Downtown Denver Wide-Angle Flavored

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by mhays

That's useful.

If the office and retail space is from brokerage stats then it's undercounted as brokerage stats always are. The numbers seem pretty low for such a large area, which really does have a lot of office space. The government figure is nice to have and fairly unusual to hear.

The housing construction number is higher than I'd have guessed, even for such a large land area. Do you have a list? All I can find is the Downtown Denver partnership list from April, which isn't clear about what's actually getting built (many of the "begin 2012" projects presumably but not all).

This is a list that rds70 put together in the Mountain West forum:

Originally Posted by rds70

Under construction:

* Highland Bridge Lofts - 130 units 5-stories
* CorePower Yoga Apartments - 126 units 4-stories
* 2020 Lawrence - 231 units 10-stories
* Manhattan Apartments Phase 2 - 134 units 5-stories
* Prospect on Central - 57 units 5-stories
* RiNo Center Apartments - 205 units 3-stories
* Denargo Market Phase 1 - 301 units 5-stories
* The Logan - 57 units 5-stories

Total - 1,241 units

In building permit review:

* AMLI Riverfront - 242 units 5-stories
* 2120 Blake - 160 units 7-stories
* Cadence - 219 units 13-stories
* 2300 Walnut - 310 units 5-stories
* 2785 Speer - 332 units 5-stories
* 777 Emerson - 38 units 3-stories
* 2828 Zuni - 105 units
* 1490 Delgany - 285 units 11-stories
* 19th and Logan - 292 units (5 buildings 4/5 stories each)
* 255 S. Cherokee - 335 units
* South Lincoln Phase 2 - 93 units

Total - 2,411 units

Planned:

* 20th and Chestnut - 312 units 5-stories
* Alta CityHouse - 282 units 5-stories
* 16th and Wewatta - 300 units 20-stories
* 15th and Little Raven Senior - 200 units
* 22nd and Stout - 78 units 5-stories
* 1250 Cherokee - 289 units 19-stories (?)
* 1350 16th Street - 47 units 10-stories

Total - 1,508 units

GRAND TOTAL - 5,160 units

Then you have a few more residential since that list:

1736 Boulder - 74 Units
Element 47 - 265 Units 4/5 stories
8th and Lincoln - 265 Units 17-stories

We are about to open the new DaVita world HQ that was just built.
So for office development:
1500 Market - 40k sq ft. 5 stories
1350 16th St - 115k sq ft 10 stories
1601 Wewatta - 280k sq ft 10 stories
16 Wewatta - 212k sq ft 11 stories
16 Chestnut - 320k sq ft 18 stories

I know I'm missing some but that's a good jest of everything. I also added how many stories each one is to the best of my knowledge.

[mhays]

Coupled with the dropping vacancy rates and rising rents, it sounds like apartments are getting close to boom status. I'd be optimistic about the next couple years.

I assume Denver has land use permits (zoning, design review, etc., resulting in SSPers often calling something "approved") followed by building permits (shoring, structure, electrical, etc.). Are the "planned" projects the ones in the land use process, i.e. further out?

[Boquillas]

Great thread! Ryan, love those pics you took from the Hyatt Regency-- do you think it's the kind of place that would chase me out if I did a long-term sketch or drawing? I just moved here from San Antonio, and I do urban sketching, but I can't seem to find any decent observation towers or high vantage points to sketch from. Apparently Elitch Gardens has one, but it's farther from DT, it's not always open and I don't feel like shelling out $50 just to go up there.

[mousquet]

Thank goodness, the Republic looks good! Surely growing. Mountains are renowned for being healthy.

[whatsthepoint13]

Great photos, thanks! For some reason and I don't know why, Denver always reminds me of a smaller L.A., in a good way.

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by Boquillas

Great thread! Ryan, love those pics you took from the Hyatt Regency-- do you think it's the kind of place that would chase me out if I did a long-term sketch or drawing? I just moved here from San Antonio, and I do urban sketching, but I can't seem to find any decent observation towers or high vantage points to sketch from. Apparently Elitch Gardens has one, but it's farther from DT, it's not always open and I don't feel like shelling out $50 just to go up there.

Oh they don't seem to be sticklers. There's windows on every floor in the hallways, you could always just say you were a guest and I'm sure they'd be fine with it.

[kcexpress69]

Nice shots!! I was just in Denver a couple of weeks staying with a friend. She lives in a loft in LoDo, close to Coors Field.

[BG918]

Love our skyline but agree it's dated, very 70's/80's oil boom similar to Dallas and Houston. Some more glassy towers like Spire would be nice.

[RockMont]

Always great to see great shots of Denver!

[beyondtheforest]

Denver reminds me of Columbus.

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by mhays

I assume Denver has land use permits (zoning, design review, etc., resulting in SSPers often calling something "approved") followed by building permits (shoring, structure, electrical, etc.). Are the "planned" projects the ones in the land use process, i.e. further out?

Yes, same process as most other places (depending on where in the city, the details can differ). With the new zoning code, a whole can be done by right now, so outside of historic districts, the land use approvals can get downright easy.

[mhays]

So less early notice for us nerds? On the bright side, once a project is made public, it's probably a lot more likely to actually happen. And you might have projects miraculously appear and start in short order.

In Seattle, the first the public sees is generally a minimum of a year out when the public design-review process begins, at which time concept drawings can be downloaded. When then major issues are progressing it goes for land use permit. Then, sometimes overlapping, it goes for building permit (just shoring initially, most often) at which point it's probably four months from starting.

So Denver general contractors (invited ones) probably hear about projects before they're publicly known. Vs. here where we often know if there's a relationship, but sometimes the DR notice is the first we hear.