DENVER | Main Development Thread #6

[DenverInfill]

Originally Posted by mojiferous

Are they adding height to 1401 Lawrence? I thought it was topped out, but they keep on adding floors, and the last one looks like it has a setback...

Mechanical penthouse

[comoneymaker]

Colorado Center. They are adding about a floor a day now that they are done with the garage.. Should be topped out in 2 weeks. It is pretty sad. Pre fab slabs of concrete and slapping in windows.

[DownhomeDenver]

Lets see if this works. Sorry if the pic is super huge.

[LAM]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

... It is pretty sad. Pre fab slabs of concrete and slapping in windows.

Why is that sad? Isn't that how all the other buildings at Colorado Center were built?

[Robert.hampton]

Looks to be a newer rendering of the 50 story tower proposed at the el Jebel shrine on 18th by the sketchy foreign investor group.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

Colorado Center. They are adding about a floor a day now that they are done with the garage.. Should be topped out in 2 weeks. It is pretty sad. Pre fab slabs of concrete and slapping in windows.

The pre-fab erector set construction is sad, though better than some of the Soviet block construction in RiNO. Pre-fab may be wave of the future. This 57 story beauty was erected in Changsha China in 19 days!

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by Robert.hampton

Looks to be a newer rendering of the 50 story tower proposed at the el Jebel shrine on 18th by the sketchy foreign investor group.

That looks like a squat 50 to me. I would say more 35-40 if you can count the floors on that tiny rendering. And, according to the website, it'll be the tallest building in Denver at 650 ft. That's not right either.

It looks like we have an arms race on our hands folks. Sketchy Glendale rug merchants building a Tehran style 60+ story condo building and sketchy El Jebel redevelopment 50-story tower people. I'll throw in $20 for the Glendale rug merchants.

Anyways... The Le Meridien / AC is progressing nicely!

Le Meridien / AC

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by Robert.hampton

Looks to be a newer rendering of the 50 story tower proposed at the el Jebel shrine on 18th by the sketchy foreign investor group.

I see this on that page:

Developer Name
Red Leaf Development, LLC
Project Description

Renovation of the historical El Jebel Shrine Temple into a 50 stories apartment complex in uptown Denver.

The historical building will become a top tier apartment complex featuring:

The highest tower in Denver (650 feet high).
The ground floor will offer approximately 5,000 square feet of retail space and elegant lobby area.
The next 7 floors will consist of enclosed parking totaling 469 spaces.
The remaining floors will composed of 350 residential units representing 760,000 square feet.
Project Timeline

Start of construction: Expected for the first Quarter of 2016.
Duration of construction: 18 to 20 months (planned end of construction 2nd half of 2017).
Operational business : 2nd half of 2017

[navyweaxguy]

Originally Posted by Robert.hampton

Looks to be a newer rendering of the 50 story tower proposed at the el Jebel shrine on 18th by the sketchy foreign investor group.

The one on the left is new. The right is old. That's very odd.

[navyweaxguy]

I would rather have Trango than this.

[The Dirt]

Definitely not 50 stories. The amount of inconsistencies with this project makes it seem even more shady.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by RyanD

It's funny you mentioned that because just this morning, as I had to make a run to DIA, I asked myself, what are those two tower cranes? Here are two potato quality photos of them because I was... well driving:

The whole Gaylord Project seems so weird to me. They are obviously betting this project can compete in the convention space. Denver is thriving as a convention city right now with its excellent and ever-improving convention facilities, hotels, and attractive downtown.

The type of conventions that have and will pick Denver in the future don't strike me as the type that would like to spend a few days out in the dusty plains of Aurora instead.

Maybe there's a convention business "niche" that Denver is missing and Gaylord/Aurora could capture, but I'm skeptical. If there is a small group meeting niche for this area, I would think that Broomfield/Interlaken would be a much better locale for a smaller convention facility. That area is booming with real spectaular mountain views, instead of the fantasy mountains in the Gaylord drawings, and has a lot more to offer potential convention planners with a huge mall nearby, hotels, and Boulder.

I won't be surprised to see Gaylord flop horribly.

[Agent Orange]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

I won't be surprised to see Gaylord flop horribly.

I don't know, the Aurora location seems analogous to the Nashville Gaylord, which is far from the downtown but pretty close to the airport. As far as I know, the Nashville location is doing well. Nashville is also a city with an increasingly vibrant downtown with an expanding convention center of its own.

From personal experience, I work for a large company which likes to have conventions with all the attendees staying under one roof for reasons of both convenience and economies of scale (especially factoring in hotel costs of several thousand attendees and their families.) In CO that will only be possible at the Gaylord.

[RyanD]

They really need to connect a new hotel to the Convention Center for this exact reason. I know we want people to go out on the streets, it would hurt the streets, blah blah blah, but I guarantee some companies just want the seamless connection.

[PLANSIT]

Originally Posted by RyanD

They really need to connect a new hotel to the Convention Center for this exact reason. I know we want people to go out on the streets, it would hurt the streets, blah blah blah, but I guarantee some companies just want the seamless connection.

That's the plan. Have to pay off bonds for previous hotel first.

[denconyny]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

The highest tower in Denver (650 feet high).

Probably the highest residential tower in Denver

Republic Plaza - 714 feet
1801 California - 709 feet
Wells Fargo Center - 698 feet

So that would make it the new 4th highest tower in Denver.......

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by Agent Orange

I don't know, the Aurora location seems analogous to the Nashville Gaylord, which is far from the downtown but pretty close to the airport. As far as I know, the Nashville location is doing well. Nashville is also a city with an increasingly vibrant downtown with an expanding convention center of its own.

From personal experience, I work for a large company which likes to have conventions with all the attendees staying under one roof for reasons of both convenience and economies of scale (especially factoring in hotel costs of several thousand attendees and their families.) In CO that will only be possible at the Gaylord.

I don't deny that this type of facility has a niche in the market place that the big downtown convention center can't meet. I'm just skeptical that THIS PROJECT will succeed in that space. But hey, a lot of people bet millions on this and my opinion doesn't cost me a cent, so we will see!

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Agent Orange

I don't know, the Aurora location seems analogous to the Nashville Gaylord, which is far from the downtown but pretty close to the airport. As far as I know, the Nashville location is doing well. Nashville is also a city with an increasingly vibrant downtown with an expanding convention center of its own.

From personal experience, I work for a large company which likes to have conventions with all the attendees staying under one roof for reasons of both convenience and economies of scale (especially factoring in hotel costs of several thousand attendees and their families.) In CO that will only be possible at the Gaylord.

You've got the gist of it.

The convention business is vast and varied but there are primarily two very different worlds. The Second is the resort/hotel/spa business. It's very different from the standard large convention spaces where cities compete for larger conventions. The large conventions are generally business associations as opposed to individual companies.

Denver has basically been a non-player in the resort hotel business. They're losing out on a slice of billions. Yes, there is the Broadmoor, Inverness and a few mountain resorts but it pales in comparison. I'd have to freshen the data but I believe that the resort/hotel business in Phoenix/Scottsdale dwarfs everything in Colorado. It's huge.

Resort hotel spas down here come with golf courses, lavish pools and winding waterways and often upscale retail nearby. I can't help but think it's awesome that FINALLY Denver will have a competitive offering - one good offering is better than none. They're much more family friendly in general as well as offering high end perks.

Gaylord Rockies is on the webpage, available in late 2018. Gaylord Opryland is BIG with 2,882 guest rooms. Denver/Aurora won out over Phoenix/Mesa. A lot of it was the beating that this area took with the recession but Denver makes a nice bookend to the National Harbor resort while the other two besides Opryland are in Texas and Florida. Ultimately this will be a nice boost for growing even more downtown business.

From the webpage:

Located minutes from Denver International Airport in the idyllic All American City of Aurora, Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center will feature over 1,500 guest rooms including 114 well-appointed suites and over 485,000 square feet of extraordinary meeting and convention space. As a gateway to the Rockies, Gaylord Rockies will offer memorable experiences to its guests with first-class restaurants, a luxurious spa and salon, diverse shops, winding waterways and picture perfect sunset views. Rustic alpine charm and exciting "open-air" activity make this Rocky Mountain Front Range retreat an adventure in itself.

[TakeFive]

Get Me Outta Here

Residential property in San Francisco. Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Bloomberg

"San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee From $4,500 Rents"
April 5, 2016 by Alison Vekshin - Bloomberg

In the last year, there’s been a constant flow of workers moving from San Francisco to Seattle, Denver, Austin and the Los Angeles area, Patel said. Many tech workers start out in San Francisco to boost salary and establish themselves before moving to more affordable markets, he added.
“They’ve become tech hubs in their own right in a way that they weren’t three to five years ago,” he said. “It’s a lower cost of living, high quality of life and a great tech ecosystem there.”

The article also shows a graph from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that indicates the highest tech growth is in Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin. Obviously there's a preference for west coast cities and Phoenix presumably benefits from proximity and affordability. Austin and Denver have their own special appeal as well.

[DownhomeDenver]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

I don't deny that this type of facility has a niche in the market place that the big downtown convention center can't meet. I'm just skeptical that THIS PROJECT will succeed in that space. But hey, a lot of people bet millions on this and my opinion doesn't cost me a cent, so we will see!

I think this PROJECT will do just fine. What i've heard is that there are certain conventions and business/corporate events that stick within the Gaylord chain of resorts. This project will just add another destination for them to use in their rotation. Honestly, I just don't see this project truly hurting the downtown convention business AND based upon all the new hotels that are taking a chance on downtown--there doesn't seem to be much worry at this point. Only time will tell.