DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[SirLucasTheGreat]

Ok. Noted.

[Fritzdude]

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

As properties along the loop are developed, the developer will likely have to install elements of the Loop's cross-section and streetscape design as part of the normal development requirements. In other cases, segments will be installed as part of a capital improvement project by the city. At over 5 miles in length, the loop will evolve into existence. I would imagine that once a segment or two is in place, there will be good political momentum to finish the remaining segments sooner rather than later.

As a refresher, what is the main purpose of the Loop? Is it intended for people to stroll through the city? Is it meant to trigger economic development? Possible method for people to commute to work? Do you any other cities have something comparable? Wondering how this will transform the neighborhoods. I like it..

[DenverInfill]

All of the above. See Indianapolis Cultural Trail for a comparison of sorts.

[DenvertoLA]

That's an exciting photo. Someone with the skills should plop the 162 hotel proposal into it. Please

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

All of the above. See Indianapolis Cultural Trail for a comparison of sorts.

That's a long way to go just to check out a dang trail
although I'm sure it's worth the trip.

You could also check out Google Images.

Or just watch the video.

• Video Link

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Hey man, you don't have to quote a post with a giant image if it's right after that post.

This new Dirt is my favorite poster.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

As properties along the loop are developed, the developer will likely have to install elements of the Loop's cross-section and streetscape design as part of the normal development requirements. In other cases, segments will be installed as part of a capital improvement project by the city. At over 5 miles in length, the loop will evolve into existence. I would imagine that once a segment or two is in place, there will be good political momentum to finish the remaining segments sooner rather than later.

I can envision Denver wanting-needing to float another Bond issue to the voters maybe as early as 2022. There's the 16th street mall project, the East Colfax BRT project, the 5280 Trail and ??? With costs of construction escalating they may not have all the needed funding for what was previously voted on? It's also possible Denver will have need for more than approved for the National Western Center.

Not to mention all those crazy bike and bus lanes as well as all the potpourri promised to Aunt Sophie.

Eh, half a $billion should do.

[tommyboy733]

Here is the brick facade at Neon South Broadway. Yum!

IMG_20191227_090042929_HDR by Tom Conley, on Flickr

[IMG]IMG_20191227_085931725_HDR by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

It was hard to get a close up through the construction fence, but ground level looks real good too.

[IMG]IMG_20191227_090257384_HDR by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

Side, then the corner transitioning to the (historic) neighborhood:

[IMG]IMG_20191227_090514358_HDR by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_20191227_090606778 by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

"Old Kmart" (PDG or something?)

IMG_20191227_085030870_HDR by Tom Conley, on Flickr

Atlantis Communities (nice lookin brick going up on the bottom)

IMG_20191227_084512342 by Tom Conley, on Flickr

ALTA SoBo Station. Tucked in a back lot, this one is surprisingly pedestrian friendly IMO. The front plaza, closest to the station/Alameda, is welcoming with some good landscaping. Most vehicles come in the side from Cedar, so its quiet. Also feels safe at night, good lighting etc.

[IMG]IMG_20191227_091531989 by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

My recommendation/problem/opportunity is this access way. I understand why they did it (narrow access, split ownership, etc) but its confuses drivers, the pedestrians are forced to the middle/median of two 2-lane roads from both complexes, separated by a fence, etc.

[IMG]IMG_20191227_084524850_HDR by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

I would rather extend Byers Place to a roundabout serving all the properties. Instead of having hard curbs though, its would be a plaza, with landscaping to constrain the Death Machines, but I would compromise and provide some on street parking between Cherokee and the roundabout. Alta SoBo just installed some cool lighting along the driveway. I do like that feature by itself, but it should separate the pedestrians from the vehicle circulation, not separate pedestrians from each other ALA the Medieval Fence Between Landlords.

(the aerial is a bit old; Atlantis is outlined in Red, ALTA SoBo is under construction on the left)

[IMG]RoundAbout by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

So many other urban "opportunities" all over the city. Anyone have any dream proejcts in their neighborhoods they want to share? I'd be most interested in ideas in non-downtown neighborhoods.

Anyway, on to Evans Station....

[IMG]IMG_20191226_115112539 by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

Cherokee Flats, 2065 S Cherokee, 8-stories / 140 units.


[IMG]IMG_20191226_115346234 by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

Rendering from the developer:

[IMG]Cherokee Flats by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

SoBo 58, Condos. From the mid $300 (!!!)

[IMG]IMG_20191226_115844118_MP by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]


Rendering from their website https://www.sobo58.com/

[IMG]Sobo58 by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]

Lots of Density going around the stations throughout the city. That's all for now!

[twister244]

Wow, thanks for that update! I always forget how much stuff is being built up around the light rail corridor down south. That's great to see though.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by twister244

Wow, thanks for that update! I always forget how much stuff is being built up around the light rail corridor down south. That's great to see though.

Said so well I have to agree!

Not a surprise

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...ruling.html?iana=hpmvp_den_news_headline

A Denver County Court has ruled that the city’s controversial camping ban is unconstitutional.

“‘[A]s long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise that they had a choice in the matter,’” Barajas wrote in his decision, quoting the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision in the Boise, Idaho case.

What's the city's response to this decision?

“We disagree with the ruling and plan to appeal to District Court," Luby said in an email.

Technically, since Colorado is in the Tenth Circuit precedent set in the Ninth Circuit does not apply in this case. It might influence as it did with Barajas' decision but it has no legal impact in Colorado.

[Fritzdude]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Said so well I have to agree!

Not a surprise

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...ruling.html?iana=hpmvp_den_news_headline

What's the city's response to this decision?

I find it hard to believe every bed is accounted for in the city each night. That said, any new affordable housing and temporary housing options can only help. But to compliment that, why can’t the city finance the construction of a few 100K square foot warehouses and provide the capacity for 5000 cots, lockers, bathrooms (even if portables) and security? They could be open 24/hrs so no standing in line. Put one in north Denver near Commerce City, east toward Aurora, south toward Englewood, and west toward Lakewood. Find a location that is most cost beneficial to taxpayers.

It would be Spartan for sure, but intended for those in need of emergency shelter. Free shuttle service could be provided. That would put the rest the canard that no beds are available. It would sure beat sleeping on a sidewalk or under a bridge.

[mhays]

That sounds like a smart solution to me, Fritzdude.

My city has camps all over (as the home of the 9th District in fact). But the federal ruling might benefit us...we might never crack down meaningfully (though we seem to shoo them away from the Downtown edge where I live), but other municipalities will have to take their share, or at least not kick their share off their streets. At this point, spreading the problem out is a win for the big cities.

[TakeFive]

Generally speaking, with respect to growth and development...

where does Denver currently stand compared to peer cities - defined loosely and with more of a focus west of the Mississippi.

Tier One - Seattle and Austin

Tier Two 'A' - Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix

• Las Vegas - it may be Vegas-style but there's some impressive projects relative to Casinos, convention and hotel space plus their new football stadium; most are scheduled for 2020 delivery.
• Phoenix - is On Fire. Not hard to understand since they were late and slow to bounce back from the recession so they're still playing ketchup to everybody else.

Tier Two 'B' - Portland, Nashville, Charlotte and Minneapolis

• Portland - Sounds like their new office space is a bit ahead of demand; likely no different from what Denver went through a few years ago when older properties needed to renovate and update in order to better compete.
• Nashville - with still many cranes there's good energy but I'm not sensing as robust of a pipeline compared to Denver.
• Charlotte - does have one nice, new 40-story office tower and some misc. activity but not seemingly at the level of Denver.
• Minneapolis - remains active and healthy but not to the level of Denver.

Tier Two 'C' - Larger metro areas like Dallas, Atlanta

• Dallas - once considered a peer to Denver has easily grown so big they're now the 9th largest city but 4th largest metro area. Notable is the number of growing skyscrapers in downtown which is nice to see.
• Atlanta - the city is actually smallish but the metro is now 9th largest. Also slower to bounce back after the recession there's now solid development activity.

My bias goes to knowing better the breadth of Denver's pipeline. Aside from Denver, Dallas and Atlanta seems to have good pipelines while the other places had noticeably less or at least were less visible. San Diego, for example is in robust (city-county) planning mode but not a lot of development currently.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Fritzdude

I find it hard to believe every bed is accounted for in the city each night. That said, any new affordable housing and temporary housing options can only help. But to compliment that, why can’t the city finance the construction of a few 100K square foot warehouses and provide the capacity for 5000 cots, lockers, bathrooms (even if portables) and security? They could be open 24/hrs so no standing in line. Put one in north Denver near Commerce City, east toward Aurora, south toward Englewood, and west toward Lakewood. Find a location that is most cost beneficial to taxpayers.

It would be Spartan for sure, but intended for those in need of emergency shelter. Free shuttle service could be provided. That would put the rest the canard that no beds are available. It would sure beat sleeping on a sidewalk or under a bridge.

Great Post!

Let's back up and look closer at the data

.
Graphics by Sarah Ford via Infogram via Denver Voice

2018 Point-In-Time Count results
August 01, 2018 - Data Compiled by Conner Dawson

Sheltered homelessness has decreased over the past four annual PIT counts, while unsheltered homelessness has increased. From 2015 to 2018, sheltered homelessness has decreased by 22.6 percent, from 5,177 persons in 2015 to 4,009 in 2018. On the other hand, unsheltered homelessness has increased from 827 persons in 2015 to 1,308 in 2018, an increase of 58.2 percent.

Some of the change/increase may be due to better 'counting'.

According to Diane Howald, Community Coordinator at Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI), which organizes the annual survey, this may be attributable to a change in the survey process. “Magnet events” were organized to incentivize those in unsheltered situations, including offering services and meals.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Fritzdude

It would be Spartan for sure, but intended for those in need of emergency shelter. Free shuttle service could be provided. That would put the rest the canard that no beds are available. It would sure beat sleeping on a sidewalk or under a bridge.

I like the warehouse idea as a part of the solution. IIRC, Denver did do something like this near Federal and Bryant?

Sadly, for many 'camping' would still be more 'romantic' than being warehoused. But to your point it does add to the bed-available count which is a key legal test.

Denver has successfully built some some nice 'transitional' housing but this tends to be expensive and maybe nicer than needed. I'm also thinking more of finding "Cheap Hotel" solutions.

Denver hotel could soon be turned in affordable housing in Northeast Park Hill
Sep 10, 2019 By: Jennifer Kovaleski - 7Denver News

DENVER -- Complicated problems often require creative solutions, and Denver's homeless population is no exception.

"We're seeing an increase in homelessness, across the board," said Cathy Alderman with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. "You don't have to go very far to see that this problem is exacerbating in Denver. It's time that we need to really do something about it quickly."

This what I'm thinking about.

The coalition is answering the need for more housing with a clever solution. It plans to convert the Quality Inn & Suites at E. 36th Ave. and Quebec St. into 139 micro-affordable housing units in Denver's Park Hill neighborhood.

She said outside of installing a new sprinkler system and updating the kitchens, the rooms are move-in ready. "It's a really effective way to get housing online quickly," explained Alderman. Alderman said building new affordable housing units can cost upwards of $35 million and take up to three years to construct.

Find some other similar opportunities which could include actual apartment buildings.

Anoint a couple of 'captains' to oversee things and a few worker bees to do cleanup etc and pay them accordingly. The advantage here is that a more identifiable group setting can incentivise many to take ownership and pride in their new space even if modest.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

[twister244]

Interesting article on why we aren't seeing many of the apartments built near US converting into condos - https://denverite.com/2019/12/30/why-those-union-station-apartment-buildings-havent-gone-condo/
Not that I was expecting that to happen, but this article does a good job of explaining why.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

DenverInfill did a great part 1 roundup on proposed residential projects : https://denverinfill.com/blog/2019/12/proposed-residential-roundup-part-1.html

I'm really excited for the Vario project in RiNo. I think that these buildings will really transform Brighton Boulevard.

2950 Brighton Boulevard


3000 Brighton Boulevard


3060 Brighton Boulevard

[bulldurhamer]

Originally Posted by Fritzdude

I find it hard to believe every bed is accounted for in the city each night. That said, any new affordable housing and temporary housing options can only help. But to compliment that, why can’t the city finance the construction of a few 100K square foot warehouses and provide the capacity for 5000 cots, lockers, bathrooms (even if portables) and security? They could be open 24/hrs so no standing in line. Put one in north Denver near Commerce City, east toward Aurora, south toward Englewood, and west toward Lakewood. Find a location that is most cost beneficial to taxpayers.

It would be Spartan for sure, but intended for those in need of emergency shelter. Free shuttle service could be provided. That would put the rest the canard that no beds are available. It would sure beat sleeping on a sidewalk or under a bridge.

why is it taboo to suggest that most of the people on the streets are choosing to be there for whatever reason. many are just nuts and others are addicts who can't go in the shelters.

we can build more shelters, but these groups still won't use them.

if we're afraid to call the guy shitting in the middle of the 16th street mall a problem and rather than a victim, we'll never solve anything.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

DenverInfill did a great part 1 roundup on proposed residential projects : https://denverinfill.com/blog/2019/12/proposed-residential-roundup-part-1.html

I'm really excited for the Vario project in RiNo. I think that these buildings will really transform Brighton Boulevard.

These summaries are easily the best work DenverInfill has done (well, at least recently). Srsly, for my money it is just awesome to have an easy-to-find summary of what has already been done as well as this look-ahead summary. I also found invaluable the breakdown of how projects progress thru the pipeline, especially useful for an Ordinary Joe like me.

I recall posting about Vario when it was originally announced. Mass Equities is a more recently formed entity put together by some experienced hands but what was notable is that AECOM is both their equity and JV partner. This is likely a decade-long venture but I'd be optimistic about its prospects - so long as AECOM stays committed.

The last-listed project at 2980 Huron is interesting for the previously unknown developer CA Residential (and it's equity partner on this project - Cottonwood Communities which is a public but non-traded REIT out of Salt Lake City). CA Residential, out of their Chicago office recently opened a 30-story apartment tower called 'The LINK PHX' in downtown Phoenix. They had a different equity partner on this project. It's nice and is the 1st of a three-phase development. Maybe they would look at building a nice project in Arapahoe Square?

AVA RiNo is also interesting for its potential. All the larger developers seem to have started in Denver with a more cookie cutter project before moving on to bigger and better projects. AvalonBay Communities has the capacity to do whatever they want; it's just a question of what they might want to do in Denver. They may be the biggest apartment REIT that has built in Denver; they're huge. They also actively purchase existing projects so development isn't their only focus.

I forgot that Holland Partner Group had a project pending at 2950 Arkins Court in RiNo, since you asked.

Originally Posted by twister244

Interesting article on why we aren't seeing many of the apartments built near US converting into condos - https://denverite.com/2019/12/30/why-those-union-station-apartment-buildings-havent-gone-condo/
Not that I was expecting that to happen, but this article does a good job of explaining why.

Good find.

That is an excellent and readable piece covering all of the bullet points around condos. Props to Donna Bryson for a well-researched and written article.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by bulldurhamer

why is it taboo to suggest that most of the people on the streets are choosing to be there for whatever reason. many are just nuts and others are addicts who can't go in the shelters.

we can build more shelters, but these groups still won't use them.

if we're afraid to call the guy shitting in the middle of the 16th street mall a problem and rather than a victim, we'll never solve anything.

E x c e l l e n t; Totally agree.

City appeals judge’s decision ruling Denver’s urban camping ban unconstitutional
December 30, 2019 By Esteban L. Hernandez/Denverite

The appeal was expected after the judge’s decision was announced Friday. A copy of the appeal was provided to Denverite by the City Attorney’s Office, which is representing the city in the case. Andy McNulty, who is representing the man challenging the ban, said the city is trying to stop the lower court’s decision from taking effect until the appeal is decided on by a higher court (Denver District Court) at a later date. McNulty said this means the city may continue enforcing the ban.