DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Ndj

That render is an iteration of the Hines proposal. There were a couple denver infill posts on it:

https://denverinfill.com/2017/02/bell-park-mixed-use-update-1.html

I agree that was a nice-looking proposal. OTOH; it's really tempting to want to see a nice tall tower there. Given it's site, I'm not sure how important it is that it blend with LoDo. Will be fun to see the new version.

[jhwk]

I was searching for a rendering of the Fentress thing and found a picture of the renderings Tryba did in 2008 which IMO is the best of any of the tower designs:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/562879653411829106/

[TakeFive]

Nice find; I like that.

Originally Posted by jhwk

I was searching for a rendering of the Fentress thing and found a picture of the renderings Tryba did in 2008 which IMO is the best of any of the tower designs:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/562879653411829106/

It doesn't show the (all important) base. The design may be unexciting to some but I like it.

[Tykendo]

Originally Posted by jhwk

I was searching for a rendering of the Fentress thing and found a picture of the renderings Tryba did in 2008 which IMO is the best of any of the tower designs:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/562879653411829106/

Prefer the Fentress design clad in green glass, but this Frank Lloyd Wright-esqe tower is better than the current design.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Tykendo

Prefer the Fentress design clad in green glass, but this Frank Lloyd Wright-esqe tower is better than the current design.

Fortunately we don’t know what the current design is. The concept proposal is 1 story taller and has roughly 40 fewer units. That signals a significant redesign.

[i4isoar]

Originally Posted by Arapahoe

curious where you found this!

Here is the previous proposal for the site.

I like this design. Ironically, it looks to me almost like a mini-me version of Kairoi's current ongoing 6X Guadalupe project in Austin, so it's a shame they didn't keep this one.

Originally Posted by Arapahoe

today I saw two aliens helping with the CCC construction!

Great shot! I'm excited about where things are going with the CCC, and I hope this will be another rare example of something that looks as good in RL as, if not better than, the render.

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Not a fan of the flaring top floor balconies. They really should have either had that shape all the way down or tapered at the top instead of flared. What's even the point of an education in architecture when you design stuff like this. Are architectural firms really this out of touch with what the vast majority of the public deems good design?

Originally Posted by laniroj

Yes, they are. We have two generations of architects who have obsessed over mid-century modern elements of design and the simplistic form of that era. We shouldn't expect otherwise because the education systems that feed into these firms largely teach the same content and share that same enthusiasm for "semi-brutalist" inspiration. IMO design has become groupthink.

I agree. What makes it worse is that there are so many great building designs already out there in the world to draw inspiration from. I sometimes wonder if our city would be better off if instead of trying to come up with something ostensibly "original" (but really just painfully derivative) that looks like garbage, if they instead just copied-and-pasted an existing good-looking skyscraper from somewhere else and just built it here (obviously with some minor modifications to fit the site and the local market).

Something I've thought about for a while now is what buildings would look great if a (scaled down) copy were built in Denver, and here are some ones I came up:

• The Shard, London.
• 53W53, New York.
• Messeturm, Frankfurt.
• Nina Tower, Hong Kong.
• Bosco Verticale, Milan.
• Four Seasons, Miami.
• 6X Guadalupe, Austin.
• Mercury City Tower, Moscow.
• Stantec Tower, Edmonton.

Originally Posted by Tykendo

Agree, the original design concept blew this out of the water. This new proposal looks like a mid 90's Honolulu condo building. The 1st design had flair and pizzazz. Look to Vancouver BC, and do better please. Especially for a property that is one of the main entrances to Downtown.

Originally Posted by Arapahoe

agreed, this is hideous. North Korea design..lol

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Fortunately we don’t know what the current design is. The concept proposal is 1 story taller and has roughly 40 fewer units. That signals a significant redesign.

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and try to remain cautiously optimistic that the new design will be an improvement. Being a little taller but having less units indicates to me that, at the very least, it might be a more slender design.

[ejwill04]

Wow! The 15-story project at the former La Loma site finally broke ground in Jeff Park. Really surprised as this thing has been vacant for so long. https://milehighcre.com/denvers-largest-...ommunity-breaks-ground-near-sloans-lake/

[TakeFive]

It's a Family Affair

Originally Posted by ejwill04

Wow! The 15-story project at the former La Loma site finally broke ground in Jeff Park. Really surprised as this thing has been vacant for so long. https://milehighcre.com/denvers-largest-...ommunity-breaks-ground-near-sloans-lake/

Thanks for spotting this.

Curious as to who was behind this project, my first thought was this must involve 'laundered money' but that's b/c I've been watching too much Netflix.

So who is Grand Peaks? They've got a nice web site.

https://milehighcre.com/centrally-located-apartment-community-in-denver-sells-for-36m/

Grand Peaks consists of two vertically integrated companies founded by the Simpson family in 2003. The Simpson family’s multifamily expertise spans three generations back to Harold Simpson, founding Simpson Housing in 1949. Grand Peaks Property Management, Inc. was originally created to oversee property management of the Simpson family’s private multifamily portfolio. Luke Simpson, CEO, and Nick Simpson, president, founded Grand Peaks Properties, Inc. to continue the family legacy of acquiring, renovating, and developing multifamily assets in core markets across the nation. Grand Peaks has since grown into a multi-billion-dollar company with properties and offices in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Denver, Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; and Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Harold Simpson was 'old school' and very successful. Back in the day, Simpson Housing built some of the nicer apartment projects in SE Denver. There is also the legacy company "Simpson Housing/Simpson Property Group." Don't know all the details but's it's clear that at some point Harold Simpson liquidated the company & assets and whoever bought it acquired the name and reputation which is standard. They also have a nice website.

The progeny of Luke and Nick Simpson then took the family assets and started Grand Peaks. They've played a lot in "South Beach ." Speaking of family affairs...

https://therealdeal.com/miami/2021/03/17/lynd-buys-margate-apartments-from-grand-peaks-for-51m/

San Antonio-based multifamily investor Lynd bought a Margate apartment complex for $50.75 million.

The latest price is more than double the $24.35 million Grand Peaks paid for the complex in December 2011 when it bought it from Aventura-based Advenir, records show.

The irony of the recent discussion around the Kairoi Residential proposed tower project.

Lynd, founded by Michael Lynd Sr. and now led by CEO A. David Lynd, originally had Lakes of Margate under contract early last year, but the deal fell through after the equity partner walked away when coronavirus hit, according to the release.

Lynd worked with the seller over the past year to extend the closing date and secured a new equity partner, he added.

The rebranding I mentioned above from "Lynd Residential Properties" to "Kairoi Residential" at end of 2017 resulted from a family feud of sorts. Kaiaroi is led by by CEO Michael J Lynd Jr. - the other brother.

And now you know the "Rest of the Story." (RIP Paul Harvey)

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by ejwill04

Wow! The 15-story project at the former La Loma site finally broke ground in Jeff Park. Really surprised as this thing has been vacant for so long. https://milehighcre.com/denvers-largest-...ommunity-breaks-ground-near-sloans-lake/

quite the gargantu-plex! 626 units, 568 space underground parking garage

[The Dirt]

With this and Diamond Hill getting under way, are we taking bets on how long before the seedy Rodeway Inn gets redeveloped? It's really going to look out of place soon.

[Interzen]

Originally Posted by Arapahoe

quite the gargantu-plex! 626 units, 568 space underground parking garage

This rendering does not seem to match the description in the article.

'The 15-story, 626-unit property will include 533 apartment units and 93 apartment-style hotel units....

....the underground parking structure houses cars for all units and is surrounded by ground-level townhomes. This creates a pedestrian-friendly base for the apartment tower, which is designed with several setbacks to protect viewsheds and add visual interest.

Distinguishing features of the community include a third-floor amenity deck with an outdoor pool, fitness area, yoga studio, media and game rooms, a club room and two courtyards. A top-floor amenity offers sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains'

I only count 14 stories and don't see any setbacks, ground level townhomes or a discernable top floor amenity.

[Ich]

Originally Posted by Interzen

This rendering does not seem to match the description in the article.

'The 15-story, 626-unit property will include 533 apartment units and 93 apartment-style hotel units....

....the underground parking structure houses cars for all units and is surrounded by ground-level townhomes. This creates a pedestrian-friendly base for the apartment tower, which is designed with several setbacks to protect viewsheds and add visual interest.

Distinguishing features of the community include a third-floor amenity deck with an outdoor pool, fitness area, yoga studio, media and game rooms, a club room and two courtyards. A top-floor amenity offers sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains'

I only count 14 stories and don't see any setbacks, ground level townhomes or a discernable top floor amenity.

Looks like the right rendering. If you look at the other photos on OZ, from another angle you can see an additional ground level due to the slope of the site (so 15 floors), the ground level townhomes and setbacks.

https://ozarch.com/our-work/26th-and-alcott

[Interzen]

OK that side matches the description better. Your right I didn't count the mostly below grade level.

[DenverInfill]

https://denverinfill.com/2018/12/new-project-26th-alcott.html

[kemachs]

A smidge of (added) neighborhood retail along 26th would've been nice - big group of potential patrons right there.

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

https://denverinfill.com/2018/12/new-project-26th-alcott.html

quite the comment thread on that one!

[TakeFive]

Couple of interesting things....

Site of planned 15-story project near downtown Denver sold to another development firm
Jun 28, 2021 By James Rodriguez – Reporter, Denver Business Journal

The sale of this site from Tessler Development to Grand Peaks included the architectural plans from OZ. Tessler originally had different architectural plans for the site but decided he didn't like them so he started from scratch with OZ Architecture. I can remember Yitzchak Tessler bragging that his new plans provided a window in every unit. Tessler's original plan was to sell ~two-thirds the units as condos.

Exactly

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

https://denverinfill.com/2018/12/new-project-26th-alcott.html

Recall the construction equipment sitting on this site for years?

This is not the first project proposed by Tessler for their Jefferson Park property. On July 21, 2015, Tessler submitted a site development plan to the city for a similar project that would have included 734 for-rent apartments in a 15-story building. In 2016 in preparation for the start of construction, Tessler razed the existing buildings on the property (a residential duplex at the corner of 26th and Bryant and La Loma Restaurant on 26th) and moved some construction equipment onto the site. But then Tessler decided to scrap that particular concept and start over.

Note the odd wording in the release

https://milehighcre.com/denvers-largest-...ommunity-breaks-ground-near-sloans-lake/

Metro Denver’s largest for-rent high-rise apartment and hotel development broke ground last week...

Especially this:

Additional project partners include boutique apartment-hotel hospitality company Sonder, Confluence landscape architecture, Fortis Structural, BG BuildingWorks for MEP, and Kimley Horn for civil engineering.

Sonder (see website) explains the "hotel" segment of the project. But are all these entities also taking an equity position/interest (if small) in this project. Is this how they managed to secure funding?

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

[SIZE="3"]
Especially this:

Sonder (see website) explains the "hotel" segment of the project. But are all these entities also taking an equity position/interest (if small) in this project. Is this how they managed to secure funding?

I suspect Sonder merely master-leased their block of units which will be separate from the rest of the project (maybe they have their own floors). Some multifamily landlords have gone down the path of the airbnb master-lease model with companies like Sonder. They probably lose some rent in the long run but in the short term they de-risk a tranche of units and get the $$$ flowing sooner. Good model for the merchant builders just trying to cover their overhead and move on to the next deal...

[Arapahoe]

I was perusing the Golub/Rockfeller docs for the Greyhound station demolition and noticed their proposed timeline was to have demolition completed by Jan 2022! Obviously, that won't happen because they just submitted the demo permit application last month - but possibly demolition begins this year. Bye, bye eyesore. The following diagram is from the issued Erosion Control permit on 8/31/2021.

[The Dirt]

I'm surprised no-one's submitted a hostile historic designation for the Greyhound parking garage. I figured there are enough people with strong enough nostalgic feelings to make it everyone's problem.