Denver Development Etceteras Thread #5

[jimluk]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

I guess I am really not following your criticism here. Bad architecture, okay, I don't really have an opinion either way. But bad urban form? How so? I'm really not sure how I could improve on the urban form here; this is exactly what we need.

Are you just concerned about the ceiling height? Why? I'm not sure eyes on the street are that critical (relative to the eyes on the ground - and feet- a grocery store will pull in), and even so, what's the difference between eyes at 20' and eyes at 30'?

Retail spaces are better with high ceilings. The higher, the better. And also the more versatile that space will be in the future if it's ever not a grocery store anymore. I don't see any downside at all to this.

I agree from a development standpoint this is good, the uses are good, the residential puts more people living downtown, the grocery store makes living downtown better for thousands more. My argument is more of a rehash of the earlier debate about block size buildings in the ballpark and articulation of facades, I'm just saying that the proportions and scale feel wrong.

Its the architectural education in me I guess, its super brick(utility brick?) vs modular brick. Architecture should be about the relation of space to the scale of the person, regardless of style or -ism. For example look at the size(not to mention color) of the bricks/blocks on the Glass House compared to any building in Lodo. Scale is why Southlands, and Northfield, and Southglen, and 29th street, and Belmar, don't feel like what they are trying to imitate.

What I am afraid of is something like the 800 block of Acoma. Its got all the density/massing of what is being proposed for Union Station but it feels wrong if you walk down the street. The scale is wrong, the buildings face inward, the unit access and orientation is inward, there are no stoops, or doors, or walkups, (or balconies for that matter which makes this comparison a bit flawed, also does 816 acoma have minimal unoccupied retail?) but its definitely not what I want the Union Station neighborhood to be.

I had a professor in school who preached the concept of "urban fabric"(see Renee Chow, "Suburban Space:the fabric of dwelling", not my prof btw) Basically the internal dimensions, access, claim and use of the buildings and the rhythm of these concepts across multiple buildings defines the neighborhood and thus "place". In short you can make the buildings look like something desirable(ie: lodo) but if they don't function the same the overall effect will be lost.

Again, the building and grocery store are a HUGE WIN and should have been built 5 years ago if it were not for East West). This probably really isn't the forum to pick architecture fights with myself but I think a lot of these developments are getting these things wrong, then again there is very little to nil ROI on materiality and feeling and human scale. I just wonder about the net effect this has on the built environment/perception of architects/architecture. Would you average person who says contemporary architecture is cold or boring or whatever feel the same if the building scale related to them better.(see comments on ken's blog)

To address your other points more succinctly;

"Urban form" was probably the wrong word, not sure I have a word for whatever nebulous concept I'm attempting to define above.

Ceiling height doesn't concern me much in the grocery store, in fact if we are talking about feeling, height helps in a big box, think the Speer King Soopers. I do take issue with applying the height across the whole building, seems like a waste of money and resources, which could be applied to the materiality for example.

Eyes on the street- I think there is a big difference between balcony's at 20 and 30 feet, though if that was the only thing maybe I wouldn't make such a big deal about it. Somewhere in that height range I think the disconnect between what goes on outside and what is inside your apartment appears. At 12' feet you see the street while sitting at your desk or dining room table, at 20' feet you probably see the other side of the street while standing up in your apartment, at 30 feet you only hear the street/have to go to the window to see, in the Spire someone could get stabbed/mugged on Champa and you probably wouldn't know. I would also argue that a grocery store doesn't add many eyes at street level, I'm sure many of the windows will be blacked out, along 20th for sure.

[bunt_q]

There's really no street on the 20th side anyways, so that's a lost facade regardless.

But hey, I am all for architects criticizing architects. I'll give you the urban form. It's on you guys to make buildings that don't suck that your client can afford, and/or convince your client little bricks are worth the cost. It would sure be nice if y'all could break up facades and do other creative little things without us having to be the bad guys and writing code to force it. Architecture through zoning is not ideal. And I completely blame architects for us having to do it.

[balugajames]

Does anyone know what the details are regarding the plot of land on 15th and little raven adjacent to confluence?

[The Dirt]

Details, no? A link to an old Denver Infill post by Ken, yes: http://denverinfill.com/blog/2010/06...ct-update.html

A picture to make everyone think for a second that something's actually going to happen here in the near future, also yes:

[RyanD]

I was goofing around with an old phone and a timelapse app and got this as a test for what it can do.. Gotta love Denver sunsets.. I think I'm going to do a 24 hour skyline one next.

• Video Link

[pablosan]

That is pretty cool.

[bunt_q]

That is neat. How much time did that one minute represent, any idea? It sure seemed like *everybody* turned their lights on at the same time. Wondering how long that actually took.

Forget 24 hours. You should do a full year!

[RyanD]

It was 1972 frames taken with a picture taken around every 8 seconds. The project was rendered at 30 frames per second. So about 7 frames were taken each minute. Roughly 4.25 minutes pass for each second of the video. That gives you approx. 4.6 total hours.

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

That is neat. How much time did that one minute represent, any idea? It sure seemed like *everybody* turned their lights on at the same time. Wondering how long that actually took.

Forget 24 hours. You should do a full year!

Someone did a 3 week Solargraphy from Denver:


http://www.solargraphy.com/index.php...=332&Itemid=23

But I'm pretty positive that's not what you're looking for...


Some interesting Denver timelapses:

Video Link

(turn sound off, terrible song)

Video Link

Video Link

(Ok to crappy music and but great movement)

Video Link

(Great view of Downtown from Glasshouse. Is this the same Rick of DUS Updates?)

Video Link

(Good music. You can never go wrong w/ Explosions in the Sky. And great movement)

And my personal favorite:
• Video Link

[bunt_q]

That ominous music with the last one kind of freaks me out. It's like I'm sitting on the edge of my chair, tense, waiting for the flash that ends it all.

[CharlesCO]

I also recognize the videographer of that third one as an employee of Fox 31. He shot those for them, and they were incorporated into their graphics:

• Video Link

[texcolo]

What happened to the Little Man Creamery?

Is it gone? I went by there the other day and it was a hole in the ground???

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by texcolo

What happened to the Little Man Creamery?

Is it gone? I went by there the other day and it was a hole in the ground???

Their most recent FB says they're open until midnight come May. No idea what you're on about...

[comoneymaker]

Ryan what app was that?

[DownhomeDenver]

Originally Posted by texcolo

What happened to the Little Man Creamery?

Is it gone? I went by there the other day and it was a hole in the ground???

Uhm it's up the street dude.

[bunt_q]

Texans...

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by comoneymaker

Ryan what app was that?

It's called Lapse It.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...BzZUl0UHJvIl0.

[wong21fr]

So, Zocalo pulled a building permit for Cadence Apartments (17th & Wewatta) last week and a building permit was also pulled for the Colorado National Bank Hotel Conversion (17th & Champa).

Let's get the boom rolling!

[CastleScott]

Hey everyone looks like we're going to get 2 Cabela's stores in the metro soon...

Cabela's Confirms It Will Open Two New Stores in Metro Denver
By Howard Pankratz The Denver Post 04/26/2012 - 10:19 AM EDT
Cabela's announced today that it plans to open two new stores in the Denver metropolitan area by next year.

The Sidney, Neb. outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, said construction on locations in Thornton and Lone Tree will begin this fall with both locations scheduled for opening in 2013.

Cabela's spokesman Wes Remmer said that each store will have about 150 employees.

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"Because of the longstanding loyalty of our customers in the Centennial State, the abundance of outdoor opportunities across the region and Denver's proximity to Cabela's headquarters, its the perfect situation to open two stores," said Cabela's chief executive Tommy Millner . "This is the first time we've simultaneously announced two stores in the same metropolitan area so that says a lot about how we feel about the Denver area. It's a landmark day."

The 110,000-square-foot Lone Tree store will be located in Douglas County south of Denver in the new RidgeGate Commons development along I-25 at RidgeGate Parkway.

"We enthusiastically celebrate and welcome the arrival of Cabela's into the Douglas County community," said Jill Repella , Douglas County Commissioner.

The 90,000-square-foot Thornton store will be located north of Denver in a new retail development along Interstate 25 at 144th Avenue.

The new development will be located on the southeast quadrant of the interchange and is being developed by Thornton Development, LLC, an affiliate of THF Development .

"This is great news for the City of Thornton. City Council has wanted to bring jobs and development to this important corridor to Thornton for quite a while," said Thornton Mayor Heidi Williams.

The city of Thornton said the new Cabela's store in Thornton is scheduled to open midyear 2013 . The city said Cabela's will be part of the new 63-acre retail development approved by the Thornton City Council.

"It's an incredible opportunity to bring this icon retail concept to the market. With Cabela's leading the way at the center, we anticipate great energy and market anticipation," said project manager Karen Blumenstein .

The city of Thornton, Cabela's and THF Development will hold a groundbreaking ceremony later this summer, said the city.

Both stores will be built in Cabela's next-generation layout, designed to surround customers in an outdoor-like experience with trophy animal mounts and wildlife displays.

Cabela's currently operates 36 retail stores across the United States and Canada.

In March, The Denver Post reported that Cabela's was expected to announce its intent to enter the metro-area market with stores in Thornton and Lone Tree .

Cabela's, which specializes in merchandise for hunting and fishing enthusiasts, decided last summer to shelve a plan to build a 130,000- square- foot store on the Clear Creek Crossing Development site in Wheat Ridge.

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com

[BG918]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

So, Zocalo pulled a building permit for Cadence Apartments (17th & Wewatta) last week and a building permit was also pulled for the Colorado National Bank Hotel Conversion (17th & Champa).

Let's get the boom rolling!

So is that the first permit issued for actual buildings at Union Station besides the north wing IMA building? That will be great to see a 13? story building rise at 17th & Wewatta. When I walked by there last week it looked like they were getting pretty close to pouring concrete for the new stretch of Wewatta between 16th and 17th. They should also be opening up the north lanes of 16th between Wewatta and Wynkoop in the next few weeks unless they are staying closed during construction of the south wing building.