DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[The Dirt]

Originally Posted by twister244

As much as folks want to think the entire FR is super liberal/progressive like the the Bay Area, Seattle, etc, we really aren't (see how Denver voted on the camping ban). We lean more libertarian here, and I feel like most of the NIMBY attitude is clustered closer to the foothills where folks got into a house a long time ago and don't want their quiet cul-de-sac with views being disturbed.

I don't think that NIMBYism/selfishness is partisan. Liberals will do mental gymnastics to justify that they're opinion is pro-environment/not segregationist/not classist as much as Libertarians or Fiscal Conservatives will do the same mental gymnastics to justify how the suburbs aren't a complete fiscally unsustainable pyramid scheme.

[TakeFive]

It's a get-away matinee at Coors Field


Courtesy Visit Denver

Sure miss all the rabid fans in the stands as I'm sure so do the nearby businesses. The field is looking good and so are the Rockies.

Originally Posted by twister244

I do actually. I don't think Lakewood voters are representative of the majority of folks who vote on this. You don't see massive new subdivisions going up all over Lakewood (despite how much growth the Nimbys there would like to claim). Yes, they've had some growth over the last decade, but nothing compared to Denver, Aurora, and other suburbs to the South, East, and North. Voters in those areas are more likely to have bought a new construction house and understand why putting a cap on growth would actually be detrimental to affordability. As much as folks want to think the entire FR is super liberal/progressive like the the Bay Area, Seattle, etc, we really aren't (see how Denver voted on the camping ban). We lean more libertarian here, and I feel like most of the NIMBY attitude is clustered closer to the foothills where folks got into a house a long time ago and don't want their quiet cul-de-sac with views being disturbed.

Maybe I am wrong here and off-base, but there's enough diversity in attitude/culture from one community here to the next that I simply don't believe that Boulder/Lakewood/Golden are anywhere close to representative of the entire Front Range.

Nice analysis; I generally agree with everything.

I'm not so sure that the "one size fits all" limitation will be that easy to sell. Btw, Golden during their moratorium reworked their zoning so whatever they did presumably solves their concern.

Mixed-use; Mixed-use; Mixed-use

and density go together like peas and carrots; even Forrest Gump knew that.

I can still recall the many drab shopping centers along So Wadsworth, for example, and with the current trends amplified by the Pandemic are likely looking even more drab. How many 'smoke shops' does an area need? Many of these could easily be redeveloped into mixed-use sites with medium density housing and retail. If Aldi or something comparable (or even those Choice Markets noted above) comes to Denver they're a good tenant for more modest sized centers.

The powers-that-be need to do a much better job of selling the mixed-use concept for redevelopment. The Streets of Southglenn is a decent (if not great) example. There's all manner of variation on themes with this.

[TakeFive]

Available August 13th

Neon Local
99 S Broadway, Denver, CO 80209 – SoBo

Studio $1,360 – 1,890
1 Bedroom $1,560 – 2,375
2 Bedrooms $2,760 – 3,485
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Image courtesy Holland Residential

IIRC, Holland really would have preferred going up five stories but it quickly became clear that could take (a lot of) time to get neighborhood approval - if even possible. Time is money so they just moved ahead with the current project which turned out nicely.

[RyanD]

IMO, Neon Local looks great even at three stories.

https://denverinfill.com/2020/07/baker-roundup-jul-2020.html

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by RyanD

IMO, Neon Local looks great even at three stories.

https://denverinfill.com/2020/07/baker-roundup-jul-2020.html

Oh, I do agree. Only three stories is not an issue with me but usually "we" tend to clamor for more.

Those 'real McCoy' photos actually look better than the rendering. The three-story makes for a nice 'sleek form' look.
Thanks for posting these.

Denver Water Administration Facility




Photos courtesy Stantec via Mile High CRE

Stantec Designs Net-Zero Denver Water Admin Facility
July 29, 2020 By Mile High CRE

Denver Water, Colorado’s oldest and largest water utility, recently opened its new six-story, 186,000-square-foot administration building, the central focus of its 35-acre operations complex. Global integrated design firm, Stantec, designed the building to both LEED Platinum and Net-Zero Energy standards as part of the public agency’s multiphase modernization project.

Mortensen Construction served as the general contractor and Trammell Crow Company was the owner’s representative.

I assume there's a reason why the building looks like it does?

Long and thin in its form, the building evokes a slot canyon sculpted by the natural flow of water over many years. The building form maximizes daylighting and views, while reducing the need for artificial lights

What else has been going on over there?

The innovative, new office building serves as the administrative heart of Denver Water’s redesigned campus, linking eight new or fully renovated facilities including the new warehouse, meter shop, trades and fleet buildings completed in 2017.

I'd be real curious (and have no clue) for how much the additional cost for this net-zero energy construction is compared to the more typical new construction around downtown?

[Matt]

Denver has really been hazy lately, but alas...

Block 162: Tower Cranes coming down!

[Matt]

Denver Skyline: 8/9/2020:



Disclaimer: Image was photoshopped to compensate for the haze

[BG918]

Block 162 looks great but still gets lost in the skyline. Too bad such a great new tower couldn’t have been 200 ft taller.

And yes it’s been really hazy in Denver lately. And bone dry. The monsoon was basically non-existent this summer I’m worried about fire danger heading into the fall.

[CONative]

I'm just glad Block 162 filled in that skyline gap from some different angles and perspectives.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

I'm interested to see what, if any, exterior lighting there will be on Block 162. It took 1144 15th a little while before the lighting turned on.

[RyanD]

Conditions have been less than ideal for photography lately.

Here are a couple snaps the morning they started taking down the crane. Sure it could have been a taller tower, but I really like the splash of blue in the mix of everything else around it.

[Tykendo]

Great shot Ryan. We don't see pictures from this angle much. 162 looks great. Thank You.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Here are a couple snaps the morning they started taking down the crane. Sure it could have been a taller tower, but I really like the splash of blue in the mix of everything else around it.

I had also noticed how nicely it stands out from its immediate neighbors.

Coming soon to 80238


Image courtesy of Home2 Suites By Hilton Denver Northfield via Tripadvisor

Home2 Suites by Hilton Denver Stapleton
9193 East 47th Avenue, Denver, CO 80238

According to the DBJ "this 117-room extended-stay property from Blackridge Development Companies" is scheduled to open on September 8th. My understanding is that these extended-stay hotels are faring a bit better than others.

Note: Word on the street is that Blackridge, in order to insure higher occupancy is negotiating a five-year master-lease with Mayor Hancock and the City for housing the homeless. Breakfast included of course.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Matt

Denver has really been hazy lately, but alas...

Originally Posted by BG918

And yes it’s been really hazy in Denver lately. And bone dry. The monsoon was basically non-existent this summer I’m worried about fire danger heading into the fall.

It has been a funky, crazy summer on a number of fronts... but sticking with the climate/weather, partly it's that time of year.

Interestingly, Phoenix recently experienced the hottest July on record. Yesterday, Phoenix set a new record for number of days of 110 degrees or higher. We're getting a one day break before it's back over 110 degrees for the foreseeable future (week to ten days).

This summer has also been unique for its total lack of monsoonal rain storms in Phoenix. Generally, the SW and inter-mountain region including Colorado has seen little rain. The drought maps are flashing.


The most important development decision recently was outside of the Denver metro


Photo credit: Grace Hood/CPR News

Boulder County’s Gross Reservoir Can Proceed With Expansion Following Lawsuit
July 17, 2020 By Corey H. Jones/CPR

Federal officials have given the go-ahead to expand Gross Reservoir in Boulder County. That means Denver Water has overcome a huge hurdle in its effort to increase storage capacity. Gross Reservoir provides water to 1.5 million Front Range customers.

“Expanding Gross Reservoir is a critical project to ensure a secure water supply for nearly a quarter of the state’s population,” Denver Water CEO Jim Lochhead said in a statement. “The project provides the system balance, additional storage and resiliency needed for our existing customers as well as a growing population.”

Not unlike with the "Central 70" project of I-70 the environmental whack jobs have cost Denver taxpayers or in this case Denver Water payers, lots and lots of money from both the expensive process demands of endless red tape PLUS the cost of construction going up, up and away in the interim.

IIRC the Denver Water Board originally anticipated construction starting in 2012, then 2014.

It’s been a long road for the utility, which began the permitting process for the expansion seventeen years ago. Denver Water plans to finish the design next year, followed by four years of construction.

For those unfamiliar, the Denver Water Board spent years negotiating with the Western Slope (including all the environmental groups) before coming to a very comprehensive agreement for both protections and for improvements on the Western Slope.

https://www.denverwater.org/your-water/w...hip/colorado-river-cooperative-agreement

The Colorado River Cooperative Agreement is effective, as of Sept. 26, 2013, with signatures of all 18 partners complete.

The agreement ushers in a new era of cooperation between Denver Water and West Slope water providers, local governments and several ski areas. The overall goal of the agreement is to protect watersheds in the Colorado River Basin while allowing Denver Water to develop future water supplies.

The agreement is the result of more than five years of negotiations and creates a spirit of cooperation instead of litigation over water resources.

Except environmental groups payed little mind to this agreement and did their usual senseless lawsuits against anybody they could think to name. And just like with Central 70, it was a big waste of time and resources while construction costs continued to escalate.

[mhays]

I don't know anything about this project, but when it comes to protecting wilderness areas, I'm definitely an "environmental whack job" as you put it.

[EngiNerd]

Originally Posted by mhays

I don't know anything about this project, but when it comes to protecting wilderness areas, I'm definitely an "environmental whack job" as you put it.

They're just protecting the wilderness with a bigger water blanket is all...

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by mhays

I don't know anything about this project, but when it comes to protecting wilderness areas, I'm definitely an "environmental whack job" as you put it.

If you define wilderness as a existing man-made damn flooding a mountain valley surrounded by $1M homes, than I suppose it's wilderness.

This is Boulder NIMBY-ism at it's finest and their typical, "f**k you, I've got mine" twisted hippie logic.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by EngiNerd

They're just protecting the wilderness with a bigger water blanket is all...

Simply put as no ordinary engineer could.

IIRC, it was you, bunt and wong who taught me everything I knew about this - at a time when I knew nothing.

Btw, didn't you once tell me that you lived nearby South Mountain in Phoenix?

Originally Posted by wong21fr

I've got mine" twisted hippie logic.

I resemble that...

"We hippies" were the original environmentalists; the EPA was created in 1970 which was my junior year at CU and yes we were invested.

Interestingly, my junior year I lived up Foumile Canyon. The property had an A-Frame cabin where we lived; next door was a larger cabin where three people lived plus Marcus whenever he was in town. From Cali, Marcus would fly drugs into Boulder; he also would bring newly released records from his Cali store. Needless to say I learned a lot about music during that time. More interestingly Marcus was one of the original "pranksters": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furthur_(bus)

Furthur is a 1939 International Harvester school bus purchased by author Ken Kesey in 1964 to carry his "Merry Band of Pranksters" cross-country, filming their counterculture adventures as they went.
......
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe that was published in 1968... Wolfe presents an as-if-firsthand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, who traveled across the country in a colorfully painted school bus

Ken Kesey is also well-known for writing "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by mhays

I don't know anything about this project, but when it comes to protecting wilderness areas, I'm definitely an "environmental whack job" as you put it.

You could well be an environmental whack job for all I know.

The issues relate to disrupting the natural flows of the Colorado River watershed, blah blah blah. Except that water from Colorado River ends up in Lake Powell and Lake Mead where it is allocated to seven states according to the Colorado River Compact from 1922 and any subsequent amendments. If any water is left it ends up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Colorado has never come close to utilizing what it's allocation is. From the state's perspective, what does it matter if some of the allocation is diverted to the Eastern Slope to provide water to ~25% of the state's population. Denver Water will only divert additional water during years when there is an excess spring runoff.

The other critical issue isn't so important as it will never happen because it never has. What if some environmental whack job blew a hole in Chatfield Dam and Reservoir. What would Denver do for water in that event that will never happen until it does happen?

[tommyboy733]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

but sticking with the climate/weather, partly it's that time of year.

Actually rainfall on the Front Range is down about 40% from normal. Here's this chart showing the comparison to average.

Denver Rainfall

[IMG]Denver Precipitation by Tom Conley, on Flickr[/IMG]


Not sure what your point is about Phoenix, other than that region is borderline uninhabitable.

We humans take so much the Colorado River has not reached the gulf of Mexico for 20 years. They've done some experimental releases in the springs since 2014 to try to mimic the springs rushes, but the flows are about 1% of the river's historic flow and only last 8 weeks. This is also to flush salt into the ocean.

Most of the time the salt trickle that is left after us humans are done dries up in the desert between Yuma and the Gulf near Guadalupe Victoria, Mexico