DENVER | Main Development Thread #6

[mojiferous]

Originally Posted by Denverite

Not really. I worked on during construction, worked in (my office), and lived in buildings with, approximately, 6" of concrete floors and there is very little sound travel unless you are really banging away - and I've never heard any "amplification" by concrete (I don't think that's actually possible) - it can conduct sound though, but the sound weakens with respect to distance.

Yeah, sorry that wasn't very clear... Clarification: In my experience the materials the building were built with don't matter much, because as a general rule your upstairs neighbors will find a way to annoy you.

I've lived in a stick-built and the people upstairs sounded like they were playing marbles with a giant spider. I lived in a concrete and steel building and the neighbors would wake up every Saturday at 7am to drop large weights onto the floor (carpet wasn't even close enough to dampen the sound).

The noise may be less with concrete, but since most apartments are cost-engineered and flimsy, and the only way to guarantee that you won't be hearing your neighbors is to pay top dollar for a place that added space or material to act as a baffle between floors and apartments. I lived in 1350 Grant 15 years ago when it first opened and the concrete floors meant that you couldn't hear your neighbors walking around, but the exposed ceilings turned every apartment into a speaker and when paired with thin walls it let me listen in on my neighbor's phone conversations. It'll still be standing in 100 years, but until they improve the interior it's going to be annoying to live there.

[bunt_q]

My condo tower in Honolulu was concrete and I never once heard a single sound from a neighbor in any direction. It can be done. Probably just not worth it in a rental project.

[seventwenty]

My apartment in Seoul was concrete, and we got noise complaints. Granted we threw a bunch of parties.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by Scottk

I am convinced some of these places will become tenements.

I think you're right. But I also think the next generation will need affordable housing, so maybe that's OK.

What I don't want are ghettos. And single-income-class, all-built-at-once garden apartment subdivisions like in Superior are ripe for it.

[Denverite]

Originally Posted by mojiferous

The noise may be less with concrete, but since most apartments are cost-engineered and flimsy, and the only way to guarantee that you won't be hearing your neighbors is to pay top dollar for a place that added space or material to act as a baffle between floors and apartments. I lived in 1350 Grant 15 years ago when it first opened and the concrete floors meant that you couldn't hear your neighbors walking around, but the exposed ceilings turned every apartment into a speaker and when paired with thin walls it let me listen in on my neighbor's phone conversations. It'll still be standing in 100 years, but until they improve the interior it's going to be annoying to live there.

Gotcha. And yeah, if you only have concrete floors but open and echoey rooms with thin walls, noise will transfer that way.

Often, there is no perfect solution. And the trade-off is living in an high-density, and/or urban setting at the expense of trying to deal with others. To me, it's a problem of lack of neighborly respect for others more than a build quality issue in many cases.

D.

[denconyny]

OFFICIAL.......

Country Club Towers East, and County Club Towers West

have BROKEN GROUND........

http://denverurbanreview.com/2015/06/ground-breaking-ceremony-for-country-club-towers/

and

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...Group-Breaks-Ground-Country#.VYhal_lViko


YAY!

I like this project.

[PLANSIT]

^ Nice.

More development news... another Alexan planned in Arapahoe Square:

Site Address and Description
2200 Welton St - Alexan Arapahoe Square Apartments


Application Status
Submission Date
06/08/2015 Zoning Application Date

[DownhomeDenver]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

^ Nice.

More development news... another Alexan planned in Arapahoe Square:

Yup very cool to see this!!

[corey]

The location of the Alexan is nice because it is right in the heart of the Arapahoe Square dead zone. The developments up to now have mostly been on the edges.

[DownhomeDenver]

James Real Estate Services publishes a quarterly apartments report that typically has some good information in it. I did spot these which were filed under his proposed for 2015 construction list:

Welton Park, 300 units by Larry Lee(?) at 2200 Welton Street in the Denver Central submarket. This is one of a number of new projects proposed (and one under construction) along the Welton Street corridor and RTD light rail line between downtown and Five Points. <--this would be the Alexan property.

Water Street, 172 units by Alliance Residential at 695 Water Street in the Denver Central submarket. The project is across the street from the Denver Aquarium.

2401 Blake Street, 286 units by Lennar Multifamily in the Ballpark neighborhood in the Denver Central submarket.

2120 Welton Street, 300 units in the Denver Central submarket by Welton Street Properties. This looks like another full half block.

[Fritzdude]

Originally Posted by DownhomeDenver

James Real Estate Services publishes a quarterly apartments report that typically has some good information in it. I did spot these which were filed under his proposed for 2015 construction list:

Welton Park, 300 units by Larry Lee(?) at 2200 Welton Street in the Denver Central submarket. This is one of a number of new projects proposed (and one under construction) along the Welton Street corridor and RTD light rail line between downtown and Five Points. <--this would be the Alexan property.

Water Street, 172 units by Alliance Residential at 695 Water Street in the Denver Central submarket. The project is across the street from the Denver Aquarium.

2401 Blake Street, 286 units by Lennar Multifamily in the Ballpark neighborhood in the Denver Central submarket.

2120 Welton Street, 300 units in the Denver Central submarket by Welton Street Properties. This looks like another full half block.

The development along Welton is amazing! After zero activity for practically 40+
years, we're now witnessing a true revival of this important corridor. I couldn't be happier to see this happening. Huge!

Every time one of the lots get developed, the remaing lots become a little more valuable. The momentum is picking up speed!

[bcp]

agreed..it's so nice to see welton really, finally, truly gaining momentum. we'll lose some character along the way, and some old buildings, but density and rising tides lift all boats!

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by RyanD

I always forget how urban D.C is..

Those were my thoughts. My fave link is still This One. Well, I'm a tree guy.

Originally Posted by DownhomeDenver

James Real Estate Services publishes a quarterly apartments report that typically has some good information in it. I did spot these which were filed under his proposed for 2015 construction list:

2401 Blake Street, 286 units by Lennar Multifamily in the Ballpark neighborhood in the Denver Central submarket.

That's the first time I can recall seeing Lennar wanting to build apartments in Denver/downtown. Check another one off This List.


I also spotted where Holland Partners bought the vacant land at 1800 Little Raven St. according to BusinessDen.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by denconyny

OFFICIAL.......

Country Club Towers East, and County Club Towers West

have BROKEN GROUND........

http://denverurbanreview.com/2015/06/ground-breaking-ceremony-for-country-club-towers/

and

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...Group-Breaks-Ground-Country#.VYhal_lViko


YAY!

I like this project.

So this is a 190 million dollar project - two thirty story buildings. This puts in perspective how outrageous the spending on the Aurora Vet Hospital has been and will be.


The total vet hospital cost is now estimated at $1.6 billion. The equivalent of 8 or 9 of these - one of the biggest privately funded projects in Denver in decades!! That's sixteen 30 story buildings for what the govt. will likely pay for one hospital.

[PLANSIT]

I'm not saying the VA isn't way over budget (it is), but hospitals are ridiculously expensive to build due to the infrastructure/systems needed for the facilities/amenities inside. For comparison, the new Saint Joseph/National Jewish facility was $623 million for 830k sqft.

[denconyny]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

So this is a 190 million dollar project - two thirty story buildings......

Okay..... in taking off from this just a bit..... since this project had been in the planning now for some 12 years, this site zoning grandfathered through the new Denver zoning codes that were put in place a few years back...... and with the new code it seems that most of the zoning, other than in DT and surroundings, seems now to be zoned at most to 8 stories..... Will there be any more of these larger highrise developments (20+ floors) in traditional non-highrise areas throughout Denver such as this (some similar examples would be The Pinnacle 27-stories, or Penterra 23-stories), or because of the new zoning, will these Country Club Towers be the last of anything outside of DT and area being able to go up to this height?

[comoneymaker]

Man with the new Hines building and the Washpark towers and 2166 15th st under construction the only other project I want to break ground this year are 999 17th st and Bell Tower and a fabled Tabor 2 at 800ft which wont happen but the other two could...

[comoneymaker]

Oh and found this to. Next best Tech Hubs. 20 Denver 12 Douglas county (got to love the picture for that one lol) and 3 is Boulder.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/america%E2%80%99s-next-tech-hubs/ss-AAbMP7Y#image=21

[TakeFive]

Last week we got the Denver Tourism results.

This week we get the whole state's tourism numbers:
Colorado tourism hits record high: More people, more spending

For anyone interested (for comparison purposes) Arizona also released their state tourism results. The numbers are obviously not exactly apples to apples but I wouldn't know the differences in methodology.

In any case it just seems like the progress made in Colorado and especially in Denver over the last decade is impressive. Arizona noted that Tourism is now "the state’s top export."

I recently spent some time reviewing the many various events and festivals that are held in Denver. That's a nifty interactive site (except in the last 30 days it seems to have lost the ability to look back). Denver, both the private and public sectors have done a marvelous job of stimulating and nurturing various events and festivals over time, many of which are free, especially over the summer. The great variety or diversity of events gives the city great urban energy. It's a not an insignificant part of why Denver is so dynamic and engaging.

Should Sports Authority Field get a lid?
Arizona just released the numbers from Super Bowl XLIX. They had over a million visitors with an economic impact of $719 million from $295M in direct spending.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

Oh and found this to. Next best Tech Hubs. 20 Denver 12 Douglas county (got to love the picture for that one lol) and 3 is Boulder.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/america%E2%80%99s-next-tech-hubs/ss-AAbMP7Y#image=21

Nice find. That's not a bad image of Denver either.

Getty Images

One of these days "you know who" photos will be popping up in all the media.