DENVER | Main Development Thread #6

[EngiNerd]

Plus near 700 new residents in one building....100% agree.

[DenvertoLA]

I just wish they would vary the height of the towers, have one be 12 stories, another 13 and the last 14, but that's not too critical.

[Stonemans_rowJ]

Originally Posted by bcp

of all the projects in the valley..i gotta think this one is the most transformative outside of DUS. full block, fronts 17th, 3 towers, grocery...yeah.

Not just any grocery, Whole Foods flagship store. I like King Sooper's but that is just a grocery. It's a place to buy food. Whole Foods is much more than that; it is a magnet.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Stonemans_rowJ

Not just any grocery, Whole Foods flagship store. I like King Sooper's but that is just a grocery. It's a place to buy food. Whole Foods is much more than that; it is a magnet.

It's the alpha of a retail orgy that will hopefully descend upon downtown. You asked why Sunday's are free for metered-parking downtown? One reason is that people don't have a reason to go there on the weekends to do a bit of shopping. It's not a destination. This might just correct that.

[Stonemans_rowJ]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

It's the alpha of a retail orgy that will hopefully descend upon downtown. You asked why Sunday's are free for metered-parking downtown? One reason is that people don't have a reason to go there on the weekends to do a bit of shopping. It's not a destination. This might just correct that.

I agree. With the exception of the theatre complex and the Rockies on maybe a dozen Sundays there is not a big draw. People don't eat out as much on Sundays except maybe for brunch.

[Denver Dweller]

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/r...bqOBYu5F%2FO7W7Amf&t=1424477353&page=all

[bcp]

Originally Posted by DenvertoLA

I just wish they would vary the height of the towers, have one be 12 stories, another 13 and the last 14, but that's not too critical.

that would be nice...but you have zoning working against it, as well as construction costs (gotta pressurize those stairways when you are over 12 stories).

a long, long, long time ago either E/W or Kentwood put out a single page glossy flyer...probably 1999...it showed what the view would be like of the completed valley from the vantage of central street (i used to live at 1729 central). Anyway...I had it taped up in my office, and it was really, really cool....just a rendering, but it showed lots of layers, varying heights, and a few lean towers amongst the block massings. I miss looking at that bad boy, not sure what happened to it!

[Fritzdude]

Originally Posted by Denver Dweller

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/r...bqOBYu5F%2FO7W7Amf&t=1424477353&page=all

Nice article... but calling the East Line a "high speed train" is a little disingenuous.

[DenvertoLA]

Do you guys know if they are going to build all three towers at the same time? If so, there could be a lot of tower cranes in that area, especially if 16 Chestnut and Kimpton Hotel get moving.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Denver Dweller

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/r...bqOBYu5F%2FO7W7Amf&t=1424477353&page=all

Nice to be reminded that ULC is the lead dog for the first two stations:

Along the East Line, the first two stations after leaving Union Station are 38th and Blake and 40th and Colorado. The Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) is responsible for transit-oriented development around both of these stations

[TakeFive]

Hat Tip to Confluence Denver for the article in USA Today of:

"12 of the coolest coworking spaces around the world"
By: Megan Snedden February 12, 2015 12:00 pm

There's Bali, Indonesia; Somerville, Massachusetts; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Chang Mai, Thailand; Panama; Berlin; Denver (and others):

.....
Converge coworking space per USA Today/roadwarriorvoices.com

[TakeFive]

I guess SkyHouse Denver groundbreaking was legit after all:

.....
credits to biznow.com

Takes a lot of shovels to impress me but nine is enough.

[DownhomeDenver]

Inside Real Estate news has posted a high res rendering of the hotel in CCN thats under construction now. Looks like your pretty standard building. Nothing exciting.

http://insiderealestatenews.com/2015/02/20/construction-underway-in-ccn/

[TakeFive]

I couldn't help but wonder just "How long can this go on" when it comes to apartment construction, especially after hearing that 17W looks like a Go. Will the national apartment builders soon decide it's time to back away from Denver?

But then up pops two new apartment builders according to Denver Infill. One is a builder from Dallas of a 270-unit apartment at West 28th Avenue and Vallejo Street. The second is from Tennessee of a 302-unit apartment at 18th and Central also in Lower Highland.

I'm guessing that by the end of 2014 the Big Rush will be largely over aside from those under construction. I would expect smaller projects to continue pending demand.

Then a couple of things could happen. Some apartment developers may find interest in pursuing TOD's. For example, I know that Trammell Crow is interested in pursuing a mixed use development site at Arvada Olde Town. The second thing is if the construction-defects bill gets passed there could be a number of developers waiting to move forward with condo projects. 999 17th could be one example as well as the Union Station proposal. Certainly there could be others .

[comoneymaker]

Do we have a new pic of 2166 15th Street? It is under construction right? This project is what I am most excited about.

[mojiferous]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

Do we have a new pic of 2166 15th Street? It is under construction right? This project is what I am most excited about.

It's definitely under construction, just in the boring "no-crane, all below-grade and structural" phase of the project.

The project I wonder about is Eviva Cherokee — the site is fenced off (and has been for a while), but nothing is going on inside that fence. When I walked by last Wednesday they hadn't even disconnected the utility poles yet.

[Stonemans_rowJ]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

I couldn't help but wonder just "How long can this go on" when it comes to apartment construction, especially after hearing that 17W looks like a Go. Will the national apartment builders soon decide it's time to back away from Denver?

But then up pops two new apartment builders according to Denver Infill. One is a builder from Dallas of a 270-unit apartment at West 28th Avenue and Vallejo Street. The second is from Tennessee of a 302-unit apartment at 18th and Central also in Lower Highland.

I'm guessing that by the end of 2014 the Big Rush will be largely over aside from those under construction. I would expect smaller projects to continue pending demand.

Then a couple of things could happen. Some apartment developers may find interest in pursuing TOD's. For example, I know that Trammell Crow is interested in pursuing a mixed use development site at Arvada Olde Town. The second thing is if the construction-defects bill gets passed there could be a number of developers waiting to move forward with condo projects. 999 17th could be one example as well as the Union Station proposal. Certainly there could be others .

In my opinion those two projects in Lohi (they've both been in planning for a while) and the project at the former RedPeak site in West Highland are in such hot and in-demand locations that they will do just fine. Those sites actually CAN support luxury rents and higher end renters. There are a host of other buildings under construction and existing that have ridden the coattails of the "luxury" projects and followed closely behind on rents but I don't expect that to continue. For instance, West End, on Rockmount Drive, Commons Park West, The Station, etc. etc. I don't see enough price differentiation between the various locations and qualities due to how tight the market has been, but I expect that to change. The individual owner landlord is starting to feel the pinch.

I've always been curious, when these stats come out and calculate vacancy, how accurate are they? Last I read it was still <5%. These large new buildings don't publish vacancy rates do they?

[llamaorama]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Hat Tip to Confluence Denver for the article in USA Today of:

"12 of the coolest coworking spaces around the world"
By: Megan Snedden February 12, 2015 12:00 pm

There's Bali, Indonesia; Somerville, Massachusetts; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Chang Mai, Thailand; Panama; Berlin; Denver (and others):

.....
Converge coworking space per USA Today/roadwarriorvoices.com

Looks like an elementary school classroom

The carpet, the desk tables with multiple seats, the colorful chairs, storage boxes(probably full of flash cards and those blocks which represent numbers)...all under low hanging popcorn ceiling with fluorescent light boxes....

There is even a little globe.

So its for tech startups? Susan did not commit her code to the repository last night. Susan, go move your clothespin on the behavior board to red. You will sit out for 5 minutes during recess at Chipotle today.

[enjo13]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

so its for tech startups? Susan did not commit her code to the repository last night. Susan, go move your clothespin on the behavior board to red. You will sit out for 5 minutes during recess at Chipotle today.

This is sadly more accurate than it really should be..

[TakeFive]

^^^ I know (LOL). My guess is that "these seekers" fell for the Converge story which is admittedly pretty interesting; way more interesting than the co-working space shown.