DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[gopokes21]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

In regards to how any of this relates to homelessness, there's an effect called filtering. There are many people living on the street or in their cars and working full time. If we built enough housing, the cheapest housing available today would be cheaper and people at the lowest income levels would be able to afford housing.

If the market was drastically expanded and there was all this filtering, housing in Denver still wouldn't be any more affordable than it is in Adams County right now, where filtering absolutely is functioning. You've skirted an issue but not really addressed it because homelessness is a lot more complicated than most people realize.

Filtering would still not make housing affordable to people on part-time hourly wages or disability SSI income (like $1,000/mo). It also ignores that most people in an experience of homelessness aren't able to work, and especially not FTE.

[TakeFive]

Coming Soon

Not coming soon

Originally Posted by Agent Orange

Drivetrain developer has bought a block in Rino. It's the block just north of Improper City, Blake/Walnut/33rd/34th.

This land assemblage looks to be years away from development but we can look forward to what will soon be For Rent

This is not the correct rendering; it's the wrong architect; it's a site plan visualization but since I really like it I'm gonna post it anyway.


Image courtesy of OZ Architecture

Renderings of DriveTrain courtesy of 4240 Architecture

3299 Brighton Blvd, Denver





DriveTrain has a semi-cool website

We are RiNo raised

This is DriveTrain, a dynamic community that was born of and gives birth to the radical experimentation, spirit of connectedness, and urban grit that transformed River North into RiNo. There is no place closer to the Denver’s beating cultural heart.

Units are (supposedly) to be available for rent end of the year.

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Coming Soon

Renderings of DriveTrain courtesy of 4240 Architecture

3299 Brighton Blvd, Denver





DriveTrain has a semi-cool website

Units are (supposedly) to be available for rent end of the year.

It is truly amazing how fast lots are being bought up in RiNo and developed. This building really fits the neighborhood vibe even if it is kind of bland. I wish A-Square was filling this fast, but A-Square has taller building proposals which probably take a bit longer than the mid-rises.

[TakeFive]

Creating Affordable Housing - First a retrospect

It Takes a Village
DECEMBER 11, 2003 Westword

The saga of the East Village housing project has finally come to an end. Last week, wrecking crews arrived at the 16.5-acre site off Park Avenue West just east of downtown to begin demolishing what had started as planned housing for the 1976 Winter Olympics but soon deteriorated into a deadly mix of gangs and guns.

City lands $20M for East Village redo
Mar 16, 2003 - DBJ

With help from a $20 million federal grant, a long-awaited, affordable-housing project will be developed in downtown Denver.

The competitive grant, given to the Denver Housing Authority by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will give the 15-acre, $177 million rehabilitation effort on the northeast edge of downtown Denver the financial leverage it needs to move forward.

This effort had quite the tortured history. The City was offering $6.5 million for the existing project apposing a private party HUD-experienced owner offering $10.5 million. But the city had a much larger vision than rehabbing an existing ghetto with fresh paint and carpet. Denver ended up paying $12.5 million.

"We really can get going now it's not a 'maybe' kind of thing. This is definitely going to happen," said Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth...

Located on both sides of Park Avenue West near the intersection of Washington Street and East 20th Avenue, the project will affect three DHA-owned properties Thomas Bean Towers, Arrowhead Apartments and East Village Apartments and the surrounding neighborhood.

As part of the redevelopment plan, East Village and Arrowhead will be demolished, while Bean Towers which serves the elderly and disabled will be completely renovated.

Denver's success in winning a $20 million grant came courtesy of HUD HOPE VI program originally created under Pres. Clinton in 1992.

The $20 million grant will help DHA and its private developer partners leverage funds to retain 449 units of public and affordable housing that exist now while adding more than 400 new homes including-market rate apartments and for-sale homes to the area.

Among all the units there will be varying levels of affordability. The housing types will include townhouses, flats, condominiums and perimeter and courtyard-style apartments. Additional parking will also be added to the area.

The City/HUD went on to redevelop existing housing at La Alma/Lincoln Park using the same strategy. Ken/DenverInfill did a nice job updating 'us' on the progress of various projects as they were built.

White House unveils plan to produce 100,000 affordable homes
09/01/2021 By KATY O'DONNELL - Politico

The White House announced plans Wednesday to make available nearly 100,000 affordable homes over the next three years, in an effort to tackle a housing supply shortage that has contributed to skyrocketing home prices.

While LIHTC's have more recently carried the ball for developing more affordable housing it is insufficient. Something akin to HOPE VI funding would help a lot.

I have no idea with all the crap being proposed by Biden & Co but hopefully something will get passed that addresses affordable housing in a constructive manner.

[Ich]

Looks like this project is moving forward - Evolve Towers


https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...-update-downtown-denver-multifamily.html

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Ich

Looks like this project is moving forward - Evolve Towers


https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...-update-downtown-denver-multifamily.html

Well son of a bitch. That's awesome.

[TakeFive]

Quite the fascinating turn of events

Originally Posted by Ich

Looks like this project is moving forward - Evolve Towers
https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...-update-downtown-denver-multifamily.html

When the pandemic struck last spring, Ubuntu was in the middle of negotiating an operating agreement with a co-developer for Evolve Towers, which Christensen said would be needed to complete a project of this size. In April, the co-developer backed out of the deal, leaving the future of Evolve Towers in question.

Christensen and her team continued to work on entitlements for the project, hoping that when investor interest returned, the project could be shovel-ready within a matter of months.

“Today, a year forward, it’s a completely different world,” Christensen said. “We have people literally coming out of the woodwork offering debt financing, up to 95% financing for debt for construction, which is unheard of. I mean, last year we would have been lucky to get 55% debt financing. We're looking anywhere between 75% to, like I said, we had one group approach us with 95% financing. So I think this is a whole different landscape than it was last year.”

So it's now looking likely?

Ubuntu is currently interviewing several groups who are interested in either investing in the project in some way or being joint-venture partners, Christensen said.

“We have had people from all over the country reach out to us,” Christensen said. Realistically, construction could start in the second quarter of 2022, Christensen said.

I'll be curious to see how this ends up but at the least it is fascinating the level of interest out there.

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Evolve Towers are also slowly plucking their way through the permitting process. Also, their latest design review last fall was finalized and approved. It would be great to see those as well.



https://denverinfill.com/2021/04/arapahoe-square-roundup-apr-2021.html

WOW - just in from Denver Business Journal. This Evolve Towers project is moving forward - expecting to break ground second quarter of Q2. Affordable CONDOS in Arapahoe Square, super EXCITING!!

[Arapahoe]

guess that was old news by the time I posted it...lol

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by Arapahoe

guess that was old news by the time I posted it...lol

and another oops, not likely to be condos -- investors more interested in apartments.

[gopokes21]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Creating Affordable Housing - First a retrospect

It Takes a Village
DECEMBER 11, 2003 Westword


City lands $20M for East Village redo
Mar 16, 2003 - DBJ

This effort had quite the tortured history. The City was offering $6.5 million for the existing project apposing a private party HUD-experienced owner offering $10.5 million. But the city had a much larger vision than rehabbing an existing ghetto with fresh paint and carpet. Denver ended up paying $12.5 million.

Denver's success in winning a $20 million grant came courtesy of HUD HOPE VI program originally created under Pres. Clinton in 1992.

The City/HUD went on to redevelop existing housing at La Alma/Lincoln Park using the same strategy. Ken/DenverInfill did a nice job updating 'us' on the progress of various projects as they were built.

White House unveils plan to produce 100,000 affordable homes
09/01/2021 By KATY O'DONNELL - Politico


While LIHTC's have more recently carried the ball for developing more affordable housing it is insufficient. Something akin to HOPE VI funding would help a lot.

I have no idea with all the crap being proposed by Biden & Co but hopefully something will get passed that addresses affordable housing in a constructive manner.

So....

By "East Village" you mean Benedict Park Place (the multi-phase HOPE VI redevelopment) and you're citing 20 year old articles. You all know that there's a different affordable housing project in the news every single day, right?

HOPE VI was replaced by HUD Choice Neighborhoods:
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/ph/cn/grants

[TakeFive]

Not a bad start


Rendering courtesy of KTGY via Mile High CRE

New Multifamily Project to Break Ground in Central Park Neighborhood
August 31, 2021 - Mile High CRE

High Street Residential, the multifamily subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, in partnership with PGIM, has purchased land for the development of Central Park Station Residences. The first phase of the development is a 301-unit, Class A, four-story wood-frame apartment project on three acres of land over two levels of structured parking.

This marks the first ground-up development for High Street Residential in the Colorado market and will be a noteworthy addition to one of Denver’s most successful master-planned communities, Central Park (formerly Stapleton). The Central Park Station project was designed by KTGY Architects and will be constructed by Martines Palmeiro Construction LLC (MPC). Construction is scheduled to commence immediately.

Whoaa;

Originally Posted by gopokes21

So....

By "East Village" you mean Benedict Park Place (the multi-phase HOPE VI redevelopment) and you're citing 20 year old articles. You all know that there's a different affordable housing project in the news every single day, right?

HOPE VI was replaced by HUD Choice Neighborhoods:
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/ph/cn/grants

Did you forget to kick the dog on your way out? Ahh, I bet the dog ate your lunch?

Partly my post was for the benefit of those unfamiliar, not the know-it-all's. Yes, I knew a new program took the place of HOPE VI (not as robust) but I had forgotten the name so thanks for the reminder.

I do so look forward to your pending 'daily post' of new affordable projects in Denver. Thanks for your contribution in advance.

[TakeFive]

Thank you Mr. President

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/09/02/homeless-denver-housing/

DENVER (CBS4)– The City of Denver aims to take 200 people off the streets and out of shelters and get them into housing in the next 100 days. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the Department of Housing Stability launched the effort on Thursday. The housing surge will expedite the city’s work with designated partners to connect 100 people from shelters and 100 people living on the streets with housing.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm a fan of Mayor Hancock. Yup, always have been.

“This housing surge – the first of many – will help us make an immediate impact on the lives of these unhoused residents by quickly moving to support their exit out of homelessness,” Hancock said in a statement. “We’re going to continue to deploy every tool available, with a goal of lifting thousands of people out of homelessness over the next two years.

New emergency housing vouchers are available through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds in the American Rescue Plan Act to the Denver Housing Authority.

In the past I have shared your sentiment

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Don't get me wrong, allowing way more sanctioned camping sites is great, but putting homeless people in jail because we just don't want to have to see the problem is dumb. How about we decriminalize drug use (like Portugal did in 2001) and get serious about funding massive rehab programs.

but I've changed my thinking due to a couple of reasons.

Arapahoe had a solid comment and what jumped off the page for me was "rampant vandalism & property theft." It's as though the homeless stop by City Hall to get their License to Steal since there is no fear of retribution. To be fair they aren't the only culprits but this is Big problem and why many people would prefer to live outside of the central city. Not good.

The psychedelic class of drugs isn't that much of an issue. While I wouldn't recommend LSD to just anyone certainly Ken Kesey and friends enjoyed the experience. The party drug Ecstasy is no biggie.

While heroin has been around forever, opioids became a growing epidemic starting in the 2000's. Now cocaine comes laced with fentanyl. Starting with prescription oxycodone etc it becomes cheaper and too tempting to switch to heroin and the like.

An opioid addiction is like a death wish. For those who do manage to get clean, too many relapse which is when overdoses are most likely since they no longer have the tolerance they once had.

Jail could be cheap rehab. If I had my wish it would be to sentence the drug-addicted to work on a farm or an orchard or vineyard on the western slope for a year. Being a productive person for a year might just be the best ticket to a normal life.

[Arapahoe]

Another win for Arapahoe Sq in the news! (although technically right outside the border)
GlobeSt published an article about Riverside Investment moving forward with 1900 Lawrence

“There is a shortage of ‘high performance’ office buildings in Denver, and the pandemic has further tempered new supply,” says Roupp. “Even in the face of COVID-19, new construction assets in Denver continue to lease. 1900 Lawrence is targeting forward-thinking companies who believe that the pandemic will be resolved by the time the building delivers in first quarter 2024.”

The tower will support a broad range of users, including technology firms, law firms, financial services firms and corporate tenants. “The genesis of this design, and the core of our thesis, is to help companies attract and retain talent,” says Roupp.

Breaking ground in Q2!



https://www.globest.com/2021/09/02/demand-supports-speculative-office-development-in-denver/

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Arapahoe

Another win for Arapahoe Sq in the news! (although technically right outside the border)
GlobeSt published an article about Riverside Investment moving forward with 1900 Lawrence
Breaking ground in Q2!

https://www.globest.com/2021/09/02/demand-supports-speculative-office-development-in-denver/

Can't remember the last time I read something from GlobeSt.

First question that came up is who is Convexity Properties? Turns out they were co-developer of the 1.5 million sq. ft. BMO Tower in Chicago. From December 2019.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/r...04-orujnax3bvf7zlwkffvow3as7u-story.html

Work is set to begin this month on a 1.5 million-square-foot office tower alongside Union Station, after the developers landed a $476 million construction loan.

Riverside is developing the 50-story office tower with another Chicago-based developer, Convexity Properties, which is the real estate investment arm of trader Don Wilson’s DRW Holdings.

Just curious? Where did all the funding come from for such a large project?

The loan is from BMO Harris Bank, Bank of America and Citizens Bank, O’Donnell said Wednesday. Another investor in the tower is AustralianSuper, a massive pension fund based in Melbourne.

I'm sure that on this project it helped to have a large tenant in your bag.

BMO Harris’ parent company, Toronto-based BMO Financial Group, is the namesake tenant after leasing almost 500,000 square feet in a planned consolidation of downtown Chicago offices.

Taking the precautionary position of mhays, a lot can happen between now and 2nd quarter of 2022 and it's not for real until ground is broken. On the positive side 1900 Lawrence is less than half the size of the BMO Tower.

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by gopokes21

Filtering would still not make housing affordable to people on part-time hourly wages or disability SSI income (like $1,000/mo). It also ignores that most people in an experience of homelessness aren't able to work, and especially not FTE.

I'm not so sure it is that complicated. Utah built houses and housed the homeless. They damn near eliminated homelessness. The missing link was the service side pertaining to mental health, drug/alcohol addiction, etc. As soon as the homeless they housed moved on from their housing programs, they fell right back into homelessness. That said, SLC's problem is drastically reduced compared to Denver and nearly unnoticeable.

With as much money as we spend in Denver metro (moreso CCD to be fair) we could afford to build tons of houses, but it would put an entire industry out of work (I won't call it a cottage industry because it's very important and noble work, but it's become reminiscent of a cottage industry in so many ways).

Some people just can't make it work in life. It's always been that way but we used to have publicly funded and private homes for them to live somewhat respectably, albeit with massive systemic abuse issues. We also used to be able to commit the folks who couldn't figure out life, which we can no longer do. Politics/ethics aside, not having this option is an important factor in the discussion.

One thing is for certain: more housing and more affordably priced housing would ABSOLUTELY have the effect of less people falling into habitual homelessness.

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

I'll be curious to see how this ends up but at the least it is fascinating the level of interest out there.

LOL (how many more OL's can I add?) - 95% financing. This one statement alone makes me believe this project has absolutely zero chance of happening. 2006 anyone?!?!?

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by laniroj

LOL (how many more OL's can I add?) - 95% financing. This one statement alone makes me believe this project has absolutely zero chance of happening. 2006 anyone?!?!?

When banks don't require giant sums of cash equity upfront it makes it easier, not harder, for developments to move forward. Just think back to the financial crisis of 2008.

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Taking the precautionary position of mhays, a lot can happen between now and 2nd quarter of 2022 and it's not for real until ground is broken. On the positive side 1900 Lawrence is less than half the size of the BMO Tower.

I hear ya on that one!

[TakeFive]

Side Pocket Construction and Story Time

Mile High Place
1586 Hooker Street






All photos courtesy Highland Builders

Just kids really, it turns out a couple of friends who finished getting an MBA together decided to go into business of investing in real estate.

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...s-denver-mile-high-opportunity-zone.html

Cohen Rojas Capital Partners, a privately held real estate investment firm based in San Francisco, has made no secret of its affinity for Denver, buying up several small and mid-sized apartment properties here in the span of a few months.

In late August, a fund managed by the firm closed on the $17.5 million purchase of Mile High Place, a 60-unit apartment project that’s currently under construction in the West Colfax neighborhood. The deal marked the fifth local purchase for Cohen Rojas since early 2020, and its first in a Denver-area opportunity zone, which will allow investors in the fund to take advantage of tax benefits created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

So how did these kids get their start?

Soon after earning their MBAs in 2009, Cohen and Rojas began buying up single-family rental homes in the Sacramento area. They eventually shifted their focus to multifamily investments, first in Sacramento and later in the San Francisco area and Boise, Idaho.

So you like Denver, eh?

“We haven't bought anything in any markets other than Denver, of late,” Cohen told Denver Business Journal. “It is our favorite market right now. We're open to other opportunities, but we've found more attractive opportunities in Denver than anywhere else thus far this year.”

“Boise rents have really accelerated, and now it's gotten to this point where there is not much of a spread in the rents between Denver and Boise. And to me, that doesn't feel right,” Cohen said. “So we've been more focused on buying in Denver.”

Maybe it's just me but I think this is a fun story. These guys presumably found investors from San Francisco and while Carmel Partners is doing the Big Deals these guys focus on small and mid-size deals. They've paid between $6 million and $20 million for properties generally in central Denver.

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by laniroj

Those steel trusses look to be temporary and holding up steel decking. Looks like it is still a cast in place concrete structure, they're just using steel decking to pour. They might be going for an exposed ceiling with a ribbed finish on the underside (like the old buildings)? Hard to tell from the pics...

This was the correct answer from laniroj.

These are called truss table forms and do not include precast slabs. (and now thinking about it, the tower crane as configured could not hoist a concrete slab of this size).

If you are a construction geek, this video provides more information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e3sL5Ew8Eg