DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[rds70]

Vectors Bank to break ground on new corporate center at Belleview Station:

https://milehighcre.com/vectra-bank-to-break-ground-on-corporate-center-at-i-25-and-belleview/

[SirLucasTheGreat]

I'm excited to see I-25 and Broadway develop but that sure is a lot of parking for a place that is 13.25 inches away from a light rail station. Hopefully, there's some housing and retail in that area to make it more attractive for walking around.

[DenvertoLA]

ugh shut it down! what is the point of being a TOD if you still allocate 50% of your building to parking ??

[EngiNerd]

Originally Posted by DenvertoLA

ugh shut it down! what is the point of being a TOD if you still allocate 50% of your building to parking ??

Blame it more on the tenants, not the developers. There are still plenty of commercial tenants that have minimum parking requirements to even consider leasing, so in order to not limit their potential for leases, developers a lot of times build to the maximum that they expect, which can go as high as 3-5 spaces per/1000 square foot of lease space. Not saying its right, but for suburban commercial space it is often the reality, TOD or not.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

Isn't 1900 Lawrence the Buzz Gellar property? I'm not going to get excited until that land is out of Buzz's hands

Nah, that was sold to high-powered Riverside Investment & Development; see DenverInfill. Better chance for a groundbreaking end of 2021.

Originally Posted by rds70

Vectors Bank to break ground on new corporate center at Belleview Station:

https://milehighcre.com/vectra-bank-to-break-ground-on-corporate-center-at-i-25-and-belleview/

I have no clue how your image came out so freaking big. This is what I get.


Image courtesy Confluent Development and Open Studio Architecture via Mile High CRE

The 127,000-square-foot, nine-story, mixed-use building, scheduled to open in December 2022, will bring together more than 200 employees from across the metro area to serve Vectra’s customers and facilitate the bank’s future growth.

“We’ve been working with leading real estate development firm Confluent Development and architecture firm Open Studio Architecture to incorporate a number of unique, modern features for our employees and the general public,” says Bruce Alexander, CEO of Vectra Bank.

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Originally Posted by rds70

Looks like the Opus Group is going to take over the project located at 575 E 20th Avenue. The project will still be 12 stories, and will include 270 units and 5-6,000 square feet of retail. Here is the original project proposed by NAVA Real Estate:

This would be the third Opus multifamily project proposed in the past year, including the 12 story project just north of Empower Field and the 7 story project at Colfax and Kalamath.

DBJ carried the story with additional info:

A representative of Opus confirmed the company is under contract to purchase the site from Nava, and is targeting a closing date in December 2021.

So ground breaking in Spring of 2022 (should they go through with the purchase).

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Originally Posted by EngiNerd

Blame it more on the tenants, not the developers. There are still plenty of commercial tenants that have minimum parking requirements to even consider leasing, so in order to not limit their potential for leases, developers a lot of times build to the maximum that they expect, which can go as high as 3-5 spaces per/1000 square foot of lease space. Not saying its right, but for suburban commercial space it is often the reality, TOD or not.

Exactly this.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

I would love Denver to be as independent from cars as a place like Amsterdam but I fear that we are still a long ways from that, especially in DTC. Personally, from an urbanism standpoint, I'm really excited for all the development around the Alameda Station as part of the Broadway Park master plan and the RiNo Promenade/38th and Blake area.

[TakeFive]

Rest in Peace


Photo courtesy Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

El Chapultepec is closing, and, well, there goes Denver
Dec. 07, 2020 By Hayley Sanchez/Denverite

The legendary jazz club has been around for 87 years.

The jazz club, whose name means “The Grasshopper Hill” in Nahuatl, was a famous launchpad for many musicians, said John Gunther, who directs the Thompson Jazz Studies Program at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“You could sit with the band and play,” he said. “It was a real important part of the jazz scene, certainly, but also the music scene and then it also had a national and international reputation.”

I loved that place. Such a classic.

Checking into the Santa Fe Arts District


Photos courtesy of Elsy Studios via Mile High CRE

https://milehighcre.com/bonfils-stantons...art-shine-in-the-santa-fe-arts-district/

Elsy Studios, a Denver‐based full-service commercial interior design firm, has completed Bonfils-Stanton Foundation’s new 2,764-square-foot headquarters at 1033 Santa Fe Dr. in Denver. Bonfils-Stanton is the leading arts funding foundation in Denver.

“We collaborated with Hyder Construction on the adaptive reuse of this building a couple of years ago, so we were thrilled to get the call to partner with them again on the design and construction of the ground floor for the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation,” said Juliana Rini, senior project manager at Elsy Studios. “The space makes a huge visual impact, with 13 permanent art installations and a series of rotating pieces. The result is a true celebration of the local culture and Bonfils-Stanton’s community-facing mission.”

[BG918]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

I'm excited to see I-25 and Broadway develop but that sure is a lot of parking for a place that is 13.25 inches away from a light rail station. Hopefully, there's some housing and retail in that area to make it more attractive for walking around.

I-25 & Belleview. The Trammell Crow Residential project at Chenango & Newport is supposed to break ground in early 2021 and currently has its foundation permit in for review at the city. I've also heard the long-awaited Kimpton Hotel will break ground around the same time at Chenango & Olive. So there will be three projects with tower cranes up in this small area soon.

The big question mark is the Stonebridge project which was started and stopped, currently just a big hole in the ground south of the rail station between Olive and I-25.

[rds70]

Populus - 14th and Court Hotel/Apartments



Per the Denver Business Journal:

The 13-story, mixed-use building that's being planned on a triangular lot across from Civic Center Park won't look anything like the rest of the historic buildings that surround the park. And that's intentional.

The latest renderings of the project at 14th Street and Court Place, provided to Denver Business Journal by the project's developer, Urban Villages, show distinctive windows that are meant to evoke the growth patterns of aspen trees.

The name of the project — Populus — refers specifically to the aspen tree's scientific classification, Populus tremuloides. But it's also a nod to another word, "populous," that speaks to the developer's ambitions of creating a bustling gathering place for both out-of-town visitors and Denver residents.

The 145,000-square-foot building will feature a 250-key hotel, 40 micro-apartments, a public rooftop bar and view deck, event spaces and a ground-level lobby with food and beverage options from breakfast to late night.

To design the project, Urban Villages enlisted Chicago-based Studio Gang, a firm led by renowned architect Jeanne Gang. In 2019, Gang was the only architect named to Time Magazine's list of 100 most influential people.....

.....Gang said she was drawn to the natural aspects of the surrounding area when designing the building, leading her to take cues from the geometry of the aspen tree. The downtown site also offered a chance to leave her mark on a city and state that she's been visiting since she was a child.

"It has a prominence to it," Gang said of the site. "I couldn't ask for a better way to have an entry into Denver. It's a city that I've been going to for a very long time, but I've never had the chance to build anything there."

From its triangular shape to its lack of on-site parking to the size of its rooms, Populus will be a departure from typical hotels in the area.

The micro-apartments will range from 300 to 400 square feet on average, while the hotel rooms will average less than 200 square feet.

"They are very small, but they're very comfortable," Buerge said. "The idea is our hotel guests are not there to spend a lot of time in their room."

Instead, Urban Villages hopes to direct guests to the downstairs food and beverage offerings, the rooftop deck or the nearby park. Urban Villages has been working closely with the Civic Center Conservancy to discuss ways to draw more visitors to the park......

......The project is currently in the building permit process. Construction is expected to begin later in 2021 and wrap up in 2023.

[Sam Hill]

Are we supposed to climb it?

[MovinOnUp]

Originally Posted by rds70

Populus - 14th and Court Hotel/Apartments



Per the Denver Business Journal:

While we all dream of Denver's next tallest, it's projects like this from notable architects that give way to meaningful infill. Love it.

Studio gang's site:

[coolmandan03]

Originally Posted by MovinOnUp

While we all dream of Denver's next tallest, it's projects like this from notable architects that give way to meaningful infill. Love it.

Is it infill if the site already has a building on it? Tons of empty parking lots around, but this will be built on an already fully filled lot.

[MovinOnUp]

You're right - not technically infill.

More so just looking for an excuse to post pretty renderings. Either way, prominent location for a great addition to the city.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by coolmandan03

Is it infill if the site already has a building on it? Tons of empty parking lots around, but this will be built on an already fully filled lot.

Would any of the parking lots provide a similar stellar location for the project and the way to will provide an active use for part of Civic Center Park? Not going to quibble the infill/non-infill debate, but this project is certainly a better use of the site than the current 1 1/2 story facility that's a shuttered childcare.

[DenverInfill]

The term "infill" does not require the site to be undeveloped. The site can also be underdeveloped or underutilized. The larger context for the term "infill" is that it is development occurring an an already-established urban area, as opposed to "greenfield" development where the development will be the first ever on its site.

[bunt_q]

I love that so much.

[Sam Hill]

Originally Posted by MovinOnUp

I like it! It's like one of those cat tower thingies, except for humans!

In all seriousness, this could turn out to be an exceptional Denver landmark, or it come out a bit goofy - like that central library which hasn't aged well. It's hard to tell from a rendering sometimes. Also, I have a sneaky feeling this will be one of those like the airport hotel - which started out as a sleek white spaceship, but ended up a big blue whale's tail. There's something pipe-dreamy about it (and not just because it happens to look like a giant dreamy pipe organ).

I love the scale. Triangle lots, man!

[ams5280]

I know we talk about parking in spaces, but I would love to see a breakdown by SF of parking vs office/usable space at the Belleview station.

Vectra is another example where parking space might exceed usable space, and is only especially egregious since it’s a parking garage with a hat right next to the light rail station. It doesn’t even try that hard to deny it.

[kemachs]

Originally Posted by Sam Hill

I like it! It's like one of those cat tower thingies, except for humans!

In all seriousness, this could turn out to be an exceptional Denver landmark, or it come out a bit goofy - like that central library which hasn't aged well. It's hard to tell from a rendering sometimes. Also, I have a sneaky feeling this will be one of those like the airport hotel - which started out as a sleek white spaceship, but ended up a big blue whale's tail. There's something pipe-dreamy about it (and not just because it happens to look like a giant dreamy pipe organ).

I love the scale. Triangle lots, man!

Even if it ended up goofy, I'd still appreciate the effort here to build something with character...despite the end result of the airport hotel, you have to admit it's become an icon of sorts. Both are much better than a carbon copy glass/metal box - if the city is going to lose old structures en-masse, at least replace some of it with worthy buildings for the next generation.

I've long been a fan of Studio Gang so I may be biased, I also quite like the execution of Postmodern at the central library. Just me?

[jbssfelix]

Great representation of Aspen trunks. Well done, and hopefully it ends up looking exactly as designed.