The Denver Housing Authority announced last week that it will redevelop the 15-acre area of South Lincoln Park at West 10th Avenue and Osage Street. To include demolishing the current 270-unit complex and replacing it with 900 new units, the redevelopment also calls for the placement of a central plaza at Navajo Street and 10th.
Construction of a new Colorado History Museum and judicial center in downtown Denver between Broadway and Lincoln on 12th Avenue was recently begun by the State of Colorado.  The History Museum will move into the new 190,000 SF building; then the old building will be demolished and replaced with the 600,000 SF judicial center. To create 2,000 jobs over the coming four years, the project is to total $338 million and use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act federal stimulus funds.

Bush Development has announced a new mixed-use development for the Cherry Creek retail area. To be located at the SEC of First Avenue and Steele Street, the 12-story Steele Creek development will house 20,000 SF of retail space, a 140-room luxury hotel, 15,000 SF of restaurant space, 70,000 SF of office space, and high-end condominiums as well as possibly provide a rooftop deck for events that could also include weddings. The company anticipates construction of the $100 million development to begin in 2011 and completion to occur in 2013.

Transportation Solutions reports that a study by the Texas Transportation Institute reveals that Denver traffic congestion has improved.  In 2004 Denver was the 3rd worst city in the country but now the metro area has the 16th worst traffic.  And Denver is rated the 10th most walkable city in the country.  More at http://www.transolutions.org/newsletter2009

Contributing to all of this is the introduction of car sharing in Denver.  eGo CarShare members who use cars infrequently have access to rental of cars on an hourly basis in downtown Denver, Capitol Hill and in Boulder enabling them to avoid the expense of car ownership.  Cars are scheduled on-line or by phone and they are available stored at strategic locations throughout the area.  Real estate developers are embracing this growing trend by allowing space for shared car storage.  More at http://www.carshar.org

A number of Peaberry Coffee stores have closed in the metro area including the popular one at 2nd/St. Paul in Cherry Creek North.  In 2006 many more Peaberry stores were converted to Starbucks.

The City of Denver Department of Parks and Recreation is seeking the right location for a new central Denver recreation center.  Denver City Council Member Jeanne Robb says, "The City of Denver's $550 million voter-approved Better Denver Bond Program is working to preserve, renovate and create amenities that touch citizen's lives - including roads, libraries, parks, recreation centers, child care sites, hospitals, public safety, City buildings and cultural facilities.  Over 280 projects are part of this effort; more than 58 are complete, another 60-plus are in construction, and many more are in planning or design.  Denver has committed to complete the Better Denver projects in 4 years, well ahead of the 10-year timetable typical of most public bond projects.  The Bond Program will pump millions of dollars into the economy and help to preserve and create jobs across the region."

 

Council Members Robb and Carla Madison will host a public meeting seeking location input for the recreation center on September 15th at Mitchell Hall at Denver Botanic Gardens, 6-8 PM.  Location options for the recreation center include Congress Park, the former Gove Middle School at 14th/Colorado Boulevard, the former Church in the City site at Colfax/Josephine, Cheeseman Park, the former CU Medical Center site and the former Children's Hospital site.  Council Member Robb's District 10 is the only Council District in the city without a recreation center.

14th Street near the Colorado Convention Center between Colfax and Market Street is the location of a proposed special improvement district.  Property owners will vote in the November 3rd election whether to tax themselves to pay of $4 million in bonds which will be matched by $10 million in funds from the City of Denver for streetscape improvements. In 2005, the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District (BID) "became interested in creating a vibrant pedestrian environment on 14th Street building on the development momentum the recently expanded Colorado Convention Center, the newly renovated Quigg Auditorium and the Hyatt Convention Center Hotel. The vision for 14th Street is to be Downtown's "Ambassador Street," serving as both thriving pedestrian promenade and a major gateway to Downtown for vehicular traffic.

In response to the new investments and the potential to create a thoughtful streetscape program, the BID oversaw a six-month planning process in the fall of 2005.  After the initial 14th Street planning study in 2005, the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) formed a public-private partnership with the City and County of Denver (City) and the BID.  The plan was formally named the 14th Street Initiative and contemplated both streetscape enhancements and public infrastructure improvements.  Several stakeholders, including private property owners, public officials and business organizations, participated in establishing the conceptual design for 14th Street."
 
According to the BID, "By the end of 2009, investment in new development on 14th Street will total more than $1.67 billion. The DDP and the BID believe that these investments present a great opportunity to transform 14th Street into a major Downtown destination, linking LoDo, Larimer Square, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, and the Colorado Convention Center with the Civic Center Complex and the Denver Art Museum."
 
Construction of utility improvements related to the multimodal hub at Denver Union Station is about to start and a group of historic preservationists wants to restore the Mitzpah/Welcome Arch at the historic station.  Union Station Advocates is led by Dana Crawford who renovated Larimer Square decades ago.  The arch formed a gateway to 17th Street from Union Station from 1906 to 1931.  Union Station Advocates plans to raise $100,000 at a party at Union Station on October 15th.  The transit hub around Union Station will be built at a cost of some $500 million to serve the FasTracks system being built by RTD.  The hub will be funded in large part by federal railroad finance programs and the FasTracks construction budget.  The destiny of historic Union Station itself has not as yet been determined.

Council Member Robb also notes that Xcel Energy is currently undertaking a five-year, $350 million project to replace nearly 100 linear miles of natural gas pipeline in the Denver metro area that will result in continued reliable gas service for current and new customers.  Council District 10 including many streets in the Cherry Creek North and Country Club neighborhoods are impacted significantly by this project.  Work is scheduled for completion by the end of September.