DENVER | Main Development Thread #7 - Page 151

roshea999 · #**3001** Posted **May 22, 2018, 3:58 PM**

Picked up a new camera over the weekend and was messing around with it on the roof last night. These pictures haven't been touched in post editing, so it's all pretty basic and raw but there's a few interesting views of the city.

Signage is starting to go up on the east side of 1144 Fifteenth. I also got a pretty neat shot of the Confluence, Grand and Hilton Garden Inn with some mountains in the background. The sky was pretty dull last night, but they turned out ok.

I need to get to know the camera and better develop my skills in LR/Photoshop but it's a good start!

https://imgur.com/a/7eK0r2g

Edit: Can someone point me in the direction on how to embed an Imgur photo without it being fullsize? Thanks! I don't want to mess up the thread.

rml213 · #**3002** Posted **May 22, 2018, 4:07 PM**

I could definitely be wrong but I'm going to bet that PMRG (The Confluence) is u/c on the "Bell Tower" parcel. There were rumblings that they were going after that.

TakeFive · #**3003** Posted **May 22, 2018, 5:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rml213

I could definitely be wrong but I'm going to bet that PMRG (The Confluence) is u/c on the "Bell Tower" parcel. There were rumblings that they were going after that.

Seems logical enough.

Having built one nice project on what was a premium site why not do another development. That's what most developers like to do; they now know the 'lay of the land': the contractors, the process, the market/demand etc. It is certainly more efficient to have more than one property. Plus they wouldn't care about Buzz's history; either he wants to do business or he doesn't and likely it was the right time for both.

Interestingly they don't show a lot of residential development on their web site but they did develop this 40-story gem in Houston, if they wanted to duplicate the architectural effort.

Image courtesy of PMRG/2929 Weslayin

DenvertoLA · #**3004** Posted **May 22, 2018, 7:48 PM**

I really wish Chipotle would put a big burrito on that building (1144)

EngiNerd · #**3005** Posted **May 23, 2018, 3:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by roshea999

Picked up a new camera over the weekend and was messing around with it on the roof last night. These pictures haven't been touched in post editing, so it's all pretty basic and raw but there's a few interesting views of the city.

Signage is starting to go up on the east side of 1144 Fifteenth. I also got a pretty neat shot of the Confluence, Grand and Hilton Garden Inn with some mountains in the background. The sky was pretty dull last night, but they turned out ok.

I need to get to know the camera and better develop my skills in LR/Photoshop but it's a good start!

https://imgur.com/a/7eK0r2g

Edit: Can someone point me in the direction on how to embed an Imgur photo without it being fullsize? Thanks! I don't want to mess up the thread.

Within Imgur you can edit images to reduce the size, I usually set mine to 1024x768 for posting to forums...just make sure and lock proportions, there's a little check box to do so.

jbssfelix · #**3006** Posted **May 23, 2018, 4:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by EngiNerd

Within Imgur you can edit images to reduce the size, I usually set mine to 1024x768 for posting to forums...just make sure and lock proportions, there's a little check box to do so.

You can also simply add an "h" to the end of the filename in the imgur image URL.

For example,

Code:

https://i.imgur.com/KgZdp8t.jpg

would become

Code:

https://i.imgur.com/KgZdp8th.jpg

which automagically displays this:

roshea999 · #**3007** Posted **May 23, 2018, 5:41 PM**

Thanks guys! I really appreciate that.

I'm really excited to learn the camera and take some better shots. I have a really cool vantage of the city and mountains from the parking garage at the apartment - as well as from work on Auraria. Hopefully it'll add to the great photography we already have in here.

Robert.hampton · #**3008** Posted **May 23, 2018, 6:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DenvertoLA

I really wish Chipotle would put a big burrito on that building (1144)

Hmmmm.....about that https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...ving-its-headquarters-out-of-denver.html

twister244 · #**3009** Posted **May 23, 2018, 6:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert.hampton

Hmmmm.....about that https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...ving-its-headquarters-out-of-denver.html

Weird......

So they go and lease up some space in a shiny new office tower only to turn around and leave?

wong21fr · #**3010** Posted **May 23, 2018, 6:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244

Weird......

So they go and lease up some space in a shiny new office tower only to turn around and leave?

Go with a Taco Bell exec and get a californification of the company. Figures.

Though I wonder if the genesis for this move was a culture change given how f**cked up upper management was at that compnay.

HighSt. · #**3011** Posted **May 23, 2018, 6:55 PM**

On the top of the list of "things that are depressing": did this happen a while ago and I didn't notice?

The developers of Block 162 have removed all the exterior lighting from all the renderings on their website.

Compare the last Denverinfill post:

With what's currently live on the website:

Is this thing getting built at all? So many false starts on this one.

SirLucasTheGreat · #**3012** Posted **May 23, 2018, 7:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HighSt.

On the top of the list of "things that are depressing": did this happen a while ago and I didn't notice?

The developers of Block 162 have removed all the exterior lighting from all the renderings on their website.

Compare the last Denverinfill post:

With what's currently live on the website:

Is this thing getting built at all? So many false starts on this one.

I thought that this building had some crazy preleasing. Could they be waiting on modifications on the green roof ordinance? I spoke with someone associated with the project in March about groundbreaking and they said that they should have a groundbreaking date by late April. I emailed him back yesterday and haven't heard anything as of yet.

wong21fr · #**3013** Posted **May 23, 2018, 7:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

I thought that this building had some crazy preleasing. Could they be waiting on modifications on the green roof ordinance? I spoke with someone associated with the project in March about groundbreaking and they said that they should have a groundbreaking date by late April. I emailed him back yesterday and haven't heard anything as of yet.

This building was submitted before the January deadline so it's not affected by the green roof ordinance. But, it doesn't have an issued building permit yet so that's likely the delay.

Curtis Park · #**3014** Posted **May 23, 2018, 7:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DenvertoLA

I really wish Chipotle would put a big burrito on that building (1144)

Does not sound like that's gonna happen since they're pulling out of Denver.
https://businessden.com/2018/05/23/chipo...m_term=0_e8b1506f0c-ffb010849f-148031901

COtoOC · #**3015** Posted **May 23, 2018, 7:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curtis Park

Does not sound like that's gonna happen since they're pulling out of Denver.
https://businessden.com/2018/05/23/chipo...m_term=0_e8b1506f0c-ffb010849f-148031901

My guess is that since the new CEO used to be the CEO of Taco Hell (based in Irvine, CA), he lives around there and had no intention of moving to Denver.

mojiferous · #**3016** Posted **May 23, 2018, 8:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Go with a Taco Bell exec and get a californification of the company. Figures.

Though I wonder if genesis for this move was a culture change given how f**cked up upper management was at that compnay.

And probably so he doesn't have to move (since Taco Bell is based in Irvine I assume he still lives somewhere deep in Orange County)

It was probably sold to investors and the board as a way to clean house and change the culture - so they would sign off on a move to a more expensive market and bail on a 5-floor lease and established employees with institutional knowledge. This is also probably an indication that they'll move to a less-expensive food model soon, since moving the HQ also means that there will be less people defending the current model and he can install sycophants in management. My prediction is that in 10 years their profit margins will be higher but we'll all be looking back and talking about how we used to actually want to eat at Chipotle.

The real question is how this affects any other projects in planning - that's a sudden 120,000 sq. ft. dropping back on the market (+ whatever they had on Market). It will probably be absorbed quickly but might alter the calculus of someone about to break ground.

CherryCreek · #**3017** Posted **May 23, 2018, 8:27 PM**

It's amazing how many corporate re-locations are based on the whims of a single executive. Mr. Taco Bell will incur millions of dollars in expenses to move to Orange County and then will probably be fired within a couple years as his tacobellization of Chipotle fails to steady the sinking burrito.

DenvertoLA · #**3018** Posted **May 23, 2018, 9:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curtis Park

Does not sound like that's gonna happen since they're pulling out of Denver.
https://businessden.com/2018/05/23/chipo...m_term=0_e8b1506f0c-ffb010849f-148031901

ooh that makes me mad/sad. dumb move. OC isn't that great.

TakeFive · #**3019** Posted **May 23, 2018, 10:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mojiferous

And probably so he doesn't have to move (since Taco Bell is based in Irvine I assume he still lives somewhere deep in Orange County)

It was probably sold to investors and the board as a way to clean house and change the culture - so they would sign off on a move to a more expensive market and bail on a 5-floor lease and established employees with institutional knowledge. This is also probably an indication that they'll move to a less-expensive food model soon, since moving the HQ also means that there will be less people defending the current model and he can install sycophants in management. My prediction is that in 10 years their profit margins will be higher but we'll all be looking back and talking about how we used to actually want to eat at Chipotle.

The real question is how this affects any other projects in planning - that's a sudden 120,000 sq. ft. dropping back on the market (+ whatever they had on Market). It will probably be absorbed quickly but might alter the calculus of someone about to break ground.

Well said.

wong also hit the nail on the head. To be fair SoCal is a big center for the restaurant business and where Niccols is from. Additionally Columbus OH is also a restaurant hotbed and where their second office site will be.

Matt · #**3020** Posted **May 24, 2018, 12:00 AM**

I'm pretty sure EVERYONE expected this.

Denver has an ordinance that prohibits exterior accent illumination and crown illumination on buildings. I just believe no one on this forum has realized that yet, but the evidence is there:

Look at 1144 Fifteenth proposing crown lighting and then dropping the plans (sure, blame it on a concession to the neighbors).

Look at Block 162 doing the same thing as per the latest renderings.

Look at the Two Tabor proposal coming out of the gate with no proposed architectural illumination shown in the renderings to begin with.

Look at the Confluence, which I've heard rumors of a beautiful blue exterior lighting installation which never seems to be on.

Look at virtually all of our existing buildings downtown; 35 years after our skyscraper boom, no towers have upgraded their apperance by installing illumination features.

Sure, there are few exceptions: the Hyatt Convention Center Hotel, the Spire, and Four Seasons have some nominal and relatively innocuous lighting features, but they are sub-par at best. This all can't be a coincidence; it seems every major building of note built within any other city these days has at least some form of architectural illumination incorporated into its design as a "standard feature". Maybe I'm cynical, but I've become absolutely convinced Denver has a restriction on exterior illumination that all of us urban enthusiasts just haven't yet discovered is codified into law. Denver can't be THIS lame, can it? Anyone who wants to prove me wrong, please do so.

Chipotle had the right idea... perhaps the underwhelming architecture in Denver serves as a powerful counter-statement to any new creative excitement they want to build into their brand...

Oh well, at least Colorado still holds claim to the largest Subaru dealership.