DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

I thought the SDP was already approved. Didn’t they file for excavation and shoring permits back in February of 2020?

their concept plan was approved but not the SDP. The SDP has been going back and forth between city and Stantec since August of 2019. I count 8 SDP submissions from the developer and 7 resubmission requests by the city. The last submission is now under review as of 8/16/2021.

Interesting, yes, they have submitted a permit application "Building Foundation - phased permit Final use is a Marriott Hotel" that seems to have all the approvals but isn't marked as completed. Not sure if they were planning to do preliminary work before the final design is approved, perhaps nobody cares what the foundation looks like IDK, but that permit hasn't move since peak pandemic.

[TakeFive]

From Skyscrapers to the quaint and the curious

Who doesn't like Adaptive Reuse? Photo courtesy of good friend Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Warren Church
1630 E. 14th Ave



Affordable, supportive housing units open in Capitol Hill neighborhood
Oct 22, 2021 By: Blayke Roznowski - The Denver Channel

The Saint Frances Warren Residences is an adaptive reuse project that converted a former church at 1630 E. 14th Ave. into 48 affordable dorm-style apartment units, according to the City of Denver. Each 150 square foot unit is for one individual and includes large shared spaces, like bathrooms, laundry facilities and living and kitchen areas, to provide a sense of community.

Going back to Mar. 04, 2020, Denverite's Donna Bryson had the good news.

Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission has unanimously approved changes a nonprofit that provides housing and other services for people experiencing homelessness needs to turn a historic Cheesman Park church building into housing for the working poor.

Art District on Santa Fe holds on to charm despite development
Oct 22, 2021 By: Jon Ewing - The Denver Channel


Photo courtesy Art District on Santa Fe

DENVER — Once a month, the Art District on Santa Fe is the hottest place in Denver. Galleries fill with couples snaking their way around sculptures they can't afford and on the street, people line up at food trucks for elote, or something to take the chill out of the air. The neighborhood feels alive and vibrant.

My kind of guy.

"I call First Friday the best cheap first date in the city," said Macy Dorf.

Just another example of a great tradition that Denver has learned from Phoenix.

https://artlinkphx.org/about/

In 1994, Artlink began promoting the monthly First Fridays art walk, which has grown to become one of the largest monthly art walks in the United States. With many venues open free to the public each month, First Fridays has succeeded in bringing people back to downtown Phoenix.

[TakeFive]

Source

AVA RiNo
2600 Lawrence St, Denver

All images courtesy AvalonBay Communities/Ava RiNo via Apartment Home Living

AVA RiNo

AVA is a brand-new living space in Denver’s most exciting and vibrant neighborhood, the River North Art District. The reasons to love RiNo are endless. Which is why we chose to be in the heart of it all.

AVA RiNo features studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments for lease. Our open concept floor plans feature kitchens with stainless steel appliances, quartz-stone countertops, and tile backsplash. We offer unique home features including sliding barn doors, open-concept customizable closets and gear walls for storing all your things, your way.

Pending the groundbreaking of Avalon Governors Park it might be fun to revue AvalonBay's strategy.

We have created three distinct apartment community brands based on a deep knowledge of our customers and what they are looking for in an apartment living experience.

AVA. Live awesome.



Avalon. Live modern.



The third AvalonBay brand is called "Eaves by Avalon" for value living.

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

AVA RiNo

better name than their neighbor which is called "S*Park" lol

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Warren Church

absolutely fantastic. wish we had more buildings available for this. very important that they don't allow overflow on the lawn or ROW for this to be successful with their neighbors.

Originally Posted by TakeFive

2926 Umatilla Street

nice infill for a small lot and looks cool too.

quite the news gathering operation you have there!

[The Dirt]

Originally Posted by Agent Orange

Point towers in Cherry Creek. Tired of this short stubby tabletop cluster. Would be sweet to have a mini Buckhead type skyline there.

Sadly, that's not going to happen without a neighborhood-wide rezoning, which is just not going to happen anytime soon. Literally everything in Cherry Creek North has been built to the maximum allowable height, which is a sign that the zoning height limit is arbitrarily holding back development of CCN.

Our best hope is that the lots west of the mall get a PUD rezoning ahead of their redevelopment, which I'm sure will get a lot of backlash from the surrounding neighbors. Plus, those lots have been sitting empty, ready for redevelopment for a decade. Do we even remember when that Bed Bath and Beyond closed?

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Plus, those lots have been sitting empty, ready for redevelopment for a decade. Do we even remember when that Bed Bath and Beyond closed?

But... but... what about the farmer's market?

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Do we even remember when that Bed Bath and Beyond closed?

2017. That hit hard for my shopping needs in decorating my suburban home with tasteful linens and curtains.

[The Dirt]

Ah yes, back when I lived in the neighborhood formerly known as St*pleton, that was my go-to, as well.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

I assume everyone knows that the bed bath and beyond relocated about a mile away on Colorado Blvd.

[The Dirt]

Since I'm an elitist downtown dweller, everything south of Alameda and east of Colorado may as well be Limon.

[Agent Orange]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Since I'm an elitist downtown dweller, everything south of Alameda and east of Colorado may as well be Limon.

As a former downtown elitist, I bet you find yourself desperate enough to cross over to Glendale now and then. That 16th Street mini-Target and TJ Maxx just don't always get the job done.

And yes, I really hope we see some higher rise structures pop in in the BBB lot. Like SirLucas said, the Golden Triangle (we still haven't come up with a better name for his hood?) might provide some skyline extension. Would look great coming east down 6th.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

But... but... what about the farmer's market?

No way can I live w/o my farm-to-(home) market fresh food.

Originally Posted by wong21fr

2017. That hit hard for my shopping needs in decorating my suburban home with tasteful linens and curtains.

You just have to know how/where to shop.

Best sheets I've found in decades are the 'Hotel' brand. Walmart has them for $55. for the set. Costco charges $15-$20 more but you get four instead of two pillowcases and a 100-thread higher count. I do insist on sleeping on 100% cotton, preferably long staple cotton like Pima or Egyptian.

I got my Vera Wang towels at Kohls double discounted with my extra 30% off coupons.

I do have a fetish for quilts. I have 3 summer weight (for the desert) and 2 double-sided all season quilts. I managed to find all of them at Goodwill. Just scored a brand new one with fall colors to match the season - think Indian Corn.

------------------------
You many not realize how nice you could have it.

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Since I'm an elitist downtown dweller, everything south of Alameda and east of Colorado may as well be Limon.

....
Source

[TakeFive]

Urban Alert


Source

In deference to all my crazy-thinking urbanist friends it's worth acknowledging that RMI (formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Institute) has designed a NEW world-class ‘Induced Demand’ Calculator.

New ‘Induced Demand’ Calculator Shows Exactly How Much Driving Your City’s Highway Expansion Will Encourage
Oct 20, 2021 By Kea Wilson - Streetsblog USA

A groundbreaking new calculator gives advocates the tools they need to instantly show the real impacts of proposed highway expansions in their communities... Following the successful release of their Colorado Induced Demand calculator earlier this year, experts at nonprofit RMI were flooded with requests from advocates across the country who wanted a similar tool to model the impacts of new road projects in their own cities.

So they teamed up with Transportation for America, the National Resources Defense Council, and a consortium of other partners to create the State Highway Induced Frequency of Travel (SHIFT) Calculator, which draws on formulas sourced from decades of proven scientific literature to deliver detailed, community-specific induced demand forecasts with the click of a button.

"decades of proven scientific literature"


Source

Other than saying this is a bunch of contrived nonsense that can't even pass a smell test, I'll forego any rant.

------------------------
Putting on my NPR Weekender Hat

I've got a Simple Math Puzzle begging to be solved.

Driving along the new expanded '101' Pima Freeway in my neck of the woods was like turning on a light. All it took was some simple math.

For SOV's, adding the 5th lane on each side of the freeway effectively doubled the throughput capacity (does not include any additional exit/enter lane). You have one week to submit your entrees.

The winning entry receives a classic dinner for two at a non-historic landmark.


Source

[Arapahoe]

Originally Posted by Agent Orange

As a former downtown elitist, I bet you find yourself desperate enough to cross over to Glendale now and then. That 16th Street mini-Target and TJ Maxx just don't always get the job done.

so true, lol! You forgot to mention our bargain basement at Ross and elegant H&M. However, my last search for a pair of pants had me getting into my car and driving to Cherry Creek. TJMaxx is wiped out of men's inventory, Target doesn't really carry clothes, H&M requires that you wear everything skin-tight, and Ross is a crap shoot. So I paid $2 to park in an empty CC parking garage.

[The Dirt]

I don't think anyone has posted this yet


https://www.westfield-co.com/portfolio/development-portfolio/765-north-logan-street

765 North Logan Street
Denver, CO 80203

Purchased in 2017, this 0.5 acres development opportunity overlooks Governor's Park and is located between Seventh and Eighth avenues.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

People should be slapped for designing buildings like that. Glad for the infill but that's the sort of building that inspires one to become an arsonist.

[COtoOC]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Urban Alert


Source

In deference to all my crazy-thinking urbanist friends it's worth acknowledging that RMI (formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Institute) has designed a NEW world-class ‘Induced Demand’ Calculator.

New ‘Induced Demand’ Calculator Shows Exactly How Much Driving Your City’s Highway Expansion Will Encourage
Oct 20, 2021 By Kea Wilson - Streetsblog USA


"decades of proven scientific literature"


Source

Other than saying this is a bunch of contrived nonsense that can't even pass a smell test, I'll forego any rant.

------------------------
Putting on my NPR Weekender Hat

I've got a Simple Math Puzzle begging to be solved.

Driving along the new expanded '101' Pima Freeway in my neck of the woods was like turning on a light. All it took was some simple math.

For SOV's, adding the 5th lane on each side of the freeway effectively doubled the throughput capacity (does not include any additional exit/enter lane). You have one week to submit your entrees.

The winning entry receives a classic dinner for two at a non-historic landmark.


Source

I've thought about this theory of "induced demand" and I don't think they take into account a population that is rising rapidly.

I grew up in KC and recall when they added lanes to I-35 and I-435 back in the '80s. They recently added another lane to 435. I have to travel there often (unfortunately) and the freeway traffic there is nothing compared to Denver. Rush hour is still just an hour, and not bad IMO. But here's the deal... their population hasn't risen that much since the '80s. It's a very steady, slow increase.

Then look at Denver. When I first moved to Denver in 1994, the population was 50% lower. When you increase the population this fast, you obviously need more capacity on freeways. Same thing in places like LA (where I spent 10 years). Population keeps going up and up, you increase capacity.

And then if "induced demand" were true and more lanes means people decide to drive on the freeways more often, then what, removing lanes is the solution? Then people would stay home?

[The Dirt]

It's kind of wild how the parking hellscape between Lincoln and Governor's Park is very quickly getting infilled after decades of sitting empty.

Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1YRlemTyfZVxFVR3bUkYvWK87hEBxY7If&usp=sharing

Too bad all of the Cheesman Park NIMBYs are up in arms because they think a 13 story building nowhere near their precious view plane will block views of the mountains from their 18 story buildings.

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Since I'm an elitist downtown dweller, everything south of Alameda and east of Colorado may as well be Limon.

Yep, and anything south of Hampden is Castle Rock!

[twalm]

Originally Posted by COtoOC

I've thought about this theory of "induced demand" and I don't think they take into account a population that is rising rapidly.

I grew up in KC and recall when they added lanes to I-35 and I-435 back in the '80s. They recently added another lane to 435. I have to travel there often (unfortunately) and the freeway traffic there is nothing compared to Denver. Rush hour is still just an hour, and not bad IMO. But here's the deal... their population hasn't risen that much since the '80s. It's a very steady, slow increase.

Then look at Denver. When I first moved to Denver in 1994, the population was 50% lower. When you increase the population this fast, you obviously need more capacity on freeways. Same thing in places like LA (where I spent 10 years). Population keeps going up and up, you increase capacity.

And then if "induced demand" were true and more lanes means people decide to drive on the freeways more often, then what, removing lanes is the solution? Then people would stay home?

Induced Demand is a real thing and it not just about more people driving on expanded roads over other roads it is also about people choosing new expanded roads over public transportation.

Drivers choosing driving over public transportation is bad in a variety of ways like emissions and contribution to sprawl (imo).

The RMI site describes the problem, but it doesn't do a good job of offering solutions. The most extreme way about thinking about induced demand is that with every expanded road you are sabotaging alternative public transportation methods. You could argue that any funds that go towards road expansion (not maintenance) should instead go towards urban public transportation. Denver's air quality is already atrocious and any road expansion is directly working against that issue.

So to answer your final question: Stop building extra lanes and instead invest more in alternative greener transportation methods.