The first project on our tour is the construction site of the Country Club Towers. This project is located just to the southwest of the intersection of Speer Boulevard and Downing Street. Two 31-story residential towers will stand and house a total of 551 apartment units. The Country Club Towers broke ground in June of 2015. The Broe Group is the developer.

The first photo was captured on the east side of the project at Downing Street and the other two photos were snapped on the west side of the project at Ogden Street.

Heading north we see the Speer Boulevard Apartments located at 6th Avenue, Grant Street and Speer Boulevard. This project is being developed by Gables Residential.

Just a block to the north is the construction site of 7|S Denver Haus at 7th Avenue and Sherman Street. This development was designed by Denver-based Crane Architecture. 7|S Denver Haus will hold 115 apartments.

At 6th Avenue and Broadway is the future site of Denver Health’s Support Services Building. This project broke ground in October and will reach 9 floors. It was designed by Denver-based Davis Partnership Architects. The building will also have space for ground floor retail where a BBQ restaurant is slated to open that will be owned by Justin Timberlake. The crane for the project was staged on Acoma as workers prepared to install it.

As seen from the Broadway side of the project:

In Denver’s Golden Triangle is the construction site of the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Contemporary Art. This construction site is located at 12th Avenue and Bannock Street. The Kirkland Museum currently resides in Capitol Hill and will move to the new Golden Triangle location once complete. Shaw Construction is the general contractor.

Just a block away at 13th and Cherokee is the construction site of the Eviva Cherokee apartment project. The Beck Group provided architectural services on this development and is also serving as the general contractor. Once finished Eviva Cherokee will rise to 19 floors. Atlanta-based Integral Group is the developer.

Walking north into downtown Denver at 15th and California we find the dual-brand hotel project that is being developed by White Lodging.  This site will become an AC Hotel by Marriott and a Starwood-branded Le Meridien Hotel and will rise to 20 floors once complete. Construction began in September. This project is under construction one block from the Colorado Convention Center. White Lodging also developed the dual-brand Hyatt House/Hyatt Place hotel located on 14th Street that opened in November.

Heading down 15th Street is the site of 1144 Fifteenth Street, a 40-story skyscraper under construction in downtown Denver at 15th Street and Arapahoe. This building will feature 640,000 square feet of office space. Pickard Chilton the architecture firm that designed 1144 Fifteenth Street.

1144 Fifteenth Street as seen from 15th Street and Arapahoe with 1401 Lawrence making a cameo behind it:

Just a stone’s throw away is the site of the 22-story 1401 Lawrence project. The building has now reached its top floor. This is another Denver project where The Beck Group designed the building and is also serving as the general contractor. Since 1401 Lawrence has reached its full height, here are several photos of this addition to downtown Denver.

Over in Riverfront Park The Confluence is taking shape at 15th Street and Little Raven. The 288-unit building will feature studio, one, two, and three bedroom apartments. The Confluence will reach 34 floors once finished.

Next is a look at the construction site of the 12-story Kimpton Hotel. This project will also include a 5-story office component as well. The hotel will house 200 rooms and space for ground floor retail/restaurants will also be constructed. This development is taking shape adjacent to the Denver Union Station train platform.

Also under construction in the Union Station neighborhood is the mixed-use Union Tower West development at 18th and Wewatta. Union Tower West will rise to 12 floors and will feature a 180-room Hotel Indigo along with 100,000 square feet of leasable office space. Atlanta-based Portman-holdings is the developer.

Pivot Denver is taking shape at 18th and Wewatta. Pivot Denver is set to feature a Whole Foods grocery store. Pivot Denver will include 580 apartment units and will top off at 13 floors. Holland Partner Group is the developer and Davis Partnership Architects designed the structure.

Along with Pivot Denver in the middle of the below photo, the lot in the foreground is the future site of 1709 Chestnut, a development that will feature a 24-story building and a 12-story building. Between these two structures 500 apartment units and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space will be constructed. Site prep work is underway on the 1709 Chestnut site.

On the same block as Union Tower West is the construction site of the Ashley Union Station affordable housing project as captured in the below photo.

In Denver’s LoDo neighborhood is the mixed-use Dairy Block development at the block of 18th, 19th, Wazee and Blake Streets. This development will feature leasable office space and a hotel that will be managed by Sage Hospitality. Earlier this year it was announced that Prologis will become the signature tenant of the office portion of the development.

Next is 1776 Curtis, a residential high-rise that will reach 29 floors, with the 29th floor serving as a mechanical penthouse. A total of 359 apartment units will be offered in studio, one, and two bedroom options. The 28th floor will feature penthouse units. The development will also include 999 17th Street, a 9-story office building that will be located at the 17th Street side of the block.

In Denver’s Uptown neighborhood at 20th and Logan Street is the Alexan Uptown apartment project. Alexan Uptown will top out at 12 floors and will be home to 372 apartment units.

Also in Uptown at 17th and Pennsylvania is the site of what will become the future home of the Colorado Health Foundation.

Work is now underway, and making its first appearance on the Denver construction update is 5280 Senior Housing, a six-story building that will house 99 residential units. construction on 5280 Senior Housing began the first week of February. This development is located at 1615 Pennsylvania Street in the Uptown neighborhood of Denver.

The last project on the update is SkyHouse Denver. This apartment project has been rising at 18th and Broadway. SkyHouse Denver will feature 354 apartment units and 6,900 square feet of space for ground floor retail.

That concludes this look at the construction projects taking shape in and around downtown Denver.

have a great week and thanks for stopping by,

Justin

The post Denver construction update: March appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

Rendering depicts future Block 162 office tower in the middle of the frame and the planned hotel portion of the development on the left side of the frame. Image courtesy Patrinely Group.

After much anticipation and after years of rumors, Texas-based Patrinely Group has announced plans to move forward with Block 162, a 32-story office tower. Block 162 will take shape in downtown Denver on the block of 15th Street, 16th Street, Welton and California. The project also includes plans for a hotel tower to be constructed on the block as well.

Block 162 is directly across the street from the 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center Hotel. The Colorado Convention Center is located one block to the southwest of Block 162. An RTD light rail station is located at the Colorado Convention Center as well as one adjacent to this property at 16th and California.

“We are very excited to have found a great site on light rail and adjacent to the 16th Street Mall to develop a contemporary, highly efficient office building, ” said Robert Fields, President & CEO of Patrinely Group.

Rendering depicts the location of Block 162 in downtown Denver. Image courtesy Patrinely Group.

The office tower is planned to feature 21 floors of leasable office space adding up to a total of 606,500 square feet. Three below-grade levels of parking and 13 above-grade levels will be incorporated into the building. The ratio of parking is two spaces for every 1,000 square feet of office space.

The 12th floor of the building will house a tenant only amenity level that will feature meeting rooms, a fitness center, and outdoor space.

Image courtesy Patrinely Group.

Denver-based NAI Shames Makovsky owns the entire block and has been working on plans to develop the property since the firm began acquiring real estate on the block in 2005.

The architect that designed Block 162 is Gensler.

Denver Urban Review asked a spokesperson with the Patrinely Group if a ground breaking date and construction timeline had been set for this Denver project. The spokesperson said specifics on when construction would begin are not yet established. The Patrinely Group did not have additional details to share in regards to the hotel portion of the development at Block 162.

The Denver office of Cushman and Wakefield is managing the leasing of the office tower.

The Block 162 office tower will join other large downtown Denver high-rise office projects that are currently under construction. The 40-story 1144 Fifteenth Street project that is being developed by Hines at 15th Street and Arapahoe will feature 640,000 square-feet of office space and is slated to be completed in two years. The 22-story 1401 Lawrence developmnt is expected to reach its top floor in February and it will house 306,000 square-feet of office space.

Block 162 as seen from California Street.

The post Block 162 announced appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

Denver Urban Review was provided a tour of the property for an inside look at downtown’s newest hotel. Denver’s Hyatt House/Hyatt Place is still a very active construction site. Workers are installing the final finishes to the first floor exterior. On the inside of the building drywall, painting, carpet installation and the placement of furniture and artwork is underway.

Indiana-based White Lodging developed this hotel which contains 361 rooms between both brands. Each of the hotels has rooms on every floor where one side of the building houses the Hyatt House rooms and the other side houses the Hyatt Place rooms. There is no dedicated partition or barrier between the two brands, so guests are not relegated to staying on one half of the building. One of the signature ways to distinguish the brands is by the different carpet patterns.

PFVS Architects is the firm that designed this structure.

The Hyatt Place provides 248 rooms and Hyatt House offers 113 rooms. An interesting tidbit on this hotel is that there is no button for the 13th floor. The building has 21 floors but the elevator buttons go up to floor 22 to accommodate no button representing the 13th floor.

Hyatt Place room.

Hyatt House Room

When asked what the greatest challenge on the construction of this project has been, assistant project manager Ryan Hunsley provided his insight.

“The Denver market is so saturated with construction projects right now that there is a big labor shortage. All throughout the construction industry around here it has been hard to get help. Much of the time we rely on temporary construction labor services to help supplement. That has been the hardest part is actually getting people on the job here.”

Senior Sales Manager Samantha Fletcher of Hyatt House/Hyatt Place explains the difference between the two brands.

“The Hyatt House side is more of your extended stay property, so it is for people looking for a long term visit. It is going to have a kitchen with the full-sized appliances. Hyatt Place is more of your transient travel and weekend travelers with a seamless transition between the work play experience,” stated Fletcher.

Both hotels will share a workout facility and swimming pool. Each brand will have it’s own breakfast areas on the first floor and independent check-in desks. Like the rest of the hotel, guests of each brand can move about the first floor with no barriers in between. Beetle kill pinewood paneling is being installed in the first floor lobby.

White Lodging recently broke ground in September on another hotel project in downtown Denver. This new project will be a 20-story dual-brand AC Hotel by Marriott and a Starwood-branded Le Meridien Hotel. This hotel will have a total of 491 rooms and is slated to open in 2017.

Below are a couple of photos from a room on the top floor of Hyatt House/Hyatt Place. The first photo looks down 14th Street towards the northwest. The second photo looks towards the northeast where many of Denver’s iconic skyscrapers can be seen.

The post Inside look at Denver’s dual-brand Hyatt appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

Denver has hired MIG and Fentress Architects, the original architects of the Center and expansion, who are now working on a master plan for the Colorado Convention Center and who have produced preliminary renderings of the expansion.

Rendering courtesy Visit Denver.

Funding would come by extending current taxes that are set to expire in 2023. Visit Denver states that no new taxes will be involved. 

Rendering courtesy Visit Denver.

Colorado Convention Center upgrades included in the package presented to voters include the addition of 85,000 square feet of meeting and ballroom space. The addition of 120,000 square feet of new pre-function and service space that will also include a 50,000 sq. ft. outdoor terrace to be located on the roof of the existing convention center. WiFi capacity would also be increased if approved.

“We’re very fortunate that in 1999, the architects and the City had the foresight to reinforce the roof during the expansion of the center to allow for vertical growth,” said Rachel Benedick, Vice President of Sales and Services at Visit Denver.

No timetable for the Colorado Convention Center improvements has been set.

Rendering courtesy Visit Denver.

The Colorado Convention Center opened its doors in June 1990 and hosts popular events such as the Great American Beer Festival and Denver Comic Com. The facility has also been credited with creating an increase in demand for downtown hotel rooms.

Denver Urban Review first reported on this initiative in June. To see that article click here.

The post Proposed Colorado Convention Center improvements appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

Panorama of 1401 Lawrence on the 12th floor.

The Beck Group designed this building and is serving as the general contractor on 1401 Lawrence. This building will rise to 22 floors once complete. Office space will sit upon 9 levels of parking.

Ground floor retail has also been incorporated into the structure. Space will exist for a 9,000 square foot restaurant and a coffee shop.

Workers install rebar that will reinforce the concrete once poured.

View looking north from 12th floor. Lots of construction cranes can be seen.

The project is being developed by Canadian developer First Gulf, the commercial division of Great Gulf Corporation, a Canadian-based organization.

National law firm Polsinelli has signed a 15-year lease to become the signature tenant of the building.

A worker welds on one of the floors designed for parking.

Workers on 12th floor of 1401 Lawrence.

Archuletta provided additional insight into the construction progress of 1401 Lawrence:

DUR: With it being September and winter around the corner, are there elements of this project you are pushing to get done before the snow flies?

Archuletta: The Weather is always a factor. We are really trying to get a lot of our first floor work done. Not necessarily closed in, but concrete completes. As we go up the floors we are always prepared for winter protection as far as heating of the slabs. We are supposed to get gas into the building permanently in the next month. During June, July, and August we start preparing for those colder months. It is not as concerning now that we are out of the ground, but we want to make sure we do not have to heat the ground.

DUR: When do you expect 1401 Lawrence will top out?

Archuletta: Our current top out date is the end of February.

DUR: There is a shortage of construction workers right now, what are you doing to make sure you have plenty or workers on the job?

Tower crane of 1401 Lawrence with the Four Seasons in the background.

Archuletta: That seems to be the part we can control. What we are doing is trying to be the best planners out there, so we meet every morning to talk about that day’s goals. We monitor areas where we tend to slow down and areas where we are really good at and try and really understand why. We really attack that and become more productive. We are kind of handicapped in the sense that if a guy leaves he leaves, but the intent is to be the best planners we can. We plan the work for each day in advance, and each week in advance, and each month in advance.

DUR: So far what has been the biggest challenge with the construction of 1401 Lawrence?

Archuletta: The fact that it is property line to property line. Just overall site logistics.

Below is a photo of 1401 Lawrence and a rendering from a similar vantage point.

A special thank you to the folks at The Beck Group for this tour!

Rendering courtesy The Beck Group.

The post Inside look at 1401 Lawrence appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

The Triangle Building was developed by East West Partners and Starwood Capital Group. East West Partners also serves as a master developer of the Union Station neighborhood and Riverfront Park in Denver.

Two tenants have been announced to lease office space in Liberty Global and WeWork. Liberty Global has signed to lease just over 70,000 square feet of space at Triangle Building and will be relocating from its Englewood office. WeWork, a company that focuses on shared workspace and entrepreneurial services  announced in August that it will be leasing 72,000 square feet at Triangle Building.

Also, the final touches are being applied to Wewatta Plaza, a public right-of-way that will allow pedestrian access from 16th Street to 15th Street located adjacent to Triangle Building. A bicycle station will be placed on Wewatta Plaza.

Triangle Building receives some special attention below with photos and a video since it’s no longer featured in the monthly construction update.

Triangle Building December 2014

Triangle Building and Wewatta Plaza looking towards 16th Street.

The post A final look: Triangle Building appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

Sundays evenings are a great time to be downtown with free parking meters, a limited amount of chemically altered knuckleheads in LoDo, and in general a more relaxed and subdued environment as the thoughts of Denverites begins to shift towards the workweek.

The first picture shows Denver’s second tallest skyscraper 1801 California on the left, 1999 Broadway in the middle, and One Lincoln on the right.

A narrow window exists after the sun has gone down and there is still a touch of blue in the sky. This window is known as “Blue Hour,” but in my opinion it is closer to Blue Half Hour.” This being the case, a plan is needed to maximize this ephemeral lighting. I usually start with a plan and then about half way through I end up scrapping it and start pointing the camera at whatever catches my eye.

Next is an image of the Byron White U.S. Courthouse at 18th and Stout Street.

The intersection of 14th Street and Market is captured. Two cranes can be seen- the one in front of the Four Seasons belongs to the 22-story 1401 Lawrence project that is currently under construction. The crane to the left of the Four Seasons and Brooks Tower belongs to the 40-story 1144 Fifteenth Street project.

With the fleeting light of urban night photography, a person may feel compelled to dash to new spots in downtown Denver as fresh ideas percolate in the photographer’s mind. Cutting through scarcely traveled alleys while jogging past restaurant staff on their smoke break where mutual head nods and howdy’s are exchanged seems oddly within normal urban activity. The restaurant workers don’t seem to be phased by a person running down an alley on a Sunday night with a camera and tripod.

The below photo was taken near Blake Street on the 16th Street Mall. The white building is the middle of the image is the re Barclay Tower, and for years was one of the few residential options in downtown Denver. The second photo was snapped while an RTD Mall Shuttle drove past.

Next are a couple of photos of the fountains adjacent to Denver’s Union Station.

On the left hand side of the next photo, one of the construction cranes for the Z Block project can be seen.

The below photo was captured at the train platform at Denver’s Union Station and looks towards the Millennium Bridge. With all of the current construction and development, this part of Denver is becoming a top notch location for urban night photography.

Above, if you look closely at the base of the Millennium bridge mast, just to the left of it is a glowing light blue object. This is a new piece of art that was recently installed on the plaza of 1601 Weatta. The sculpture slowly changes color from yellow, orange, red, purple, blue and green.

Here is a closer look:

No more vestiges of daylight are left, so time to head home. Here is one last photo of I-25 looking towards Sports Authority Field at Mile High home of the Denver Broncos.

The post Downtown Denver evening photos appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

The ground breaking for 1401 Lawrence took place in October last year. The building will include 13 stories of leasable office space that will sit upon a 9 story parking podium. The project is being developed by the Canadian developer First Gulf, the commercial division of Great Gulf Corporation.

Ground floor retail has also been incorporated into the structure. Space will exist for a 9,000 square foot restaurant and a coffee shop.

National law firm Polsinelli has signed a 15-year lease to become the signature tenant of the building.

The post Facade work begins at 1401 Lawrence appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

“My goal was to take an image that was absolutely killer! I walked and walked, climbed and climbed. I took an image fueled by childhood adventure and honed into an uncommon view from my tenacity to capture a powerful iconic image!”

-Kim Allen

Denver native Kim Allen who grew up in Harvey Park is most well known for his photographs of Denver from the 80s and early 90s where he documented the Mile High City at a unique time in its history with the use of his camera. 

Photo of 16th Street viaduct in 1984 looking towards downtown. Copyright Kim Allen / Denver Photo Archives

What makes these pictures distinctive is Allen had the foresight to capture areas of downtown Denver that were decayed, but were on the cusp of a renaissance. He captured photos of the viaducts just before they were torn down, the area where Coors Filed was built, and a desolate and deteriorated LoDo was visually chronicled before any trendy bar or exorbitantly priced lofts could be found. Allen’s photographic adventure of Denver has created a comprehensive review of a city that was on the brink a major metamorphosis.

16th Street looking northeast down Wazee Street in 1988. Copyright Kim Allen / Denver Photo Archives.

Rail yards in 1986 near current location of Pepsi Center. Copyright Kim Allen / Denver Photo Archives

Kim’s photos are showcased at Denverphotoarchives.com. The Denver Photo Archives was created to feature Allen’s work. His photos are also found on the website buckfifty.org which includes engaging articles and works from several contributing Denver writers and artists. 

Denver Urban Review had the privilege to learn more about Allen’s photographs and captured his thoughts on Denver.

DUR: How did your youth shape your photography?

Kim Allen: My youth was unstructured. I do remember an elementary school visit to the City and County Building, our class was asked to draw about it… I distinctly remember a pencil drawing I did of the front of the building I was very proud of, an early conception of composition.

DUR: Was photography something you were passionate about as a youngster or was it something you discovered later? 

Kim Allen: Photography was not on my radar as a youth, sports was king… then discovering girls and beer replaced sports.

DUR: How did your interest in photography evolve? Was it something you fell in love with right away, or was it something you gradually developed an interest for?

Kim Allen: As a teenager I traveled alone many-many times by bus to visit cousins in Lake Tahoe. I started collecting postcards and was enthralled by wanderlust and postcards that celebrated travel. After high school I moved to Vail, I traveled as well by bus and hitch hiking mostly in the west. . . I started taking images of my trips with my little instamatic camera, I was hooked – I could not wait to see my photos!

DUR: The photos featured on the Denver Photo Archives website– the idea to capture Denver and specifically LoDo just before all the redevelopment took place, was that the result of one epiphany or was there a build up and a combination of several ideas that coalesced to create this work?

Kim Allen: I had lived in Vail and Telluride for a total of 10 years after high school. I thought I would spend the rest of my life in the mountains… basically the adventure dulled. I was essentially a lower/middle class kid that as time went by realized I loved and felt more comfortable in Denver. I noticed various renovation projects in Denver and started to photograph them, I became hooked on documenting Denver as artistically as possible. Once again, I was hooked! I studied books of photographer’s L. C. McClure, J.E. Stimson and David Plowden and realized the respect I had for such important work as chronicle of our historical heritage.

DUR: Why do you think you were really the only one that recognized that this moment in Denver’s history needed to be documented?

Kim Allen: I would love to take full credit for being the only person to photograph in a similar vein at that time. A gentleman named Roger Whitacre did some work related to his real estate clients. Some of his work was seen in Historic Denver publications, he is a drawer and done small sculpture’s as well. Roger is a very talented man, I consider him a friend. I developed my own style of climbing R.R. tower’s, climbing buildings, climbing viaduct infrastructure’s etc.  – My goal was to take an image that was absolutely killer! I walked and walked, climbed and climbed. I took an image fueled by childhood adventure and honed into an uncommon view from my tenacity to capture a powerful iconic image! I researched subject matter, called people, talked to people… I knew exactly what was going on, “if a board had moved” from one month to another… I had become Denver. My composition became better, each photo, each roll of film confirmed my dedication was producing excellent photographs. My own style was created, I wanted to be better than any photographer Denver had ever seen, period!

DUR: Do you see yourself as an artist or documentarian?

Kim Allen: Documentation and art can overlap each other… I tried to combine both intensions. I artistically wanted my images to be great, the documentation was simply the determination to continue part of Denver’s story. I hung around with some artist’s (painters) and some photographers… it really was not my gig. I actually was shocked that none of them seemed to understand what was occurring, even the photo staff’s of two major newspapers in Denver did not recognize the phenomena that had started.

DUR: During the time of the Denver Photo Archive images were captured, were you working as a full-time photographer? If not, what was your day job?

Kim Allen: I started out wanting to be an assistant commercial photographer or a newspaper/magazine photographer. I really had no clue of the actually reality of each profession. I really did not fit into either profession and discovered early on I had a different calling… I was a loner determined to create special work. I worked construction jobs of painting to pay rent, buy my film and beer to celebrate.

DUR:  When you were down in the LoDo area taking photos, was it pretty easy to walk around and take photos, or were you always looking over your shoulder?

Kim Allen: I would have devoted more time to other areas of Denver, the action just was not there. I followed the money… when Dana Crawford, Mickey Zeppelin, Larry Nelson, Jerry Glick and others were starting LoDo projects I knew the city was about to change Lower downtown/ Platte valley was very expansive. I could walk forever never crossing a fence or major street because the viaducts carried most of the traffic… it was all fields, birds and rabbits. It is a huge misconception of downtown or lower downtown being dangerous, there was no one there. It is a myth that is was dangerous, a good story for my photos – but untrue.

DUR: Did you continue to take photos of Denver through the 1990s and into the 2000s? If not, why did you stop?

Kim Allen: Photographing Denver was an obsession, it had taken control over my life. I realized one day I seldom took images of my Mother or family members. The respect of my photo work had not matured, I liked beer too much, and a new relationship with my future wife, they all added up to putting my camera away in 1994. I put my negatives and camera in storage, never looked at them again until 2008.

DUR: Over the last 25 years, has Denver progressed as you anticipated it would, or have you been surprised by how it is evolving?

Kim Allen: I was absolutely certain Denver was going to bust out big time. I thought more would develop to the east side of Union Station. The vast Central Platte Valley took precedent… the deep financial pockets of Denver’s sport scene replaced the rail yards with Coors Field and Pepsi Center, and the gold rush was on…. Elitch Garden also relocated prior. Many-many small projects had started prior in lower downtown, the transformation was already set. John Hickenlooper and fellow founders in 1988 of the Wynkoop Brewing Company. The perfect storm had started, the purchase of land behind Union Station by East-West Partners and also Continuum sealed the deal big time!

DUR: With Denver’s current incredible growth, do you fear that Denver’s identity, its culture, and its built environment are headed in the wrong direction?

Kim Allen: The market determines everything, supply and demand. My parents experienced a different Denver, I experience a different Denver, new residents are now experiencing their reality. I would however urge ALL residents to look deeper into the wonderful attributes of Denver other than the low hanging fruit of the dazzle of overpriced restaurants and cocktails that appear in the sewer system soon afterwards and the money gone… setting the bar a little low as a community in my opinion.

DUR: Down the road in 50 years, how do you feel people will view the architecture of this current development cycle? Will people say that buildings were constructed that are not architectural significant?

Kim Allen: Yes and no… a city is part of massive complex of components. You can not make everyone happy… developers, contractors, architects, planners, citizens all have their own role and agenda. Living in a perfect world of great architecture and construction etc. for small town prices is a thing of the past. There are pros and cons of everything, nothing in life is free, there is a price we all pay – the result of what we consider success. People who sit on the side line and complain about every design need to get a JOB in the field, then will realize their boss calls the shots – and the boss is told what to do – by his boss!

The post The man behind the Denver Photo Archives appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

The development will be located on one of three adjacent parcels at 1811 Lincoln and is part of a larger, 93,000-square-foot acquisition of land executed and closed by Zocalo on behalf of the Foundation.  The acquisition also includes a parcel of land at 1830 Broadway and a 320-space parking garage at 1855 Lincoln.  Funding for the transaction was provided by Citywide Banks while the Emily Griffith Foundation was represented by the Denver-based law firm of Otten Johnson.  Zocalo and the Foundation plan to break ground in the second half of 2016, 100 years after the Emily Griffith Technical College first opened its doors.

In a phone call with Iván Anaya, development manager of Zocalo Community Development, he stated that renderings are not yet available and the height of the building has yet to be finalized. Anaya did state that the project could potentially be up to 20 floors in height.

The development will include 200 apartments for families that earn between 50 to 90 percent of the area’s average income. A daycare center, and a workforce development center ran by Emily Griffith will also be included.

“With this purchase and future development, the Emily Griffith Foundation has taken a big step toward a financially-sustainable future and an increased role in the support of Emily Griffith Technical College,” said Alby Segall, president of the Foundation. “Our intention is to be a catalyst for economic growth and social enterprise in the rapidly growing neighborhoods to the north and east of downtown. We are excited about the continuing partnership with Zocalo Community Development.”

Zocalo has also developed Denver’s Cadence Union Station, 2020 Lawrence Street, Solera Apartments and RiverClay Condominiums.

“Over the past century Emily Griffith Technical College has contributed immeasurably to the growth of Denver’s middle class.  Zocalo is excited to collaborate with the Foundation on an innovative, reproducible project that will increase the Foundation’s capacity to support the Technical College in an unprecedented manner.  Community impact projects such as this embrace Zocalo’s commitment to serving community through real estate development,” said Anaya.

The post Downtown Denver high-rise announced appeared first on Denver Urban Review.