DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[Robert.hampton]

Originally Posted by derek.berardi

Well, after lots of searching, I managed to find a tiny thumbnail of 17th and Pearl Apartments. I'm not sure why the developer would want people to rely on the fugly black and white renderings, rather than something polished. Not that you can tell much from this since it's so small, but at least you can see the color/material variations.

Somebody needs to nudge these guys to release the hi-res version.

http://sararch.com/news/17th-pearl-apartments-update-1/

Blegh. Hopefully they are still thinking about it. Those colors are a PTSD reminder thtat Windsor at Broadway Station is still around (the ORIGINAL Alexan in Denver). And it does nothing to complement the existing Tavern building.
They are using high quality materials -- nearly all masonry with some metal paneling (the black). Would be a shame if they opted for a color scheme that had the masonry mimicking stucco. I think the paneling section would look stellar against the Tavern building either using the subway tile or copper color-look that MyBlock has.

[Robert.hampton]

Originally Posted by derek.berardi

And the worst project of the year award goes to....this steaming lump of mess! What is this? Who makes things like this? "We want every material, every color and every shape! Just make it look like a parking garage to be inhabited by people!" Sorry to be a jerk, but this is atrocious and embarrassing!

https://denverite.com/2018/07/11/122...-drive-anchor/

Meh, Im sure there is a lot worse --- the new townhomes down the street at 9th and kalamath are far worse. This thing at least fits with the 'hood and is a bit ecletic.

Dino at Rino -- or any of those Oyster projects if they get off the ground-- now THOSE could be worst of the year.

[TakeFive]

Are all these people a security risk? Does anybody even know?
Who are all these people and where are they coming from?

States of Migration: Where Coloradans are moving, and who's replacing them
Jul 12, 2018 By James Rodriguez – Data Reporter, Denver Business Journal

From 2015 to 2016 (the most recent data available), Colorado gained a little more than 223,000 residents, while losing 193,000 to other states. That 30,000 net change in migration, the lowest Colorado has seen in the past seven years, is still the ninth-highest in the nation. Florida claimed the top spot in 2016 with a 188,000 net change, and it wasn't even close. Texas followed with half that at 95,000, and Arizona took third place with a net gain of 82,000.

That's the primary takeaway from the article. I seem to recall that it felt like Denver's growth may be ebbing around this time. But then... by a year later I wondered if it hadn't picked up again.

The Top Five states where new peeps are coming from are (in order) California, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Arizona. Top Five states where people are fleeing to from Colorado are the same except that Washington replaces Illinois while Arizona moves up to 3rd place.

I hope all these people are obtaining their security clearances?

[DenvertoLA]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

The Top Five states where new peeps are coming from are (in order) California, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Arizona. Top Five states where people are fleeing to from Colorado are the same except that Washington replaces Illinois while Arizona moves up to 3rd place.

I hope all these people are obtaining their security clearances?

That makes a lot of sense. Almost everyone in LA/SD that asks where I'm from has a positive attitude towards Denver and Colorado. They also often ask if I would move back/ advice them on potentially moving there.

[twister244]

Small update on WTC:

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/07/1...center-denver/

I think having a massive gym in RiNo will be a great addition for the increasing number of people moving in.

Also, according to the article, phase 1 is now 50% complete on the leasing front.

[ejwill04]

That same article says they're targeting an August groundbreaking

"Campbell, Formativ’s CEO, said the company is targeting a groundbreaking in August."

Unrelated, but does anyone have an update on Broadway Station? There seems to be a lot of dirt moving around.

[semiurban]

Originally Posted by ejwill04

Unrelated, but does anyone have an update on Broadway Station? There seems to be a lot of dirt moving around.

According to this channel 7 video from last month, groundbreaking on first building is expected June 2019.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...dway-in-denver

[Ich]

Photos of 1979 downtown Denver. We have definitely come a long way haha

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...own-denver#id0

[The Dirt]

I'm half tempted to go recreate those shots this weekend.

[The Dirt]

Double post

[InfillJunkie]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

States of Migration: Where Coloradans are moving, and who's replacing them
Jul 12, 2018 By James Rodriguez – Data Reporter, Denver Business Journal

...

The Top Five states where new peeps are coming from are (in order) California, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Arizona. Top Five states where people are fleeing to from Colorado are the same except that Washington replaces Illinois while Arizona moves up to 3rd place.

Yaaaaaaaaawwwwwnnnnnn. (cracks fingers)

Well well well. Hello everyone. I wasn't sure my old username would be available. Wouldn't you know, it is!

I moved from Denver to the Portland last year, but now I live in Seattle. However, I am on my way back to Denver. Seattle is a great town and all, but I miss home. So that article can count me in the reverse migration category.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by Ich

Photos of 1979 downtown Denver. We have definitely come a long way haha

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...own-denver#id0

This one, my god:


ABC7

[Fritzdude]

Is it just me... or was Denver kind of ghetto between 1975–1990..? What the heck were they thinking back then?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Fritzdude

Is it just me... or was Denver kind of ghetto between 1975–1990..? What the heck were they thinking back then?

Some people would call that "grit", "character", or "soul" - none of which Denver had any abundance of to begin with, but now is completely gone. While continued and sustained growth is good and should not be discouraged, Denver has all but morphed into a master-planned Disney resort, so contrived and with no authenticity, that we've essentially become a trendy marketing brand aimed at craft beer drinkers and the outdoorsy crowd. The end product we've become is a city devoid of genuine personality, as reflected by our confused architecture and our lack of a true sense of historic identity.

I'm not even a native and I can bear witness to how impersonal and phony our city has become. The membership card to our contrived theme park mandates owning a Subaru and 2 dogs. Hipster beard and man-bun are optional, but strongly encouraged so that our costumes are consistent and don't alarm the tourists.

While you still can, I urge you to enjoy places such as the dirty alleys downtown, driving underneath the shadow of the I-70 viaduct, and listening to the stories being told by the veteran industrial buildings along Brighton Blvd. For one day, all that remains of any authenticity Denver once had will be gone. Our transformation into a green-roof, bike-riding, new-urbanist utopian experiment is nearing completion along with our inflated ego of self-importance and smug sense of entitlement. Since no boom cycle lasts forever, Denver will no doubt hit hard times once again - perhaps even more severe than the 1980s oil bust. Then - and only then - will the genuine Denver emerge from beneath the ashes; our story has always been perseverence in the face of fire, flood, economic turmoil, and other adversity and hardships. That's what I love about this city and why I've always been drawn to it.

[twister244]

Well that escalated quickly.....

If by grit, character, and soul, you mean parking lots, a train station that was empty and underutilized with parking out front, empty warehouses that were unsafe to walk by alone at night, and rail yards, then yes, that is disappearing from Denver.

A large chunk of the real soul and character was wiped off the map when the city decided to demolish half of downtown during the 60s/70s urban "renewal". During that period, the city lost vast sums of historical buildings. Luckily, some folks held onto whatever was left, and incorporated that into what we now know as LoDo.

And those empty warehouses? Many of those have been adapted for reuse as office space, restaurants, or other purposes (I.E. Denver Central Market, Improper City, etc). We now have an art festival (Crush) every September up there where artists paint street murals on the side of buildings in alleys. Was that around 20-30 years ago? No, because no one would dare go up to RiNo for anything.

The highlands? Wasn't that long ago that area was nothing more than regular post-war bungalows with higher crime....... no thanks.

Many of the beautiful buildings we had 20-30 years ago are still here. Drive around Capitol Hill or Five Points, and you will still see the beautiful Victorian houses that were built generations ago.

And those viaducts under I70? Oh, you mean the viaducts of a highway that sliced through a historical neighborhood during America's post-war era when people were fleeing the inner city for inefficient, poorly planned suburbs? That same highway that will now be lowered below the surface so the neighborhoods can be reconnected.......

I am all for preserving a city's true identity, character, soul, or whatever you want to call it. However..... Denver used to be called a "cow town" for a reason. We had the highest office vacancy in the nation, fields of empty parking lots, and stretches of empty industrial wastelands. I don't understand why anyone finds that appealing, or would long for a return to anything close to that. Part of living in a larger city is it evolves and changes. Yes, there are things Denver could be doing better (architecture,transit,etc), but there are a lot of choices the city has made that are paying huge dividends right now. What you call soul and character, I call urban blight.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by twister244

Well that escalated quickly.....

If by grit, character, and soul, you mean parking lots, a train station that was empty and underutilized with parking out front, empty warehouses that were unsafe to walk by alone at night, and rail yards, then yes, that is disappearing from Denver.

A large chunk of the real soul and character was wiped off the map when the city decided to demolish half of downtown during the 60s/70s urban "renewal". During that period, the city lost vast sums of historical buildings. Luckily, some folks held onto whatever was left, and incorporated that into what we now know as LoDo.

And those empty warehouses? Many of those have been adapted for reuse as office space, restaurants, or other purposes (I.E. Denver Central Market, Improper City, etc). We now have an art festival (Crush) ever September up there where artists paint street murals on the side of buildings in alleys. Was that around 20-30 years ago? No, because no one would dare go up to RiNo for anything.

The highlands? Wasn't that long ago that area was nothing more than regular post-war bungalows with higher crime....... no thanks.

Many of the beautiful buildings we had 20-30 years ago are still here. Drive around Capitol Hill or Five Points, and you will still see the beautiful Victorian houses that were built generations ago.

And those viaducts under I70? Oh, you mean the viaducts of a highway that sliced through a historical neighborhood during America's post-war era when people were fleeing the inner city for inefficient, poorly planned suburbs? That same highway that will now be lowered below the surface so the neighborhoods can be reconnected.......

I am all for preserving a city's true identity, character, soul, or whatever you want to call it. However..... Denver used to be called a "cow town" for a reason. We had the highest office vacancy in the nation, fields of empty parking lots, and stretches of empty industrial wastelands. I don't understand why anyone finds that appealing, or would long for a return to anything close to that. Part of living in a larger city is it evolves and changes. Yes, there are things Denver could be doing better (architecture,transit,etc), but there are a lot of choices the city has made that are paying huge dividends right now. What you call soul and character, I call urban blight.

Again, change is good. Cities always evolve and change. However, there is a fine line between "change" and becoming an "imposter" of who you used to be.

I agree with you 100% about the horrors of DURA's Skyline Renewal Project which wiped out a vast majority of LoDo and older building stock throughout downtown. In fact, I believe it was the primary catalyst for the lack of vision in how we rebuilt the area; choosing to accept sterile "Disney Replica" buildings in our haste and sense of urgency to restore the wounds and parking lots left behind by the DURA wrecking ball. However, I would posit that our post-DURA recovery became such an overwhelming mindset for Denver's urban planning guidelines moving forward that it became a fallacy in and of itself: Restoring the sense of historicism and genuine uban grit that was lost to the wrecking ball, but while also striving to eliminate those very same aspects in our bid to create an idealized vision for a sterilized urban utopia. "We want to reclaim the vibes of all of the historic grit that we lost, but also ensure those same qualities aren't part of our master plan and - furthermore - do a clean sweep of the surrounding area to eliminate the warehouses, railyards, and the last remaining vestiges of classic Denver which we'd like to faux-replicate".

Next time I go to Marczyk's, I'll be sure to eat all of the high-end imported cheeses and re-stock the store's inventory with blocks of Velveeta "processed imitation cheese product".

[BG918]

Originally Posted by Fritzdude

Is it just me... or was Denver kind of ghetto between 1975–1990..? What the heck were they thinking back then?

So was New York City. American cities were grim places during those years. I would even say it wasn’t until around 2000 that Denver was really a desirable city when the revitalization of Lodo was well underway and Riverfront Park was just starting to redevelop after being a viaduct-filled wasteland.

In the 90’s Wash Park and Highlands were high crime neighborhoods where people put bars on their windows (some are still there if you look hard enough). Gang violence in what is now Rino and adjacent Five Points into North Park Hill was at an all time high, even a child visiting the Denver Zoo was hit by a stray bullet in 1993. I remember driving through Denver in the early 90’s on the way to the mountains and never stopping..

[fleury]

Originally Posted by Matt

Some people would call that "grit", "character", or "soul" - none of which Denver had any abundance of to begin with, but now is completely gone. While continued and sustained growth is good and should not be discouraged, Denver has all but morphed into a master-planned Disney resort, so contrived and with no authenticity, that we've essentially become a trendy marketing brand aimed at craft beer drinkers and the outdoorsy crowd. The end product we've become is a city devoid of genuine personality, as reflected by our confused architecture and our lack of a true sense of historic identity.

I'm not even a native and I can bear witness to how impersonal and phony our city has become. The membership card to our contrived theme park mandates owning a Subaru and 2 dogs. Hipster beard and man-bun are optional, but strongly encouraged so that our costumes are consistent and don't alarm the tourists.

While you still can, I urge you to enjoy places such as the dirty alleys downtown, driving underneath the shadow of the I-70 viaduct, and listening to the stories being told by the veteran industrial buildings along Brighton Blvd. For one day, all that remains of any authenticity Denver once had will be gone. Our transformation into a green-roof, bike-riding, new-urbanist utopian experiment is nearing completion along with our inflated ego of self-importance and smug sense of entitlement. Since no boom cycle lasts forever, Denver will no doubt hit hard times once again - perhaps even more severe than the 1980s oil bust. Then - and only then - will the genuine Denver emerge from beneath the ashes; our story has always been perseverence in the face of fire, flood, economic turmoil, and other adversity and hardships. That's what I love about this city and why I've always been drawn to it.

This story is getting old. If you don't like Denver, then leave. It sucks that we lost our downtown to high rises, but whining about it isn't going to help. Denver has done a good job preserving what we have left, and the energy now is far better than it ever has been.

I will give you this though, you are a creative writer.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by fleury

This story is getting old. If you don't like Denver, then leave. It sucks that we lost our downtown to high rises, but whining about it isn't going to help. Denver has done a good job preserving what we have left, and the energy now is far better than it ever has been.

I will give you this though, you are a creative writer.

Got to agree. Denver isn't for everyone, and I have no problem with that. There's lots of great places to live in this country, and I strongly encourage folks to look elsewhere if what they find here doesn't suit them. I would never for am minute consider living in a city that meets the description that Matt gave.

Of course, I don't agree with his description. And, for the most part, I think people who live here know exactly what they have. They have no inflated sense of self importance, no claims to be an "Alpha" or even a "Beta" world city's. Compared to most of the city boards, I see very little comparisons on here, claiming Denver is better than this or that city. No superiority complexes, but no inferiority complexes, too. It's just Denver.

But as someone who was born and grew up here, I very much like the Denver of 2018 far better than the Denver of 1988 or 1978 or 1968. A lot of silly romanticism can be thrown at the past - but as others have noted, for a time, Denver seemed to be in a death spiral. One that stopped. For all the talk of gentrification, you could just as easily call it a "restoration", the return of the city to its historical, thriving self.

And besides, I don't know anyone with a Subaru or a man bun.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Matt

we've essentially become a trendy marketing brand aimed at craft beer drinkers and the outdoorsy crowd.
....
The membership card to our contrived theme park mandates owning a Subaru and 2 dogs. Hipster beard and man-bun are optional, but strongly encouraged so that our costumes are consistent and don't alarm the tourists.

Originally Posted by Matt

While you still can, I urge you to enjoy places such as the dirty alleys downtown, driving underneath the shadow of the I-70 viaduct, and listening to the stories being told by the veteran industrial buildings along Brighton Blvd. .

Originally Posted by Matt

Our transformation into a green-roof, bike-riding, new-urbanist utopian experiment is nearing completion along with our inflated ego of self-importance and smug sense of entitlement.

.....Priceless

At least you can celebrate that Mayor Hancock received you email and actually took it to heart. From his State of the City:
https://coloradopolitics.com/text-ha...e-of-the-city/

We need to make sure people can afford to live here. We need to protect what we love about our neighborhoods. This is how Denver will continue to rise – together.

The State of our City is the State of Each of us – everyone living and working in every part of our city from Sunnyside to Hampden, the Airport to Bear Valley.

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

And besides, I don't know anyone with a Subaru or a man bun.

Perhaps you need to get out once in awhile. I saw all that in my recent 4-day visit to Colorado and Denver.