Denver Development Etceteras Thread #5

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by FrancoRey

^ I remember that project. It came around in the first boom back in 2006-7. It looked like a giant square block row house straight out of Paris. I can't find the old rendering but it didn't look bad. However, I believe the old one was eight stories. Five still isn't bad though.

Does anyone know as part of this building's construction whether or not they will keep that old structure on the site? I think the old plan called for it to be renovated into a small lounge or restaurant. I hope they do save it. It's a unique little building and it's a miracle it's lasted this long given the no man's land the area used to be with all the rail yard tracks and train structures. I would love to see it become a small lounge bar with a courtyard and trees, which in turn is surrounded by the new senior structure. It would make for a perfect European-style, U-shaped public courtyard.

Agreed. I hope that small, old building is able to become part of the overall development. It's an old private train depot, isn't it?

Aaron (Glowrock)

[DownhomeDenver]

Originally Posted by glowrock

Agreed. I hope that small, old building is able to become part of the overall development. It's an old private train depot, isn't it?

Aaron (Glowrock)

Yes the old Moffatt (sp?) Train station.

[DownhomeDenver]

Originally Posted by rds70

No rendering, but an article in this weeks Denver Business Journal states that it will be 5 stories and include 205 units. Balfour is still the developer.

Also, a construction trailer is now on the Cadence Apartments site and some of the asphalt has been torn up. At least a start!

Here's the snippet from the article:

Balfour, which has an existing campus in Louisville, is developing a 205-unit CCRC complex at 15th Street and Little Raven in the Riverfront Park neighborhood downtown — a project that stalled for five years during the recession.

The five-story complex will have 115 units of independent living, 65 assisted living and 28 memory care units. Schonbrun expects to break ground on the complex in the fall, with the first units being delivered in spring 2014.

And...

• Spectrum Retirement Communities LLC of Denver will move dirt this summer on High Pointe Assisted Living, a four-story facility planned for Interstate 25 and Hampden Avenue. It will be the third facility Spectrum has built in metro Denver in the last three years, according to Managing Director John Sevo.

Date: Friday, May 18, 2012, 4:00am MDT
Dennis Huspeni
Reporter- Denver Business Journal

[Paulopolis]

Originally Posted by DownhomeDenver

Yes the old Moffatt (sp?) Train station.

I never knew it was a private train station at one time. One of the times I was last in Denver, I made it a point to walk by this building. The words "Marcus Bros." is written above one of the former doorways. I've tried to find out what that means or what it is from, but my access to Denver historical information is not so good. Does anyone know?

Originally, I think the building was to be refurbished and turned into an amenity for the development. It is such a unique space, I hope it can be given a more public use: cafe, restaurant, shop. Does the new Balfour development have a retail component? If so, this could be a nice portion of that. I'm a bit surprised more wasn't done by the community at large to preserve it and utilize it (like the Saddlery Bldg. down the road.)

Here's the original rendering of the Cosmopolitan Club. Actually, this might be the second rendering, but it's still my favorite. It does remind me of something you'd find in France.

http://denverinfill.com/images/redev...osmoClub_1.jpg

[rml213]

I know there is so much going on Downtown that it's easy to get lost in the shuffle but preliminary work has started for a 200+ apartment development down at Broadway & Tennessee directly across from Gates and the Alexan. Being that I live at Alexan and love South Broadway, this project is HUGE to the urbanism of the area. Can't wait!

[sphinx88844]

Originally Posted by rml213

I know there is so much going on Downtown that it's easy to get lost in the shuffle but preliminary work has started for a 200+ apartment development down at Broadway & Tennessee directly across from Gates and the Alexan. Being that I live at Alexan and love South Broadway, this project is HUGE to the urbanism of the area. Can't wait!

Is there any timeline for the factory to come down?

[cona]

Originally Posted by sphinx88844

Is there any timeline for the factory to come down?

I don't anything has changed since 2009 when the Gates company took the property back. There is no development planned at this time or future.

Check out this article from DP 2009, its a good summary of the situation...

Money woes foil Gates factory real estate plans
The rubber firm takes land back as financing falters for developers.
POSTED: 09/12/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
UPDATED: 09/12/2009 08:58:12 AM MDTBy Margaret Jackson
The Denver Post
The much-touted redevelopment of the old Gates Rubber factory south of downtown has become the latest victim of the financial meltdown plaguing the real estate industry.

The project, which would have been Denver's largest redevelopment since Stapleton, was expected to cost $1 billion and take up to 15 years to complete. The city had pledged $85 million in public financing toward cleaning up the site and rebuilding it into a residential and retail hub designed around access to public transportation.

Developers originally projected the city would gain 2,500 housing units and 5,000 permanent jobs from the project, boosting city tax revenues.

But with developer Cherokee Denver unable to get financing to continue environmental remediation, Gates Corp. has taken a portion of the 50-acre site back.

"Gates decided the most responsible thing to do is take title," said Tom Reeve, executive vice president of the company. "Cherokee had an obligation to Gates to fund and complete the environmental remediation but failed to do it because it doesn't have the funding. We took the property back to ensure that is done."

Cherokee Denver spent a substantial amount of money on rezoning the site, cleanup, demolition and legal fees, said Ferd Belz of Cherokee. He declined to specify exactly how much the company spent.

Cleanup was required because the site is contaminated with asbestos and trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent.

No public money has been spent on the project to date, but the Denver Urban Renewal Authority will continue to have the capacity to issue bonds for future development of the site for 25 years, said Tracy Huggins, executive director of the agency.

"There's no reason to do anything until there is greater clarity on what the next steps for the project might include," she said. "Our commitment to the project remains in place. That site is what urban renewal is all about."

Gates has long history

The 16-acre site Gates is taking back is east of Interstate 25 and north of West Mississippi Avenue. Cherokee already had sold the property south of Mississippi to Trammell Crow Residential, which developed it with 475 apartments.

Cherokee paid $26.5 million for the entire 50 acres in December 2001, according to real estate records.

Gates' history in Denver extends back to 1911, when Charles Gates Sr. bought the Colorado Tire and Leather Co. The company was operated by the Gates family until mid-1996, when it was sold to Tomkins PLC, a British conglomerate, for about $1.1 billion.

Use of the site had been drastically reduced over the years. When the parcel was sold in 2001, many of the buildings had been idle for more than a decade.

While Gates has its roots in Denver, parent company Tom kins is based in London, causing some concern that the site will be left to languish even though the company has the financial wherewithal to clean it up.

"My biggest fear is that they will lose track of it and won't feel compelled to do anything for a long time, and we won't know how to reach them," said Marilee Utter, president of Citi venture Associates LLC, a Denver advisory and development firm focusing on mixed-use and transit-oriented development.

Upkeep of the property is another concern, said Rich Delanoy, a business owner in nearby Platt Park neighborhood who said he attended at least 100 meetings about the project.

"Cherokee was very good about taking care of graffiti and broken windows, and clearly Gates wasn't when they owned the property," Delanoy said. "The question is, who's going to maintain it?"

"Future is uncertain"

Cherokee is retaining ownership of the property on the west side of I-25, which already has been cleaned up. In 2006, Cherokee had a deal to sell the 24-acre site to Chicago-based Joseph Freed and Associates, which wanted to build 1,500 residential units, 565,000 square feet of retail space and 200,000 square feet of office space on the property. Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas was the first tenant to be announced for the site.

Unable to secure financing for the project, Freed pulled out of the deal in 2007.

"Cherokee still owns it, but we're not in a position to develop it," Belz said. "Its future is uncertain."

Cherokee worked for years with public officials and neighborhood organizations to make sure its redevelopment would be superior, said Karen Cuthbertson, a member of the Athmar Park Neighborhood Association west of the site.

"We were all very excited," she said. "But we've all been worried for a while now. . . . While it's not unexpected, it's really disappointing."



Read more: Money woes foil Gates factory real estate plans - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/c...#ixzz1vLyZLvKN
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

[JR_xox]

Originally Posted by FrancoRey

Does anyone know as part of this building's construction whether or not they will keep that old structure on the site?

Moffat Station is going to be retained and incorporated into the building function, yes.

The exterior will be restored, incluing the pommel globes up on the roof line.

It's supposed to become a Great Room/Library for the senior residents of the facility. On either side of this great room will be a private courtyard and the north side ties into a main building corridor.

[FrancoRey]

Originally Posted by JR_xox

Moffat Station is going to be retained and incorporated into the building function, yes.

The exterior will be restored, incluing the pommel globes up on the roof line.

It's supposed to become a Great Room/Library for the senior residents of the facility. On either side of this great room will be a private courtyard and the north side ties into a main building corridor.

Well aside from being sad it will not be a more public structure, I'm glad they are keeping the building and doing, more or less, as I want. Franco is pleased.

Courtyards should surround the structure in its entirety, IMO. Don't overwhelm the building with an attaching 'corridor', unless it's only a small, single-story 'connector' of sorts that terminates right outside or at the entrance. I have horrid visions of the building being 'attached' to the new structure like some sort of appendage. Hopefully that vision doesn't come true.

I also hope, despite the initial plans, Balfour considers opening the building up to the public as the same function. A library/book lounge with a coffee shop a-la a cool and mini 'Tattered Cover' would be a real hit for that area, IMO. Allow the residents of the area to mingle, be them young or old. If they are worried about security, just keep a gate with keycard access or something to separate the private, inner courtyard and access corridor from the public courtyards immediately surrounding the library/lounge.

[DownhomeDenver]

From the Denver Library's Western History collection, I vaguely remember this building. This is at 1800 Market St, I'd take this over that crappy parking lot.

http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm...oll22/id/82309

[rds70]

Here is a rendering of the 1490 Delgany apartment project that I received from Amstar, one of the project partners. I believe it is the most recent. There are a few minor differences between this version and the older one. However, the most significant is that it looks like the exterior will be clad with brick vs. what looks like EIFS panels on the old version. Take a look:

New Version (sorry for the size, but it is necessary to see the detail):




Old Version:

[BG918]

I heard today that Union Station Block A will indeed be a hotel and also will include offices and residential on the Wewatta side. Renderings should be released soon. Rds can probably get them; I believe klipp is the architect. I would think it would be a national brand hotel, like Marriott or (fingers crossed) W, so as not to compete as much with the Union Station boutique hotel inside the old depot.

Current Union Station projects/proposals:
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
- North Wing / IMA Financial Building - Office/Retail - 5 stories - 18th & Wynkoop
- Cadence Apartments - Residential/Retail - 13 stories/220 units - 17th & Wewatta/Chestnut

PROPOSED
- South Wing Building - Office/Retail - 5 stories - 16th & Wynkoop
- 16 Wewatta/Triangle Building - Office/Retail - 11 stories - 16th & Wewatta
- Block A - Hotel/Office/Residential/Retail - ?? stories - 16th & Wewatta
- 1601 Wewatta - Office/Retail - 10 stories - 16th & Wewatta/Chestnut
- 16 Chestnut - Office/Retail - 17 stories - 16th & Chestnut
- Alta City House - Residential/Retail - 5 stories/280 units - 18th/19th & Chestnut
- 20 Chestnut - Residential/Retail/Full-Service Grocery Store - 5 stories/?? units - 19th/20th & Chestnut

[FrancoRey]

Originally Posted by rds70

Here is a rendering of the 1490 Delgany apartment project that I received from Amstar, one of the project partners. I believe it is the most recent. There are a few minor differences between this version and the older one. However, the most significant is that it looks like the exterior will be clad with brick vs. what looks like EIFS panels on the old version. Take a look:

New Version (sorry for the size, but it is necessary to see the detail):




Old Version:

Slightly better, but I still don't like it. Boo, I say. BOOOO!

Komerobi was a terrible victim of the Great Recession, along with so many other great projects.

[Cirrus]

A landlocked Aurora would be nice, but we can also be sure they'd annex everything they could get their hands on before the lock went into effect. Just like Broomfield did.

Westy, Louisville, and Lafayette didn't call Broomfield the evil empire for nothing.

[Cirrus]

I moved approximately the last 2.5 pages over to the transportation thread.

[FrancoRey]

Good idea. I thought things looked different around here.

So about that Colfax line....

Any construction pics from CPV please?

[enjo13]

You guys are going to love this:

http://www.hogsheadbrewery.com/

Now this is opening like three blocks from my house... so I'm super excited.

But apparently "slo-hi" is a thing now. Yep..."slo-hi".

[Okayyou]

Within a year I predict a neighborhood will be nicknamed YoLo

[DownhomeDenver]

Originally Posted by enjo13

You guys are going to love this:

http://www.hogsheadbrewery.com/

Now this is opening like three blocks from my house... so I'm super excited.

But apparently "slo-hi" is a thing now. Yep..."slo-hi".

Thats pretty dumb

[Fritzdude]

Has anyone taken a drive down Brighton Blvd lately and seen the apartment complex in Denargo?

That thing is massive..