DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[Sam Hill]

Originally Posted by Matt

Is 1144 15th Street lighting its crown? I saw the "Bachus and Schancker" live Sky Cam during last night's weather forecast segment on Fox 31 News...

Sorry for the poor quality images. They were taken with a phone from a TV showing a grainy webcam...

Good eye! It sure looks like it in those grainy images. I don't know what else it could be.

I can confirm though that the crown is not currently lit.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

I really wonder what is taking so longer for Amacon to demolish Shelby's. For people more familiar with these matters, is there an easy way to check to see if a site development plan has been approved by the city?

[twister244]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

I really wonder what is taking so longer for Amacon to demolish Shelby's. For people more familiar with these matters, is there an easy way to check to see if a site development plan has been approved by the city?

The city site says it's still under review, but who knows if that's up-to-date or not. I still think this project may not be as close as we think to construction. I have zero insider information, and I understand the developer has a solid portfolio under their belt. But...... Their website still doesn't have a rendering posted. Also, I have yet to see a sales website of any kind. I would expect a sales site to be up if construction was imminent.....

[The Dirt]

According to ePermits here are the latest statuses:

Date		Record Number		Record Type			Status
4/19/2019	2019-SSPR-0000062 	Storm and Sanitary Plan Review	In Progress
4/15/2019	2019-EC-0000061 	Erosion Control			Ready to Pay
11/6/2018	2018-SDP-0000319 	Site Development Plan Review	Review in Progress
8/6/2018	2018-PROJMSTR-0000415 	Project Master			In Progress
8/6/2018	2018-CONCEPT-0000272 	Project Concept Review Plan	Closed - Complete

Here's the project description (emphasis mine):
Site Plan - XREF 17PM455 Two multi-family dwelling towers, one 38-story and one 32-story, in the D-C UO-1 zone district: Ground level includes residential lobbies for the north and south towers, retail fronting 18th Street, Glenarm Place, and Broadway, service zones, and access to parking garage levels. Parking two levels of below grade parking, as well as a seven-level parking podium across the full site (levels 2-8), accessed from the alley. South residential tower fronting 18th Street. 275 for-sale condominiums at levels 9-38, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units. North residential tower fronting Broadway. 202 for-sale condominiums at levels 9-32, including, ranging from one-bedroom to three-bedroom units. Residential amenities for both towers and pool deck at Level 9. The project intends to comply with the applicable design guidelines through the design review process, particularly related to the lower 80 feet of the building.

- 2 below grade parking levels means that there's going to be quite a bit of digging before anything goes vertical. That's a 🞵🞵🞵🞵 ton of parking though.
- Garage access will be through the alleyway so no more/no new curb cuts!
- Sounds like we'll see 2-3 bedroom units, so we'll actually get some family housing. Not likely to be affordable for most, though.

[twister244]

Thanks for the info Dirt! I am semi-confident this will get underway.....

I badly want to see that parking lot waste-land get developed. We will slowly, but without a strong catalyst (like US) it will probably happen one lot at a time over the years.

On a separate note, based on this article, I would totally expect more apartment projects to get underway - https://milehighcre.com/denver-apartment-absorption-to-hit-record-high/

I go by the 26th/Alcott site daily on my way to work and still no movement there. I would expect that project to get underway soon.....

[rds70]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

I really wonder what is taking so longer for Amacon to demolish Shelby's. For people more familiar with these matters, is there an easy way to check to see if a site development plan has been approved by the city?

The project is still progressing through the review process.

A variance for increased FAR was approved on November 5th.

An encroachment permit for overhangs over the sidewalks is under review.

Hopefully, construction will start in early 2020.

[The Dirt]

Originally Posted by twister244

I badly want to see that parking lot waste-land get developed.

Same. I hate that no matter my route from Uptown to downtown, I end up walking through as much as 4 blocks worth of parking craters. It feels like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. It's gotten much better in the last 5 years, but it still has a long way to go.

[RyanD]

The new 26th and Alcott has a construction permit issued for it but nothing is happening, still a dead tower crane on the site.

The Ace Hotel in Uptown has had a construction permit out since March but it still has no activity, I was hoping for that one.

18th and Glenarm still has a lot to go on the permits side, especially if they want to break ground in the next couple months. I'm still 50/50 on that one.

Let's see... Couple other dead ones: Two Tabor - Dead, "Love this City Tower " / 1901 Arapahoe - Dead.

Still a lot going on though, and a 🞵🞵🞵🞵 ton up in River North. There are some good quality projects going on along Brighton and around 38th and Blake.

[Robert.hampton]

Originally Posted by RyanD

The Ace Hotel in Uptown has had a construction permit out since March but it still has no activity, I was hoping for that one.

At least there has been some activity last year -- feels like its been a couple years since anyone talked about it. Really hope that building gets a good rehab....the renderings look fantastic and Ace hotels are awesome.

[rds70]

Here are the latest renderings of the Bell Tower project. As a reminder it is 36 stories, 390 feet:

[The Dirt]

The Ace Hotel project is still moving forward, but they're asking for some DURA(?) money. I think they're having a hard time getting it to pencil out without some assistance. I'm sure the historic building is in worse shape than it looks (and it looks like it's in really bad shape).

On another note, the El Jebel Temple in Uptown has been going through a facelift for the last year or so. I was under the impression that the proposed El Jebel tower was going to somehow fund the restoration of the historic building and that the two were intrinsically linked.

In other Uptown news, the nearly full block town adjacent to the old Uptown Tavern (17th and Penn) had topped out a few months ago and the southern third of the building has the brick facade nearly done.

The condo tower proposed directly to the east of Benedict Fountain Park appears to be dead.

No news on the two projects along 17th, across from the old Hamburger Mary's/M's Uptown.

The new hospital office building and parking garage at 18th & Park Ave have both topped out. The parking garage looks particularly atrocious.

[rds70]

Originally Posted by RyanD

The new 26th and Alcott has a construction permit issued for it but nothing is happening, still a dead tower crane on the site.

The Ace Hotel in Uptown has had a construction permit out since March but it still has no activity, I was hoping for that one.

The 26th and Alcott project foundation permit has all the approvals except one. It was last resubmitted on October 18th.

The Ace hotel permit has been extended until 1/31/2020.

[Robert.hampton]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

The condo tower proposed directly to the east of Benedict Fountain Park appears to be dead..

Thats a huge bummer, do you know why? NAVA's stuff looks great but I notice they are having a hard time selling all of the Lakehouse units......1.2 million for a 2 bedroom 1200 square foot condo with an $800 monthly HOA might have somehting to do with that.......

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Let's see... Couple other dead ones: Two Tabor - Dead, "Love this City Tower " / 1901 Arapahoe - Dead.

With Ryan formally writing the obituary on Two Tabor (our favorite Black Swan),
I'd be interested in people's thoughts on the failure of this one to get done in this cycle. What's the best explanation? Is it:

(A) Owners/developers too slow, too cautious, or lacked sufficient resources to get a "sure winner" in a five star location developed in one of Denver's greatest boom cycles. Shame on them.

(B) This development didn't happen for good reason: The market dynamics were never there to support it. Downtown can't support another structure of this size at the moment and the owners/developers should be congratulated for having avoided a loser project.

(C) A combination of (A) ad (B): this project could and should have been built, and the owners/developers could have had a great, successful project if they had gotten their sh*t together earlier, but by the time they were ready to take a serious look at going forward it was too late in the development cycle (plus, the development elsewhere (RiNO) had beat them to the punch).

[Ich]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

With Ryan formally writing the obituary on Two Tabor (our favorite Black Swan),
I'd be interested in people's thoughts on the failure of this one to get done in this cycle. What's the best explanation? Is it:

(A) Owners/developers too slow, too cautious, or lacked sufficient resources to get a "sure winner" in a five star location developed in one of Denver's greatest boom cycles. Shame on them.

(B) This development didn't happen for good reason: The market dynamics were never there to support it. Downtown can't support another structure of this size at the moment and the owners/developers should be congratulated for having avoided a loser project.

(C) A combination of (A) ad (B): this project could and should have been built, and the owners/developers could have had a great, successful project if they had gotten their sh*t together earlier, but by the time they were ready to take a serious look at going forward, (B) had become true.

I’d say more B. It’s not that central Denver can’t handle that much new office space but the CBD kind of 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 from a marketing standpoint. Especially from a tech perspective which is driving the majority of the growth, they want to be in trendy areas where their workers can live work and play. CBD doesn’t really have that going for it. Union Station, LoDo, RiNo is taking a lot of that demand and probably will continue to for a while. I live off 20th and Cali and this area including Tabor doesn’t have much going for it. It’s like Denver and developers forgot about it when LoDo and US came around. I think if focus came back into this area, more housing and retail was developed so it was more 24 hours and destination based, I think demand would rise to justify a high rise. But it’s seems as if CBD offices are more of a bargain than truly desired.

Oh and 16th Street mall 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. I really wish they could make it into more of a mall than restaurant row/ pass through. A smaller Michigan Avenue would be great. Any ideas on why the retail is having a hard time? With as many housing units built within walking distance, you think the demand and traffic would be there to support solid retail apart from CC.

[DenvertoLA]

Originally Posted by Robert.hampton

Thats a huge bummer, do you know why? NAVA's stuff looks great but I notice they are having a hard time selling all of the Lakehouse units......1.2 million for a 2 bedroom 1200 square foot condo with an $800 monthly HOA might have somehting to do with that.......

Daaang. That one was only 12 stories, but it was my favorite design for sure.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

Originally Posted by Ich

I’d say more B. It’s not that central Denver can’t handle that much new office space but the CBD kind of 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 from a marketing standpoint. Especially from a tech perspective which is driving the majority of the growth, they want to be in trendy areas where their workers can live work and play. CBD doesn’t really have that going for it. Union Station, LoDo, RiNo is taking a lot of that demand and probably will continue to for a while. I live off 20th and Cali and this area including Tabor doesn’t have much going for it. It’s like Denver and developers forgot about it when LoDo and US came around. I think if focus came back into this area, more housing and retail was developed so it was more 24 hours and destination based, I think demand would rise to justify a high rise. But it’s seems as if CBD offices are more of a bargain than truly desired.

Oh and 16th Street mall 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. I really wish they could make it into more of a mall than restaurant row/ pass through. A smaller Michigan Avenue would be great. Any ideas on why the retail is having a hard time? With as many housing units built within walking distance, you think the demand and traffic would be there to support solid retail apart from CC.

You touch on a lot of issues that I think inspired the Downtown Denver Partnership to go about a rebranding strategy for the CBD. You might have heard the story a couple weeks back where people were looking to have the CBD referred to as upper downtown. However, even with Union Station almost completely built out aside from two lots right beside the Hilton Garden inn, I suspect that there is going to be much more residential development in Arapahoe square and Golden Triangle than in any area that one could call the CBD or upper downtown. We should be trying to reinvigorate that area though considering how much we depend on the 16th Street Mall for sales tax. Hopefully the 16th Street Mall reconstruction will help in that regard.

[twister244]

Good god those Bell Tower renderings look atrocious..... From the west the building looks decent, but man that large fraction of the building with the concrete "wall" just looks..... ugly.

The Confluence wasn't perfect by any means, but at least they put an exterior over the concrete to make the building looks somewhat visually appealing.

[DenvertoLA]

It looks like they are using cheap 🞵🞵🞵 paneling on the bell tower. If they want to demand high rent, they need to get some marble or granite on that thing

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

With Ryan formally writing the obituary on Two Tabor (our favorite Black Swan),
I'd be interested in people's thoughts on the failure of this one to get done in this cycle. What's the best explanation? Is it:

Not sure when wong will appear so I'll fill in for him.

The biggest reason I'd have to believe is that Callahan Capital Properties was acquired by Ivanhoé Cambridge in September of 2018. The last thing they have announced in the states is a joint venture. https://ivanhoecambridge.com/en/news-and-media/news/2019/11/the-stack-deep-ellum

November 22 2019
(DALLAS) – Hines, along with partners Westdale Real Estate Investment and Management (Westdale), and Ivanhoé Cambridge, announced today that they have completed the purchase of a land parcel at 2700 Commerce Street in Dallas’ booming Deep Ellum neighborhood, just east of the city’s CBD

They also recently bought a significant equity stake in a German project. They also announced a strategic partnership with The We Company.

It makes sense that in assimilating Callahan Capital Properties it would take Ivanhoé Cambridge some time to decide what to do with all the asset pieces.

Originally Posted by DenvertoLA

It looks like they are using cheap 🞵🞵🞵 paneling on the bell tower. If they want to demand high rent, they need to get some marble or granite on that thing

I still like Bell Tower just fine, even better now. It's so cutting edge, don't you think?