Rendering of Peña Station courtesy DIA.
Exterior view of the RTD Commuter Rail Car at Denver's Union Station.
Rendering of Peña Station courtesy RTD.
Rendering of Peña Station courtesy DIA.
Exterior view of the RTD Commuter Rail Car at Denver's Union Station.
Rendering of Peña Station courtesy RTD.
“As new apartment buildings rise throughout the Denver metro area, it’s critical to be able to provide services and amenities that not only accommodate apartment residents, but will also meet the needs of the surrounding community,” said Peter Petricca of Holland Partner Group. “We believe the addition of Whole Foods Market to our development builds upon the quality of life downtown and is a game-changer for the City of Denver. We’re excited by Whole Foods’ commitment to build a store, which mirrors our commitment to build a premier living environment for individuals seeking a dynamic urban lifestyle.”
Pivot Denver July 2015 DUR.
Pivot Denver July 2015 DUR.
DUR 2015.
Denver Union Station has won the Best Development in Commercial Property Executives (CPE) 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award. After years of redevelopment efforts, The Great Hall at Union Station is now very active with a mix of restaurants and shops. The upper floors of the historic station now serve as the Crawford Hotel. The hotel is named after well known preservationist Dana Crawford who spearheaded the efforts that saved Larimer Square.
Trammell Crow Company served as the owner’s acting representative in the entity comprised of key public and private stakeholders known as the Denver Union Station Project Authority.
This award is presented to a project that encompasses good teamwork, innovation, benefits the surrounding community, and illustrates sound business and financial decision making.
“We are thrilled for Denver Union Station to be recognized by fellow industry leaders and peers,” said Trammell Crow Company’s Denver Business Unit Senior Managing Director Bill Mosher. “The project’s success is due to the creation of a design-build team, familiar with working on complex intermodal projects and dedicated to delivering a world-class project to the Denver community. The deal included an adaptive and innovative funding process, sustainable design efforts, and compound partnerships with the City and County of Denver, regional and state transportation, and several private developers.”
In addition to the redevelopment of the historic Great Hall is the creation of a transit hub at DUS. A new train platform has been constructed that will serve Amtrak as well as RTD trains.
Exterior view of the RTD Commuter Rail Car at Denver Union Station DUR.
Beginning in 2016 RTD's East Line will open. This commuter rail line will provide access from DUS to Denver International Airport (DIA) on trains that will travel up to 79 miles per hour. Trains will cover the 22.8 mile distance between DUS and DIA in 35 minutes.
Also included in the new transit hub is a 22-gate underground bus concourse. The bus concourse was designed with skylights and bright yellow tile to make the subterranean space more inviting to travelers.
Denver Union Station in 1941. Photograph courtesy Denver Public Library.
Back in Denver's early days the Transcontinental Railroad bypassed Denver when builders elected to construct the railroad through Wyoming. They felt the smaller mountains would be easier to negotiate than building the railroad over the larger mountains of Colorado. The nearest railroad station was in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Denver's business leaders recognized that for Denver to grow it was critically important to have a rail connection to the rest of the nation. To that end, Denver's business leaders raised enough money to build a rail spur from Denver to Cheyenne and in 1881 the Great Hall at DUS opened.
Passenger rail travel dramatically decreased during the second half of the 20th century as air and highway travel became more popular. During that chapter DUS became a quiet place. However, through the tremendous efforts of public and private groups, today Denver Union Station is once again alive and back on track.
Rendering of the interior of Honor Society Handcrafted Eatery. Courtesy Rowland Broughton.
The tallest building (middle) in this photo is 1900 16th St. DUR spring 2015.
The Speer Boulevard Apartments are featured in the below photo at Speer Boulevard and Grant Street. This residential project has one more floor to go before it tops out at 6 stories. 
The base for a construction crane has been installed at the site of the 7|S Denver Haus apartments. Once completed this project will include 115 apartment units. Also under construction in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood is MOTO apartment project at 8th and Sherman Street. 
Pictured above is the 8th Avenue and Broadway apartment project. The exterior finishes are now beginning to be applied. Below are two pictures of the Joule apartment project that is under construction in Denver's Golden Triangle neighborhood at Speer Boulevard and Cherokee Street. This development is seeking LEED certification. 
As the midday sun was reaching its peak in the sky, the clouds began to thicken. I proceeded north where I snapped a picture of the dual brand Hyatt House/Hyatt Place Hotel. Exterior work on this project is nearing completion. This 21-story hotel is slated to open this fall. 
Here is a most exciting addition to the construction update, the 40-story 1144 Fifteen Street skyscraper. Denver Urban Review published the new renderings of this project and to see all 5 renderings, take a look at Friday's article.
Image courtesy Hines.
At Fourteenth and Lawrence of course is the 22-story 1401 Lawrence office project that is under construction in downtown Denver. Below is a picture of the Denver Chalk Art Festival that was taking place in and around Larimer Square. Not exactly construction related, but for sure one of Denver's great annual events. Unfortunately just a few minutes after I walked through the festival the weather quickly changed moods and a tropical downpour began. Not sure if the artists use some kind of special chalk, because it looked like the artwork was not ruined from the rain. 
Looking down Wewatta towards 16th Street is the Triangle Building where the last phases of construction are taking place. It was at this point that the downpour began and I scampered to the nearest coffee shop to keep the camera out of the rain. The clouds parted just as fast as they arrived and since I was in the area, I wanted to see how the Platte River and Cherry Creek were looking —I have never seen that much water in Confluence Park before 
Anyways, getting back to the construction tour. The next project on our list is the 34-story Confluence luxury apartment project at 15th Street and Little Raven. Excavation work continues on this project.
Over in the Union Station neighborhood is 10-story 1601 Wewatta (above) office building that is being developed by Hines. Last week it was announced that two tenants have signed to lease space at 1601 Wewatta—Hogan Lovells LLP will lease office space and the Colorado Athletic Club will be opening a fitness center in the building. Seen below is the construction site of the Kimpton Hotel. This project will also include a boutique office space. Pictured below is the construction site of the 17W mixed use development that will feature a Whole Foods on the ground floor and 600 apartment units. The total height of this project is 13 floors. 
Shown above is the Union Tower West construction site. This mixed-used development will showcase a boutique hotel as well as leasable office space contained within a 12-story building. Union Tower West will take shape at 18th and Wewatta. 
Work is wrapping up on the Elan Union Station project at 19th Street and Chestnut Place. This project will feature a King Soopers on the Ground floor. By the time I had made my way to LoDo to take a look at the progress of the Z Block project the clouds had returned. A great deal of excavation work has taken place at the Z block site in the last month. This project will feature a hotel managed by Sage Hospitality and 200,000 square feet of office space. Prologis recently announced that they will be leasing space in this building. Z Block is seeking LEED Gold certification. 
Pictured below is the Alexan Uptown residential project at Logan and 19th Avenue. It will feature 372 apartment units in a 12-story building. 
The sun came out for the last stop on our Denver construction update. The 26-story SkyHouse project has just begun to go vertical at 18th and Broadway. 
I hope everyone has a good week and thank you for stopping by. There really is a ton of construction going on around Denver these days. The next few months will be exciting as several of these projects are moving from "hole in the ground stage" to going vertical. Cheers, Justin P.S. below is a photo of the Denver skyline I captured from Diamond Hill last week when we had the full moon.
Denver Skyline from Diamond Hill. DUR June 2015.
