for Seventeen W (I don't care that it's not supposed to start for another year).

[TakeFive]

kwgn.com

"CDOT lays out $1.8 billion plan to ease I-70 and I-25 traffic" - DBJ
Comment HERE.

[comoneymaker]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

kwgn.com

"CDOT lays out $1.8 billion plan to ease I-70 and I-25 traffic" - DBJ
Comment HERE.

1.8 billion? Seems rather cheap. Wasn't T-Rex around 3.7 billion? I say just do it like T-Rex minus the light rail of course and no toll lanes but Hov lanes instead and 4 lanes each way. Move the "Cover" back so the National Western has a larger single piece of land to work with. Also the I-70 and I-25 interchange better be done last as I would like for I-25 from Alameda to Thornton to be next. Also spend more money to get it done quicker. Oh and Hell no to private sector!

[mr1138]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

1.8 billion? Seems rather cheap. Wasn't T-Rex around 3.7 billion? I say just do it like T-Rex minus the light rail of course and no toll lanes but Hov lanes instead and 4 lanes each way. Move the "Cover" back so the National Western has a larger single piece of land to work with. Also the I-70 and I-25 interchange better be done last as I would like for I-25 from Alameda to Thornton to be next. Also spend more money to get it done quicker. Oh and Hell no to private sector!

The Mousetrap (I-70, I-25 Interchange) was recently reconstructed in the 90s and early 2000s (Wikipedia says 2003 it was completed). The viaduct I-70 between Brighton Boulevard and the Mousetrap, alongside the Stock Show, is close to the same age. I wouldn't count on these segments being reconstructed again any time in the near future. If the stock show wants to expand onto the Coliseum site, the better bet would probably be to go UNDER the modern viaduct. This project covers the much older viaduct that begins east of Brighton.

I'm also pretty sure (anybody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this) that I-25 is considered "fully improved" from US-36 all the way south to at least Speer, and possibly all the way to the Colfax/Auraria exit. The segments that still need improvement are north I-25 from US-36 to around 120th and on the south end from Colfax to where the recent Alameda/Santa Fe reconstruction left off.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

1.8 billion? Seems rather cheap. Wasn't T-Rex around 3.7 billion? I say just do it like T-Rex minus the light rail of course and no toll lanes but Hov lanes instead and 4 lanes each way. Move the "Cover" back so the National Western has a larger single piece of land to work with. Also the I-70 and I-25 interchange better be done last as I would like for I-25 from Alameda to Thornton to be next. Also spend more money to get it done quicker. Oh and Hell no to private sector!

TREX was $1.67B with the light rail component being about half of that. I believe that the highway portion was entirely funded with gas taxes and federal funds. Needless to say, that funding mechanism is completely shitted up and can't be relied on anymore. It's going to come down to a lot more state funding to get this project done and since I don't see a gas-tax or sales tax hike for transportation coming to Colorado, the private sector is the next funding source. I, for one, welcome our benevolent corporate overlords that will be running our highway system in the 21st century. Hail TABOR!

[TakeFive]

^^ The DBJ article (page 2) does a good job of laying out the current funding thinking HERE.

Hunt said CDOT figures it can raise about $1.2 billion to help pay for the project by borrowing from the federal government and repaying the loans using fee money from the Colorado Bridge Enterprise fund. The Denver Regional Council of Governments also is kicking in about $50 million, and CDOT expects to get another $270 million from the state's general fund in the next few years, Hunt said.

A lot will depend on what the new (post-election) Congress decides next Spring (or when they finally decide/act). My guess is there will be an increase in the Federal gas taxes. Historically Interstate Highways have been a priority to receive funding. Where a P3 could come in would be from the added value of an additional lane and other enhancements as an option.

[bcp]

can we please consolidate this in the Transit thread?

[PLANSIT]

Denver Highrise Proposals - August 2014 (> 115'):

[BG918]

Heard this week that the site across from King Soopers at 20th & Chestnut was going to be a midrise hotel that incorporated the old Hose Building that is the vacant at the corner. I imagine it would have to wrap around the transformer behind that building. Anyone heard anything about this?

[denconyny]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

Denver Highrise Proposals - August 2014 (> 115'):

So do we get a pool going as to what will actually get topped off?

[JR_xox]

Originally Posted by BG918

Heard this week that the site across from King Soopers at 20th & Chestnut was going to be a midrise hotel that incorporated the old Hose Building that is the vacant at the corner. I imagine it would have to wrap around the transformer behind that building. Anyone heard anything about this?

Also heard today that Hensel Phelps' finance/design/build division was doing some hotel around 19th and Chestnut. Likely it is the same project you are referring to.
So, HP has history with Hilton, Sheraton and Marriot. Safe bet it's one of those 3.

[TakeFive]

Labor Day Weekend no less. In Denver that often means getting out to enjoy the bike paths and the parks. There's the Taste of Colorado. Sometimes you might even catch a Flash Mob. What's a Holiday Weekend without music? Last year that included MC Hammer.

Labor Day also marks the "unofficial" end to summer and the peak season of family vacation visitors for Denver. IMO there is no better bang for the buck to Denver's economy than visitors. So when people come to visit Denver what are the top (metro) attractions? In 2012 the list as reported by Westword was as follows.

• [12] Red Rocks Park
  [11] Flatirons Crossing Mall
  [10] Denver Downtown Aquarium
  [9] Colorado State Capitol
  [8] Denver Art Museum
  [7] Buffalo Bill's Museum
  [6] Outlets at Castle Rock
  [5] Denver Pavilions
  [4] Denver Zoo
  [3] LoDo Historic District
  [2] Cherry Creek Shopping
  [1] 16th Street Mall

The Top Paid Attractions were:

1. Denver Zoo
2. Buffalo Bill's Museum
3. Denver Art Museum
4. Denver Aquarium
5. Red Rock Parks
6. Denver Botanic Gardens
7. Colorado Railroad Museum
8. Denver Museum of Nature and Science/IMAX
9. Colorado Rockies
10. Denver broncos

DENVER, CO -- June 19, 2013 -- Denver had a banner tourism year in 2012, setting new records for visitor volume and spending, according to the Longwoods International annual visitor profile study. The report, commissioned by VISIT DENVER, found that Denver welcomed 13.6 million overnight visitors in 2012, 3 percent more than in 2011 and an all-time high. This increase was reflected in both leisure and business travel sectors: (Also from Westword)

Y'all have a fine weekend.

[DownhomeDenver]

It appears that the project behind Starbucks at Colfax and Milwaukee is about to get started. Theres a fence around the entire site now.

From RDS' site Denver-Cityscapes

[sphinx88844]

Does anyone know what's going on on the east side of university as you approach Harvard the entire block is fenced off looks like demo is starting

[BG918]

Originally Posted by sphinx88844

Does anyone know what's going on on the east side of university as you approach Harvard the entire block is fenced off looks like demo is starting

Luxury apartments