DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[Cirrus]

Hey Matt, just curious if you still consider corporate headquarters to be one of the most important things Denver needs to get more of.

[Stonemans_rowJ]

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.

Matt, really enjoy your prose, and the idea of Denver's authenticity or loss thereof is such a fascinating topic.

I would argue, however, that authentic people, businesses, neighborhoods etc will always be here and authentic people will always find these places and people.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

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.

I didn't say I didn't see any, just that I don't know any! We chose the company we keep.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Stonemans_rowJ

Matt, really enjoy your prose, and the idea of Denver's authenticity or loss thereof is such a fascinating topic.

I would argue, however, that authentic people, businesses, neighborhoods etc will always be here and authentic people will always find these places and people.

Perfect segue into...


Photo courtesy: TheDenverChannel.com

Takeaway from Mayor Michael Hancock's State of the City

I happen to catch video of the Mayor's speech and you can read the text here: https://coloradopolitics.com/text-ha...e-of-the-city/

The Mayor's speech was first and foremost about a vision; it was aspirational; pretty much what you'd expect. A little too much politicking (outside of the city) for my taste; that said the political overtones with respect to the city I found 'telling.'

They are – WE ARE – places were values of inclusion and equity are celebrated. Global cities open doors. They don’t – we don’t – build walls. And we’ve made Denver a great and welcoming place to live.

What do you propose to do going forward?

we need to make sure our people’s place in our city is secure...The equity movement we are creating is about neighborhoods and people: Neighborhoods that are accessible, inclusive and affordable. An economy that extends opportunity to everyone. A city that preserves its history, character and sense of community, even in the midst of transformative change

The Mayor then gives many examples of how this is already occurring before coming back to...

Today, we will be taking an even stronger role in connecting people to opportunity, so no one is left behind. We are calling it the Equity Platform.

We will be establishing a new Neighborhood Equity and Stabilization Team, called NEST. The team will deploy resources specifically tailored to neighborhoods that are under threat of gentrification as new public and private investment comes in. They will jump in with residents and local businesses to understand their needs and blunt any threatened loss of culture, character and community that investment can cause.

The Mayor then goes into giving more examples of creating more 'equity' going forward.

Here's perhaps the irony for some
While nobody is against more affordable housing the Mayor seems to be reaching out to the concerns that Matt and others have; he seems to be talking directly to the anti-gentrification crowd, the neighborhood preservationist and NIMBY's to say "I hear your concerns and we'll address them going forward." (politically smart btw)

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

I didn't say I didn't see any, just that I don't know any! We chose the company we keep.

Yeah, I pretended not to see the difference.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Perfect segue into...


What do you propose to do going forward?

The Mayor then gives many examples of how this is already occurring before coming back to...

The Mayor then goes into giving more examples of creating more 'equity' going forward.

Here's perhaps the irony for some
While nobody is against more affordable housing the Mayor seems to be reaching out to the concerns that Matt and others have; he seems to be talking directly to the anti-gentrification crowd, the neighborhood preservationist and NIMBY's to say "I hear your concerns and we'll address them going forward." (politically smart btw)

I'd be interested to hear what we "do" about gentrification and preserving "affordable housing."

Obviously, public money can go to subsidize housing for a relatively small number of people and those lucky persons will clearly benefit. Second, you can incentive private parties to build affordable housing through things such as zoning variances that allow greater density in exchange for some component of affordable housing. Great, there's a few more units. You might be even one of those 33 lucky people to win the lottery for an affordable condo at the fabulous Coloradan.
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/05/1...dos-coloradan/

Still, I get the sense that those things are a proverbial drop in the bucket. How many people will benefit from those?

The basic problem is (drumroll) there's not enough supply and too much demand. The type of actions referred to above are like a five foot row of sandbags defending against a tsunami.

Ironically, the thing that would actually make a difference on housing prices - encouraging much more dense development in both emerging and existing neighborhoods is also opposed by many of the persons beating the anti-gentrification/affordable housing drum.

[rds70]

Some new images of Block 162:

[TakeFive]

July 12, 2018

Request For Qualifications: Colorado Convention Center Expansion Design/Build Services Procurement

The Department of Public Works, City and County of Denver (CCD), has issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in order to identify qualified bidders for the project listed above. RFQ documents will be available for download at...

Printed Responses are due at 10:00 a.m. local time, August 14, 2018, delivered to Public Works Finance and Administration...

This is to find their General Contractor

General Statement of Work: The City and County of Denver Public Works Department is soliciting Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) from General Contractors to provide Design Builder Services for the Colorado Convention Center Expansion Project.

[TakeFive]

ELEVATE DENVER GO BOND

$193 Million Now Available for Initial Elevate Denver Bond Program Project List
Jun 27, 2018

Denver is still very cool with creditors;

The City and County of Denver closed on the issuance of $261 million of general obligation bonds today; $193 million will go toward the Elevate Denver Bond Program and $67.9 million will go toward the refunding of the 2008 Justice System Bonds.

Denver’s AAA ratings were affirmed by all three major credit ratings agencies (S&P, Moody’s and Fitch). All three agencies cited the city’s strong fiscal management practices as a major factor in their ratings. The city’s strong economy, strong financial performance and healthy reserve levels also factored into the ratings.

The competitive sale allowed the city to secure a low interest rate of 2.9 percent on the Elevate Denver Bond Program bonds and 2.1 percent on the refunded Justice System Bonds. The refunding resulted in lower borrowing costs of $8.1 million.

[BG918]

Originally Posted by rds70

Some new images of Block 162:

LOL so Le Meridian and the Hyatt just disappeared?

[fleury]

Originally Posted by BG918

LOL so Le Meridian and the Hyatt just disappeared?

If they were there you wouldn't be able to see the building from this angle. Its typical to remove visual barriers when rendering urban buildings. The spaces are too tight to show the whole building.

Or at least the Hyatt...weird the meridian isn't shown.

[twister244]

So, it kinda looks like that crown lighting is back per those renderings.... or at least from what I can tell.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

It looks like Glenarm Place was bought alongside a parking lot at 1405 Glenarm. I'm curious to see if another 30 story hotel and/or residential building goes up there.

https://businessden.com/2018/07/17/d...y-parking-lot/

[mojiferous]

Originally Posted by SirLucasTheGreat

It looks like Glenarm Place was bought alongside a parking lot at 1405 Glenarm. I'm curious to see if another 30 story hotel and/or residential building goes up there.

https://businessden.com/2018/07/17/d...y-parking-lot/

The building uses that lot as parking, since the building was built without any (imagine that - a 31-story building without parking) - we looked at an apartment there a while ago and they have "complimentary valet parking" that is just someone who drives your car back and forth to the surface lot. So I would bet that nothing gets built there unless they figure out a different parking scheme

[rds70]

Kenect Denver has been reduced in height, but has the same number of units - 23 stories and 260 feet. The project will include 400+ units, co-working space and ground floor retail. It will still be a nice addition to Arapahoe Square:

[DenverInfill]

Originally Posted by mojiferous

The building uses that lot as parking, since the building was built without any (imagine that - a 31-story building without parking) - we looked at an apartment there a while ago and they have "complimentary valet parking" that is just someone who drives your car back and forth to the surface lot. So I would bet that nothing gets built there unless they figure out a different parking scheme

Red Peak had a proposal for that at one point, where they would develop the surface lot with a residential tower that would contain a couple extra levels of parking for the 1600 Glenarm tower. That approach would still be viable, if this new owner has any interest in seeing the surface lot developed.

[DenverInfill]

Originally Posted by rds70

Kenect Denver has been reduced in height, but has the same number of units - 23 stories and 260 feet. The project will include 400+ units, co-working space and ground floor retail. It will still be a nice addition to Arapahoe Square:

That's a better design, and the reduction in height won't matter that much considering it would still be the tallest tower in AS.

[twister244]

I would have preferred 34 floors.....

I feel like this will look more like the typical "barge" buildings we see in AS right now. Granted it's still the "tallest", but not by a ton.

[CastleScott]

^ I too would have preferred the taller plan-looks like the blank wall on the south side has some windows now. Don't understand why the north side doesn't unless folks don't want to look at an ally and roof of a historic building (since its tall the mountain views should be nice).

[The Dirt]

The south side windows are set back from the property line, while the north side is not.

[PLANSIT]

There are two towers planned for that side of the block along Lawrence. Side-by-side. Both are 24 floors.