DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[SirLucasTheGreat]

I wanted to do a thorough run down of all the Golden Triangle projects. As often as we talk about the neighborhood, I feel that we still vastly underappreciate how many projects are in the pipeline. The vast majority of these are very active in design review right now. The only one to me that looks dead is 1300 Cherokee. Even 1199 Bannock (which would be taller than the Amacon towers, 1900 Lawrence, or either of the greyhound towers and nearly as tall as Block 162) had submissions for urban design review last week.

1100 Bannock (under construction)



1025 N Bannock (under site prep)



899 N Broadway



1030 N Broadway



1115 N Acoma (pictured on the right)



1158 Delaware



1199 Bannock (over 430')



650 W Colfax Ave



1235 N Cherokee



955 Bannock



970 Cherokee



990 Bannock



1300 N Cherokee (no rendering but a 16 story apartment is proposed on this lot)

[TakeFive]

Heading to the finish line - not very much

My brain started firing (and misfiring) around apartment product at various stages. Only two projects come to mind that are near completion: The Fitzgerald and The Citizen.

A number of projects should near completion as the year goes along: 19th and Chestnut; The Jayne (by LMC); X2 Denver, Art Studios; 600 Park Avenue; AMLI Broadway Park and Modera Cherry Creek.

Not counting what I may have missed (obviously) there's not an excessive number of projects completing this year - considering some will carry over to next year before opening.

The post-Pandemic Rush

Many projects broke ground the latter half of last year and there's a Schnitt-ton of projects that are making threats and promises. It will be interesting to see how many projects actually break ground this year given that we're just getting started.

Note: additions and corrections welcome.

[TakeFive]

What's the temperature of Colorado expected to be in 2022?
(Just more of my brain firing and misfiring)

It turns out most people are looking forward to 300 days of sunshine but many are also concerned about unpredictable cloudy days.

It occurred to me I haven't seen nearly as many new business-to-Denver announcements over the last couple of years. Since oftentimes such announcements start with an office of 25 employees or less, I'm not sure how important this really is? At this point, I'd guess 'organic' growth would be more important.

Tech:

is still raging. While Colorado has never been a dominant incubator of tech, it has its fair share. It has been a favorite for tech expansion though.

Bio-Science or Bio-Pharma

Given the Pandemic as a backdrop this segment is expected to see explosive growth. Colorado has never been dominant in this field which is dominated by the Top Two or Top Four regional clusters. Interestingly, Colorado is among the Top Ten coming in at #8. Source - Sep 15, 2021

Sam Hill's favorite source

The Colorado Sun has a very good 'traditional' look ahead. I kinda liked this summation:

It’s still growing, though, and CSU economist Phyllis Resnick forecasts the state’s economy will be at an annual growth rate of 6.45% by April 2022.

“Economic events can create disruptions. They (reorganize) the way we organize ourselves economically,” Resnick said during a conference call. “I will admit it was pretty simple to get up this morning and get dressed and hop on the screen, instead of getting dressed, driving in my car to Denver, finding a parking space and walking into a room.”

Some of you may have noticed the new news source for Denver. Last September The Denver Gazette went live. This is Phil Anschutz's creation, really an extension of the Colorado Springs Gazette. Consequently, it's conservative politically but they did have their own well-done piece reporting a presentation sponsored by the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce. To wit:

“Most economic activity is getting back, or will be back in 2022 to where it was before the pandemic,” said Henry Sobanet, senior vice chancellor of Administration and Government Relations/chief financial officer of the Colorado State University System.

The panelists warned there could be speedbumps to full recovery, including inflation, workforce availability and morale, supply disruptions, housing affordability and pandemic uncertainty. “It wasn’t the same pandemic for everybody, and it’s not the same recovery for everybody,” Sobonet said. “Policy and business planning of all kinds needs to take this into account.”

It's fair to say I probably have the best forecast of anybody.

Life is what happens while you're making other plans.

Certainly there's a lot of nervousness around inflation, interest rates etc such that it's harder than usual to make predictions or plans. "We just go with the flow hoping the Trend is our Friend." My advice? Don't forget to fasten you seatbelt.

My instincts suggest anybody who can secure funding or a construction loan for a project will rush out to buy new shovels - before the economy tips over, should that happen.

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

I wanted to do a thorough run down of all the Golden Triangle projects. As often as we talk about the neighborhood, I feel that we still vastly underappreciate how many projects are in the pipeline. The vast majority of these are very active in design review right now. The only one to me that looks dead is 1300 Cherokee. Even 1199 Bannock (which would be taller than the Amacon towers, 1900 Lawrence, or either of the greyhound towers and nearly as tall as Block 162) had submissions for urban design review last week.

definitely did not know that much stuff was in the pipeline for Golden Triangle, pretty incredible. The 430' towers will be amazing.

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Heading to the finish line - not very much

My brain started firing (and misfiring) around apartment product at various stages. Only two projects come to mind that are near completion: The Fitzgerald and The Citizen.

A number of projects should near completion as the year goes along: 19th and Chestnut; The Jayne (by LMC); X2 Denver, Art Studios; 600 Park Avenue; AMLI Broadway Park and Modera Cherry Creek.

Note: additions and corrections welcome.

XD2 wont be ready until late 2023 according to the X Co. website.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

Looks like I misread something on the proposal. That 430' I think might include the underground levels. I believe the actual height will be 325, which is still pretty tall for the area but won't be at the same level as all the upcoming projects on 19th Street.

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

Looks like I misread something on the proposal. That 430' I think might include the underground levels. I believe the actual height will be 325, which is still pretty tall for the area but won't be at the same level as all the upcoming projects on 19th Street.

That makes sense, 375 is the max height in Arapahoe Square and I think it's similar in Golden Triangle.

[DenverInfill]

The city needs to revisit the main Downtown zoning and consider increasing the 400 foot height limit on the blocks between 18th and 20th to something higher. That was done back in the 80s (or possibly earlier) to create a step-down in the skyline to the lower heights of Arapahoe Square and Five Points in general. But now with AS zoning allowing buildings into the 300-foot range, it makes sense to increase the 400-foot limit between 18th and 20th to something higher, like 500 feet or whatever. You have to wonder: If Amacon (Block 176) and Riverside (1900 Lawrence) were not limited to 400 feet, how high would they have taken their projects? In both of those cases and Golub's proposed two-tower redevelopment of the Greyhound site, they are all maxing out their projects at 400 feet.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

Yeah I think more diversity in building height would really help downtown. It feels like 1/3 of the buildings are almost exactly 400 ft, particularly Lawrence through Curtis and 16th through 20th

[Robert.hampton]

Looks like Mill Creek closed on 618 e 16th ave at the corner of 16th and pearl and have approvals on their concept plan for a Modera branded building there. The Church and parking lot across street just went up for sale -- would be cool if they could do an adaptive re-use concept putting a new build along the church and having them work together (like the Ace hotel concept or the Franklin/Colfax project)

[COtoOC]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Thanks for the correction


Sloppy reporting there. Should have said "that is scheduled to open"... (some day soon?)

I can occasionally miss-state something and always appreciate being corrected.

Ah... no problem. That new Lowry development has turned out quite nice. I especially like the Target because I'm at the 24 Hr. Fitness 4 days a week, so it's an easy in/out. We're going to try some of the restaurants soon.

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

..Tech:

is still raging. While Colorado has never been a dominant incubator of tech, it has its fair share. It has been a favorite for tech expansion though...

Tech certainly is raging and drives much of this apartment development because it brings the high paying jobs and has the halo effect of creating more high paying jobs which ultimately occupy these buildings. Colorado techies had their biggest year ever raising capital...

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/...venture-funding-capital-record-2021.html

There's also the less — tech that Colorado is absolutely a leader in. Aerospace has a huge and growing presence and we used to be the cutting edge of telecom, though that has mainly shipped out of state now. Lots of jobs that can afford those $3 psf apartment rents...

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by Robert.hampton

Looks like Mill Creek closed on 618 e 16th ave at the corner of 16th and pearl and have approvals on their concept plan for a Modera branded building there. The Church and parking lot across street just went up for sale -- would be cool if they could do an adaptive re-use concept putting a new build along the church and having them work together (like the Ace hotel concept or the Franklin/Colfax project)

Speaking of that Ace Hotel, where is that sucker at? Last I heard it was trying to get TIF from DURA. Were they successful in getting that approved? Anyone know anything? I really loved that project as proposed.

[TakeFive]

Many thought the Aerospace space had been captured by Elon Musk but no...

Originally Posted by laniroj

There's also the less — tech that Colorado is absolutely a leader in. Aerospace has a huge and growing presence and we used to be the cutting edge of telecom, though that has mainly shipped out of state now. Lots of jobs that can afford those $3 psf apartment rents...

Colorado has for a long time considered Aerospace as one of its strengths.

Sierra Space whose HQ is in Louisville received the biggest chunk of Colorado's VC money with $1.4 billion raised. They are actually a subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corp.

Also in the news recently is Boom Supersonic whose HQ is Centennial. They announced that their first factory for building new jets would be in the Triad North Carolina. Sierra Space also has operations in North Carolina so the two states have lots of synergy in Aerospace.

In any case, Colorado had a very good year with respect to VC funding which in general had a record year across the country.

[gopokes21]

Originally Posted by laniroj

Speaking of that Ace Hotel, where is that sucker at? Last I heard it was trying to get TIF from DURA. Were they successful in getting that approved? Anyone know anything? I really loved that project as proposed.

It's going to be very hard (not impossible) for them to subsidize a high-end hotel, in a city full of them, with opposition from the site's Council member. It strikes me as a final year appointment kind of thing, before things get real scary in the next election.

But then again, they have strong Council support on the CDOT redevelopment, and that's been a thriving prairie ecosystem for YEARS at this point.

[Robert.hampton]

Originally Posted by gopokes21

It's going to be very hard (not impossible) for them to subsidize a high-end hotel, in a city full of them, with opposition from the site's Council member. It strikes me as a final year appointment kind of thing, before things get real scary in the next election.

But then again, they have strong Council support on the CDOT redevelopment, and that's been a thriving prairie ecosystem for YEARS at this point.

Hinds opposes it?

[gopokes21]

Oh, my bad, I thought it was... (gulp) a different district.

Hard to say with Hinds.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by gopokes21

But then again, they have strong Council support on the CDOT redevelopment, and that's been a thriving prairie ecosystem for YEARS at this point.

Yes, despite substantial neighborhood opposition, the DCC approved a redevelopment plan of the old CDOT HQ site off Colorado Blvd back in January of 2018. The problem here is Kentro Group is waiting in line to receive LIHTC's for the agreed to affordable housing. They were passed over again in November with the latest round of LIHTC awards.

4201 E. Arkansas


Image courtesy Kentro Group

[TakeFive]

Somebody wake up laniroj; Colorado's about to spend $400 million on affordable housing

What’s in Colorado’s new $400 million housing proposal?
January 31, 2022 By Andrew Kenney - CPR News

Colorado’s state lawmakers are preparing to debate the largest state spending package on housing in recent history, fueled by $400 million of federal money earmarked to respond to a housing shortage that has worsened in the pandemic.

State Sen. Julie Gonzales said it was a “once in a generation” opportunity and described a bipartisan effort to spend the money, which comes from federal COVID-19 relief American Rescue Plan Act.

So what's the plan look like?

Under the proposal, the state would provide grants, loans and tax credits to encourage the construction of designated affordable housing by nonprofits, developers and government agencies. It also includes money to help people buy the mobile home parks where they live,

[midwestcowboy]

As a new-ish Denverite, I have a question:

I was on a run yesterday and found myself entering the parking lots between Blake and the RR tracks at 33rd street (I assume these are Rockies lots). I proceeded to run all the way down to Park Ave, and the amount of empty space there just blew me away.

Has there ever been a realistic proposal for that area? It seems as if the footprint of the Larimer/Walnut/Blake could almost be doubled with development there. Gameday parking could likely be solved with the construction of one or two additional parking garages adjacent to the stadium.