DENVER | Main Development Thread #6

[seventwenty]

There are posts tangentially related to Denver. Then there's TakeFive's posts.

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by seventwenty

There are posts tangentially related to Denver. Then there's TakeFive's posts.

I think Yogi Berra came to Denver once, back in the 70s. He had a jelly sandwich with Elvis.

[TakeFive]

"tangentially" - always one of my favorites.
Yogi and Elvis were definitely buds of the same feather.

Okay, Now this is rather interesting.

"Zillow: Denver tops nation for home appreciation"
September 23, 2015 by John Rebchook, Denver Real Estate Watch

What caught my eye was this little factoid.

A mere 1.5 percent of homes in the Denver area have dropped in value, a stark contrast to the national average of close to 30 percent of homes depreciating, according to a report released on Tuesday by Zillow.

I recently wondered what with Denver and certain other cities gaining significant population "Where were all these people coming from?" One article I read that listed the counties which lost the most (net) households according to the IRS, Cook County was at the top. I also found an article about where all the people came from that moved to Portland. It listed about 25 places and interestingly Denver was one of about four places where the in-migration was negative.

That hardly answers my curiosity but it's a start. It's not a secret that there has been ongoing migration to the south and to the west. Presumably deductive reasoning gives as good an answer as any but it's always good to see data for clarity.

Presumably areas which are losing people are the most vulnerable to depreciation and the 30 percent factoid was any eye-opener for me.

[J21bird]

An excavator is tearing up the parking lot at 15th and California:
http://denverurbanreview.com/2015/09/excavator-at-15th-california/

[DownhomeDenver]

Originally Posted by J21bird

An excavator is tearing up the parking lot at 15th and California:
http://denverurbanreview.com/2015/09/excavator-at-15th-california/

THANKS! Man, that's good news!

[seventwenty]

The Colorado Center's Tower 3 appeared to be above ground when I drove by it today.

[Denver Dweller]

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/r...mA+ElKTwGoSbqOBYu5F/O7W7Amf&t=1443049220

[PLANSIT]

Originally Posted by Denver Dweller

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/r...mA+ElKTwGoSbqOBYu5F/O7W7Amf&t=1443049220

Only Aurora would define this as "urban" and only the DBJ would call the R Line, "RTD's new Denver airport line".

[The Dirt]

It's a 3 story apartment building. Lol

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Denver Dweller

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/r...mA+ElKTwGoSbqOBYu5F/O7W7Amf&t=1443049220

From the article:

"In my 30-year career building first-class real estate from coast to coast, I've been involved in many amazing projects, but the The Forum at Fitsimons will top them all," said Randy Bryant of Catalina Development. "It's located adjacent to RTD's Colfax Station, 15 minutes from DIA and downtown, and across the street from one of the largest and fastest-growing medical campuses in the country. The Forum has everything you could ask for in a successful development."

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

Only Aurora would define this as "urban" and only the DBJ would call the R Line, "RTD's new Denver airport line".

What makes it not urban in your eyes?

Originally Posted by The Dirt

It's a 3 story apartment building. Lol

I see four stories?

Regardless of one's definition of urban, I'm guessing the three Aurora stations inside of I-225 will see good increased density which is a good thing for the new transit lines. Maybe the Colfax Station will come with "hard hat days and honky-tonk nights."

Credit: Rebelle Society

[Nobadeer10]

Any one have any info on the 7th and Grant block? Looks like the majority of the black is fenced off. Mostly single family homes.

[Cirrus]

I moved the 16th Street Mall discussion to its own thread.

Just a clarification on the forum guidelines: Going off-topic is fine, but if the off-topic takes over the main topic, then it's time to split. Since the mall discussion was several pages long and making development news hard to find, I moved it.

[DownhomeDenver]

There are some additional Colorado Convention Center renderings up at Justin's site DenverUrbanReview.com

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by DownhomeDenver

There are some additional Colorado Convention Center renderings up at Justin's site DenverUrbanReview.com

Pretty (and a massive jpeg):

[TakeFive]

Yeah that's big but it really drives home what they're looking to do. CherryCreek whetted my appetite; this gives me a little tingle. Best I can recall it seems to fulfill the suggestions from that study that was done. The timing is excellent.

I like it and in the ever growing and more competitive convention world I think this should really add the necessary elements needed to continue to compete and win. There's some things that Denver can't be or offer but they do hit the sweet spot for a vast array of groups.

Memory is a little vague but it seems like when they announced the last expansion before they built the convention hotel, downtown had less than 4,000 hotel rooms. I read recently that by the end of the year there will be over 10,000 hotel rooms including those under construction.

[bunt_q]

Shame they are doing it over top of an ancient skyline photo.

[The Dirt]

Wait, is this a brand new rendering? I thought it was a decade old and just now being surfaced to the public.

[TakeFive]

^ Fentress Architects/MIG is working on a master plan and the rendering is preliminary. I suppose it could have been a part of the original proposal that was lopped off for budget reasons?

Checking around there are many convention center expansions under consideration including Seattle's $1.4 billion proposal. Other expansions are proposed in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Austin and Broward County. An expansion of the Moscone Center in San Francisco is under way as is a $325 million renovation update for the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio. The "nationally recognized Fentress Architects" leads the $500 million renovation and expansion of the Miami Beach Convention Center breaking ground soon.

I sense that most of these cities are playing catch-up to Denver. What Denver got right last time was they were able to create a lot of contiguous space that many cities still lack. The expansion/renovation plans often mention the same buzz words or space descriptions as used by SAG for Denver. It would seem that the added space and sizzle is timely and necessary to keep Denver's convention business competitive and growing.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Wait, is this a brand new rendering? I thought it was a decade old and just now being surfaced to the public.

No, this is brand-new rendering wise, but the image they used is about 2008 or so. It's also a daytime shot that they turned into a sunset shot.

It reflects the addition of about 200K sq ft of new space with about 85,000 of that being new ballroom space on the roof of the convention center. The study that was done last year suggests that this is the kind of space needed to lure the mid-sized conventions as Denver can't compete with the McCormicks and Las Vegas's of the world- not to mention that the larger conventions sector seems to be on the decline.

[mhays]

Seattle's project is more like a second convention center a block from the first one. Combined they'll be closer to Denver's in size, and they'll handle big events. But the larger purpose is to be able to host one event while the other facility is in setup/takedown mode. The second facility will be a little larger than the first.