COLORADO | Front Range Development Thread #2

[Scottk]

No need for personal attacks. Let's be productive folks.

Thank you for using mod hammer services. Have a nice day!



~RyanD

[COS]

It took some patience to get photos with no one in them, but not as difficult as I expected. They must have been in class because all the cadets were going between the academic building and dorms only.

As for the sterile comment, everyone is entitled to their opinion. It is sterile, it was meant to be sterile. It was meant to have clean lines and steel for a futuristic feel. Remember, it was designed in the 50's as a show of force post WWII on top of the functional element of creating the platform for developing the next wave of military officers for a branch that was just transitioning out of the Army (which is why Army and AF still share a rank structure and until recently uniforms). I actually took a college recruiting visit to AF along with Washington, William & Mary, Illinois, and Florida. Each beautiful campuses in their own way, but the acreage and mountain setting juxtaposed by the shiny glass and steel of the buildings was incredible the first time I saw it just as it is now. My opinion is that it really is timeless, and the fact that it is now a National Historic District guarantees that it will stay that way. What I think is most incredible is that Colorado Springs is such a lame city for development with the AFA sitting right on top of it. At least if we can't get anything cool built in town, the AF is committed to keeping it's crown jewel looking beautiful.

[EngiNerd]

Love the photos, and I completely agree with you COS, the juxtaposition between the very modernistic angular glass and steel forms campus with the mountain and forest surroundings is very striking when you are there. The campus feels very militaristic, which it should.

[wong21fr]

COS, those are some awesome photos. The cadet wing was probably down smoking plebes. 😀

I think the academy is one of the best examples of modernism is the US. Sure it's sterile, but service academies aren't meant to be inviting to outsiders. They're meant to mold children into warriors- though some do it better than others.

[LAM]

Very well said, COS. I guess, I must think "sterile" is beautiful anyway.

[TakeFive]

COS... Yup, I agree with others; love the photos.

Appreciate your take too. I always figured there was a good explanation for their setup; now I know why.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by LAM

I have to disagree with Cirrus, it really looks like a beautiful campus.

Beautiful in a 4-inch wide photograph. Monotonous and drab at human scale, standing in the middle of that sun-baked concrete plaza with nothing but identical boxes as far as the eye can see. The best that can be said about them is they make a nice frame for the mountains. They're the Ribba of architecture.

They're great photos, no doubt about that. No insult intended. But the factors that make a great photo and those that make a great human environment are totally different.

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Sure it's sterile, but service academies aren't meant to be inviting to outsiders.

OK, so they don't want to make it a nice human environment. They're entitled. Not every place has to be. I'm just saying on those terms, it sucks.

[LAM]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Beautiful in a 4-inch wide photograph. Monotonous and drab at human scale, standing in the middle of that sun-baked concrete plaza with nothing but identical boxes as far as the eye can see. The best that can be said about them is they make a nice frame for the mountains. They're the Ribba of architecture.

They're great photos, no doubt about that. No insult intended. But the factors that make a great photo and those that make a great human environment are totally different.

OK, so they don't want to make it a nice human environment. They're entitled. Not every place has to be. I'm just saying on those terms, it sucks.

Fair enough! I'll really have to visit someday, especially since I may be living nearby soon. I wonder if the campus has more intimate areas like around the dorms or if it's all like the marching grounds in the photos.

[TakeFive]

"Developer plans apartments for vets near upcoming VA Hospital"
AUGUST 31, 2016 by BURL ROLETT - BusinessDen

With Aurora’s VA Hospital less than two years from completion, a Denver developer will spend up to another $100 million on a nearby development it hopes will work hand-in-hand with the hospital.

Northstar Commercial Partners bought nearly 30 acres of land on the corner of Colfax Avenue and Sable Boulevard this month with plans for townhomes, retail space, and apartments with units aimed at formerly homeless veterans and a skilled nursing and transitional care facility.

A very intriguing concept but immensely tricky to pull off with respect to the Vet-oriented facilities. In any case Northstar now owns the land and will figure out some way to use it.

Can you spell BLIGHT?

Photo credit: Burl Rolett via BusinessDen

"Path cleared for Aurora mixed-use project"
AUGUST 30, 2016 by BURL ROLETT

Mile High/Koelbel has demolished the bulk of the former Regatta Plaza shopping center in Aurora, making way for a mixed-use development near the intersection of Interstate 225 and Parker Road.

Looks like they should be ready to move ahead with the new Kings Soopers which is the next step.

[FunctionForm]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

COS, those are some awesome photos. The cadet wing was probably down smoking plebes. 😀

I think the academy is one of the best examples of modernism is the US. Sure it's sterile, but service academies aren't meant to be inviting to outsiders. They're meant to mold children into warriors- though some do it better than others.

Couldn't agree more. The reason it is one of the best examples of modernism is because it has meaning. The dormitories and classrooms are intentionally ordered. Skidmore Owings Merrill brought their own structured corporate approach of architecture, to the structured ordered approach of the Air Force. The buildings are lined up just like the cadets and everything is in its place.

The juxtaposition of the chapel and the campus mirrors the mountains and plains where the campus is located.

The chapel represents another ordered row, this one of fighter jets pointed to the sky. Fighter jets that soar in the heavens. Fighter jets that protect our religious freedom.

The Air Force Academy is some of the greatest architecture in the country. IMHO.

[TakeFive]

Rendering courtesy: Shea Properties

"Charter Communications signs huge lease, plans 800 jobs"
Oct 4, 2016 by Molly Armbrister - Denver Business Journal

Charter Communications Inc. will lease 306,000 square feet in the third and final phase of Village Center Station in Greenwood Village, and the company said it plans to add 800 jobs in the area. Charter's lease kicks off development of the 12-story tower, which will be 100 percent occupied by the TV and internet provider.

The three buildings together include about 900,000 square feet of office space, 18,000 square feet of retail space and 1,221 parking spaces.

The 2nd building (pictured above) is now CoBank's HQ. Davis Partnership Architects is designing the building.

[TakeFive]

Riverwalk


Rendering courtesy: Confluence Cos. via BusinessDen

"Castle Rock's $60M Riverwalk project to launch in January"
Oct 12, 2016 by Molly Armbrister - Denver Business Journal

Riverwalk will include 228 apartments, 30,000 square feet of office space and 10,000 square feet of retail. The project is expected to be complete in 2018, Riverwalk will include two blocks of downtown Castle Rock, fronting Wilcox Street on either side of Sellars Creek and bordering Festival Park.

"I'm very passionate about what we're doing in Castle Rock: I'm a Castle Rock resident," said Tony De Simone, principal at Confluence Cos., the Colorado-based company that is also working on several other projects around the Denver metro.

Rendering courtesy: Confluence Cos. via BusinessDen

[The Dirt]

These high rises are going to block the view of the mountains.

[TakeFive]

Totally Boulder Style?


An architectural rendering shows what the Boulder Industry and Arts Center might look like when completed at
5125 Pearl Parkway in Boulder. Courtesy Sanzpont Architectura via BizWest

Denver developer proposes $24M office complex, boutique hotel for Boulder
by Doug Storum on October 21, 2016

Don Caster, a partner at Sagebrush Cos., a real estate development and property-management firm, said Friday that the company bought the 2.5 acres of vacant land at 5125 Pearl Parkway for the office complex that will be called the Boulder Industry and Arts Center last week from Pollard Motors Co. for $4 million.

The conceptual design for the futuristic looking $24 million three-story center was created by Sanzpont Architectura, an architectural firm based in Barcelona, Spain that has an office in Chicago.

But that's not all...

Sagebrush is working on another project in the same area, the 32-unit Boulder Junction Townhomes apartment complex at 2751 and 2875 30th St. Sagebrush is partnering with Greenius LLC on the project that is expected to get underway by the end of this year or January, Caster said.

The project would include large — about 2,700 square feet —  apartments spread among four buildings that surround a central park area, along with underground parking. The units would each be three stories tall plus full basements.

An architectural rendering shows the Boulder Junction Townhomes apartment
complex, a joint project of Sagebrush Cos. and Greenius LLC via BizWest

[The Dirt]

For a city that creams itself over every inch of open space, its suburban office developments are pretty atrocious.

[TakeFive]

Westminster continues to sprout its wings.

Rendering courtesy: White Lodging

White Lodging, Etkin Johnson Real Estate Partners Begin Construction on Hyatt Place Denver/Westminster
NEWS PROVIDED BY: White Lodging Services Corporation
Oct 27, 2016 - PRNewswire

MERRILLVILLE, Ind., Oct. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- White Lodging and Etkin Johnson Real Estate Partners are pleased to announce they have begun construction on a 137-room Hyatt Place hotel in Westminster, Colorado, slated to open in spring 2018. The hotel will be managed by White Lodging Services Corporation.

The six-story hotel, located at 6865 W. 103rd Ave., will include more than 2,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel's lobby will include the Hyatt Place brand's signature food and beverage options, including The Gallery, a full bar serving wine, beer, spirits and coffee open 24 hours and a complimentary hot breakfast, known as the a.m. Kitchen Skillet™, which will feature hot breakfast items, fresh fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, fresh-baked pastries and more. The hotel will also feature an indoor pool, state of the art fitness center and outdoor patio with a recreation area.

[Denver Dweller]

http://www.crej.com/news/castle-rock-thriving-new-development/

[CastleScott]

^ Looks like Castle Rock may get a its first 6 story project downtown..

[EngiNerd]

No Highrises in Parker!!
http://www.9news.com/money/business/parker-hotel-divides-residents-businesses/360941672


Parking concerns are completely laughable, just look at the map!! Just for reference, the distance between Parker Rd. and Pine Rd. is about 1/3 of a mile. The new hotel is proposed at the NE corner of Mainstreet and Victorian Dr. East

[LAM]

I'm pretty sure that I do not care for the look of that hotel in Parker.