COLORADO | Front Range Development Thread #2

[Denver Dweller]

http://gazette.com/high-rise-hotel-c...rticle/1575336

[Cirrus]

^
Here's the rendering:


From the developer, presumably. Gazette.com just says "artist."

Also this nugget, which is crazy:

Originally Posted by Gazette.com

Downtown Colorado Springs hasn't seen a newly constructed hotel in more than four decades or a new high rise in 15 years.

I know that's not news to anybody here, but when you it in such clear terms, amid such a huge boom in urban development in nearly all other US cities, it's incredible.

[seventwenty]

Remember the 80s? Remember when we thought that office parks and suburban development were how you'd grow a city, because downtowns where dead?

The dream of the 80s is alive in the Springs (the Springs the Springs the Springs)
(My office park has plenty of space)

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by acw007

Old Elk Distillery won landmark preservation commission approval tonight. This sends the development to the planning and zoning board next month paving the way for a fall/winter groundbreaking.

So many cool things happening in Fort Collins. You are so lucky to live where there's growth and transit and an urbanizing downtown - Ft. Collins style - and still be a "small town."

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

^ Also this nugget, which is crazy: I know that's not news to anybody here, but when you put it in such clear terms, amid such a huge boom in urban development in nearly all other US cities, it's incredible.

Amazing lapse of time and good judgment by the good people of Co-Springs. At least that is a pretty spiffy looking project.


"312 apartments going up near Promenade at Castle Rock"
May 5, 2016 by Molly Armbrister - Denver Business Journal

Greenwood Village-based retail developer Alberta Development Partners has sold a 15.2-acre parcel of land near its Promenade at Castle Rock project for the development of an apartment complex... to Embrey Partners Ltd.

"The Ledges at the Promenade will offer convenient walkability to more than 1 million square feet of adjacent shpis and retail, which will significantly increase the quality of life for future residents."

Alberta has done a number of nice projects including the Streets of SouthGlenn and bunt's Ft. Collins Foothills redevelopment.

[EngiNerd]

Another DTC development, this time just north of the parking garage for the Arapahoe|Village Center Light Rail Station . This has been an empty field for a surprisingly LONG time, really bummed they aren't going with a transit oriented development here, would have been a perfect place for it. This one already well under construction, BTW.



http://www.openstudioarchitecture.co...te-place/ifs7w

[TakeFive]

A confirmation of everything acw007 has been showing us!

"Apartment construction to surge in Fort Collins"
May 9, 2016 by Pat Ferrier - The Coloradoan

Seven permits issued to build 23 new multifamily housing units in Fort Collins through the year's first four months represent the calm before what should be a storm of apartment development in the city.

Fort Collins has nearly 2,000 apartments in all stages of the development pipeline — with the largest project on the books slated to bring about 400 apartments to the perimeter of Foothills Mall.

The article includes some interesting specifics about different projects.

[TakeFive]

Growing Growing Fort Collins

"Comcast is adding 600-job call center in Fort Collins"
May 17, 2016 by Greg Avery - Denver Business Journal

A majority of the positions in Fort Collins will be new additions for Comcast; some will be transferred from elsewhere, said Leslie Oliver, spokeswoman for Comcast in Colorado.

[TakeFive]

Aurora is holding a Strip Party

Today, Tuesday, all day, starts the demolition process of Regatta Plaza at I-225 and Parker Road. The only businesses left in the 22-acre plaza are King Soopers and Key Bank. Before the end of the year they should be building Kroger's new King Soopers store.

In addition to a new King Soopers with a fueling station, there will be a 'main street' with shops and restaurants, multi-family residential, an urban park, and an office building," When it's complete, Regatta Plaza will feature more than 500 residential units, 100,000 square feet of retail space and up to 250,000 square feet of commercial space, according to officials.

[TakeFive]

THE TECH BOOM’S SECOND CITIES
By Vauhini Vara , MAY 27, 2016 - The New Yorker

Last summer, after our son was born, my husband and I left San Francisco, our home for about fifteen years, and moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, a college town that is about an hour’s drive north of Denver. San Francisco is almost improbably pretty, a soft macaron of a city, and we were sad to leave, but we thought that it would be better if we did.

Why did you leave San Francisco?

My husband is a college professor, and I am a journalist, so we make a decent living by most standards, except those of coastal U.S. cities. We could afford to live in San Francisco only because we’d been lucky enough to find landlords who were willing, out of simple kindness, to rent us a one-bedroom apartment for well under market rate.

But then I got pregnant. ... So when my husband was offered a job in Fort Collins, we eagerly moved.

My husband and I liked thinking that we were at the vanguard of an important economic and cultural shift toward this part of the country—“Fort Collins is the new Portland!” he kept telling people.

Well written, there's more to read.

[TakeFive]

The NIMBY's are out tonight

Renderings created by Ktgy and on file with Littleton via BusinessDen.

"Littleton City Council votes tonight about stopping an apartment construction project it previously approved"
JUNE 7, 2016 by MARGARET JACKSON - BusinessDen (nice to see Margaret finding another site to write for)

An escalating development dispute in Littleton has at least two councilmen trying to void a building permit for work that’s already underway.

The Littleton City Council is considering revoking the building permit the city granted Zocalo Community Development to build The Grove apartment community more than a month after construction on the project has started.

courtesy: funnyjunk

The council, expected to take up the measure tonight, appears to be responding to a small group of residents that opposes growth and wants the project stopped. But the city staff found the project to be in compliance with Littleton’s city code and zoning regulations.

Zocalo principal David Zucker said he’d sue Littleton for $30 million if the permit is revoked. “This is nearly unprecedented in Colorado,” he said. “Council should be concerned about the antibusiness message this sends for those considering moving to Littleton.”

[TakeFive]

Not so fond memories as history marches on


"The Fan Fair shopping center was designed by William Munchow and built in 1961. The building consisted of 36 thin-shell concrete domes, connected and laid out in a rectangular plan. Fan Fair closed in 1965. From 1969-1984, the building was used by Western Electric. It remained vacant after that. These photos are from 2012. The building was demolished in 2013."
Photo and caption credit: Roadside Architecture

"Aurora launches redevelopment process for Fan Fare site"
Updated May 26, 2016 by Molly Armbrister - Denver Business Journal

The Aurora Urban Renewal Authority... will issue a request for qualifications in search of developer to work on an 11.9-acre parcel known as the Fan Fare site,

The building, known for its white bubble roof, has since been demolished. The land was also put through an environmental remediation process. AURA also purchased a $2 million environmental liability policy that is transferrable to a future developer.

Interesting is that this site is just east of the highly successful Lowry redevelopment, but fronting Havana it's a different "climate."

AURA is looking for a development concept that will address the goals of building a mixed-use, high-density, pedestrian oriented project, the organization said in a release.

This is not likely to be as attractive as the Regatta Plaza redevelopment site was but who knows.

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by seventwenty

slv updates: Alamosa is getting an ihop. They're pouring the foundation in january. So....

Regardless, i hear people in pueblo are worried. They view alamosa as a threat.

it opens on monday

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by seventwenty

it opens on monday

[TakeFive]

Rendering courtesy of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank via BusinessDen

Comcast signs big office lease at growing Centennial development
Jun 13, 2016 by Molly Armbrister - Denver Business Journal

Comcast will lease the five-story building called Inova I that broke ground in September, developed by United Properties and Principal Real Estate Investors at 7250 S. Havana St.Construction is expected to be completed in November, and Comcast will occupy the property in the first quarter of 2017.

Developers will now break ground on the second phase of Inova Dry Creek, a four-story, 235,800-square-foot speculative Class A office building. Inova II will be located at the northeast corner of the campus and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017.

[acw007]

Big ol' hole @ Uncommon :

[comoneymaker]

[transistor]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

Great place for the 34th Annual Goat Herder International Conference, and the 225th Annual Teetotaler Party National Convention.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by acw007

Big ol' hole @ Uncommon :

Remind me what they're putting into that big ol' hole.

[acw007]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Remind me what they're putting into that big ol' hole.

Uncommon - 6 floors - 120 apartments - 11,000 square feet ground floor retail - 128 subterranean parking spaces



Now featuring tower crane!



At 180,000 square feet, Uncommon will add some serious bulk to downtown Fort Collins. This is the largest building in terms of height and mass built in 15 years. In terms of residential units this is the largest building built since 1970.

BUT!!! If all goes as planned Block 23 will eclipse uncommon and all recent development. Developers are planning 180 residential units and 60,000 square feet of commercial space in a “iconic” building adjacent to Old Town Flats. The site is zoned for up to 115’ ft tall. Not sure how iconic you can get with that so I’m hoping for an amazing design.