DENVER | Main Development Thread #6

[Stonemans_rowJ]

Originally Posted by enjo13

It's a prominent intersection only in that people drive by it alot. There's a reason the shopping centers next door can't keep anything open in their retail spots. There is basically no foot traffic in that area.

You know what fixes that? More residents. I disagree that wood framed structures are such catastrophes. I keep hearing this same argument. This stick buildings are going to be the slums of tomorrow! I just don't see a lot of evidence that it's the case. There are a lot of cheaply constructed buildings (those beige monsters a few blocks away spring to mind) that haven't succumbed to the tenements that apparently await us in the future.

While this building may not be particularly inspiring, it's already a pleasant one at street level. It blends into the landscape pretty effectively and it sure doesn't look particularly cheap to me.

Denver is in a really good spot by my estimation. We have a lot of really nice buildings under construction right now. We have a lot of pretty ok buildings. We also have a lot of buildings that are "meh", but that's just fine too.



On that point I massively disagree.

I'm with Enjo on this one. The location is prominent, but not in a good way. It's hemmed in by three urban highways. I definitely think renters with dogs will steer clear of this one.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Scottk

One of the towers is going to be ~100 feet taller than the other?

Damn, I thought they both were going to be the same height

The towers are both the same height. The cranes will need to rise up once the superstructure gets to a certain height. The cranes are differing heights so that the jibs don't interfere with each other as they are located in each other's swing radius.

[RyanD]

I think Scott is referring to this:

CCT 1 is already there. It's the one that has the flag and pointy top if I'm not mistaken?



The new twin CCT's in this elevation are facing the narrow side, where you would only see one tower profile. If you were to look at the broad side, they'd both be there.

[TakeFive]

bunt may be smarter than mhays realizes

"Broke? Why It’s Getting Harder to Afford Rent"
September 06, 2015 by Megan Elliott, CheatSheet

You’re not going crazy. Whether you live in San Francisco or Orlando, it really is getting harder to find an affordable apartment.

Fewer people are buying homes, which means more renters competing for a limited supply of units. “[D]ue to an underperforming labor market, insufficient housing supply, and overly stringent underwriting standards since the recession, homeownership has plunged to a rate not seen in over two decades,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors told CNBC.

To bunt's points.

The housing squeeze in many cities has made it worse because developers aren’t building new apartments for middle- and lower-income families (what are known as Class B and Class C apartments).

“Everybody and their mother is out building these Class A apartments,” said Ryan Severino, senior economist at Reis Inc., to the Wall Street Journal.

Renters who can’t afford to lease units in new, amenity-rich buildings are stuck paying out the nose to live in more modest apartments. That’s assuming they can even find a place to rent. Vacancy rates are at an all-time low, according to the Harvard report

"In Some Cities, Even Landlords Think Rents Are Getting Out of Hand"
September 18, 2015 by Patrick Clark, BloombergBusiness

Source: CBRE via Bloomberg

[mhays]

TakeFive, did I say rents weren't rising? And I thought I've argued a lot for ways to reduce rents, like smaller units, less parking, etc.

[CherryCreek]

Haven't seen this here on Convention Center expansion. Pretty cool design really. I really like it. Of all the money that Denver has spent in last 20 years, its hard to come up with money better spent than on the Convention Center. The city really showed cojones with the expansion and the Convention Center hotel despite a lot of naysayers. Both have paid off so many times over. Ironically, the original Convention Center had to be one of the ugliest things ever built in this city. To morph from that beast to this beauty is amazing.

Denver's planning for the future for the past 20 years is paying off. I remember thinking, at the time , this was a good idea. And it was:



“We’re very fortunate that in 1999, the architects and the City had the foresight to reinforce the roof during the expansion of the center to allow for vertical growth,” Rachel Benedick, Vice President of Sales and Services at Visit Denver, said in a statement.


http://www.internationalmeetingsreview.c...roval-convention-center-expansion-102052

[Scottk]

Did anyone else see that a judge ruled against the homeless day center in the ballpark neighborhood?

I think it's a shame, that project would have helped that area

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

“We’re very fortunate that in 1999, the architects and the City had the foresight to reinforce the roof during the expansion of the center to allow for vertical growth,” Rachel Benedick, Vice President of Sales and Services at Visit Denver, said in a statement.

lol. I remember back then. They tried to sell that sloping roof as iconic. "Denver's Sydney Opera House," I remember someone saying.

I like the Convention Center. I have no problems with the Convention Center. But that's just very funny. "We're building an iconic landmark for the ages. But we're probably going to tear it up in 20 years."

[comoneymaker]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Haven't seen this here on Convention Center expansion. Pretty cool design really. I really like it. Of all the money that Denver has spent in last 20 years, its hard to come up with money better spent than on the Convention Center. The city really showed cojones with the expansion and the Convention Center hotel despite a lot of naysayers. Both have paid off so many times over. Ironically, the original Convention Center had to be one of the ugliest things ever built in this city. To morph from that beast to this beauty is amazing.

Denver's planning for the future for the past 20 years is paying off. I remember thinking, at the time , this was a good idea. And it was:



“We’re very fortunate that in 1999, the architects and the City had the foresight to reinforce the roof during the expansion of the center to allow for vertical growth,” Rachel Benedick, Vice President of Sales and Services at Visit Denver, said in a statement.


http://www.internationalmeetingsreview.c...roval-convention-center-expansion-102052

Seems like a hell of a lot of work for such a small gain in space. It seems that we need a bigger single space than multiple other rooms to bigger shows especially with DIA train coming. Maybe I just need better renderings.


Oh and ADMIN can you move all this bus and bike crap to the transportation thread. Tired of seeing it here.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Scottk

Did anyone else see that a judge ruled against the homeless day center in the ballpark neighborhood?

I think it's a shame, that project would have helped that area

So? The City will appeal the decision and there's been no injunction halting construction. So, the center will be completed in mid-October, but it won't open for daytime services. It's a delay until the wheels get greased.

In the meantime, I encourage the City of Denver to begin offering day services outside of the Ballpark Neighborhood Association offices. Perhaps they can also substantiate the bullshit statement that the $9.5M that the rest facility cost would leverage hundreds of new housing units for the chronically homeless.

[Denver Dweller]

http://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/heath...st-light-rail-station-apartment-complex/

[RyanD]

Over 100 foot deep piers getting drilled at 1144 Fifteenth. That's one hell of a drill, and bit!

Central Downtown: 1144 Fifteenth Update #7 (Inside the Infill Edition)

[CherryCreek]

Funny how quickly real estate markets turn. The Post is talking about a national slowdown in real estate prices (http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_28854373/denver-avoiding-worst-trend-home-price-slow-down ). Though the article indicates Denver is an exception, so far, my real estate buds tell me that Denver too is noticeably slowing, finally (which is good - market was overheated).

I don't know that this means prices will actually drop any time soon, but I got to think the days of double digit year over year price increases are gone.

What was peak month? July perhaps? Where will prices in Denver be a year from now?. Pick one:

1. +10% or more
2. +5-10
3. 0-+5
4. 0 to -5%
5. More than -5%

I vote stagnant prices, or slight decline - No. 4.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

Seems like a hell of a lot of work for such a small gain in space. It seems that we need a bigger single space than multiple other rooms to bigger shows especially with DIA train coming. Maybe I just need better renderings.


Oh and ADMIN can you move all this bus and bike crap to the transportation thread. Tired of seeing it here.

I guess this expansion gets us this:

The development of new flexible meeting and ballroom space of up to 85,000 sq. ft.; the addition of 120,000 sq. ft. of new pre-function and service space that will also include a 50,000 sq. ft. outdoor terrace to be located on the roof of the existing convention center. Both the pre-function and outdoor event spaces will have spectacular, unobstructed views of the Rocky Mountains and city skyline, allowing event attendees to take advantage of Denver’s 300 days of sunshine.

I don't know how significant that is, from a convention business perspective, though I suspect that the addition of the giant west-facing terrace with mountain view really makes this into a trophy convention hosting space, at least from the center booster perspective.

[EngiNerd]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Over 100 foot deep piers getting drilled at 1144 Fifteenth. That's one hell of a drill, and bit!

Central Downtown: 1144 Fifteenth Update #7 (Inside the Infill Edition)

Cool, thanks for the pics!

[DenverPoke]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Funny how quickly real estate markets turn. The Post is talking about a national slowdown in real estate prices (http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_28854373/denver-avoiding-worst-trend-home-price-slow-down ). Though the article indicates Denver is an exception, so far, my real estate buds tell me that Denver too is noticeably slowing, finally (which is good - market was overheated).

I don't know that this means prices will actually drop any time soon, but I got to think the days of double digit year over year price increases are gone.

What was peak month? July perhaps? Where will prices in Denver be a year from now?. Pick one:

1. +10% or more
2. +5-10
3. 0-+5
4. 0 to -5%
5. More than -5%

I vote stagnant prices, or slight decline - No. 4.

I'm going with 4 as well.

[LAM]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

lol. I remember back then. They tried to sell that sloping roof as iconic. "Denver's Sydney Opera House," I remember someone saying.

I like the Convention Center. I have no problems with the Convention Center. But that's just very funny. "We're building an iconic landmark for the ages. But we're probably going to tear it up in 20 years."

I may have misunderstood your comment, but, they're not really tearing anything up. The proposal is just to add on top of the flat part of the roof. So, the "iconic" sloped roofs will stay there and will actually obscure the new vertical addition behind it. I think those tall ends with sloped roofs originally went higher than needed so they could eventually add another story to the center. When I drive by, I can see right through them, and I've never liked that look.

I'm not too sure I'm really in love with this convention center, but it's not bad and way better than the in-between one that was built in the 90's sometime. With this one, I think Curt Fentress (the architect for both of them) was trying desperately to cover up his previous mistake. That really was awful.

In spite of a major core problem, I actually kind of liked the original brutalist space frame convention center from back in the 60's. The core problem was that it created an inhuman streetscape -- which was common for that time period of hating peds and loving cars.

[Octavian]

Courtesy of DIA:

[enjo13]

There's fencing going up on 15th/California I think... that's a new hotel right?

[TakeFive]

"You can observe a lot by just watching."
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
RIP Yogi