A new
apartment complex is currently under
construction in the Five Points
neighborhood. Under development by Fourth
Quarter Partners, which is led by William Matthews
and Claudie Minor Jr., the 36-unit Fourth
Quarter apartments at 3150 Downing Street is
to set aside 28 of the units for homeless
veterans.
Renovation of the Dahlia
Street Apartments into affordable housing units
has recently been advanced by the garnering of $15
million in credit by the Urban Land Conservancy
and Enterprise Community Partners Inc. The
36-unit property is located at 3301-3395 Dahlia
Street and nearby, the former Holly Square
Shopping Center will finally get some work done
after a gang related fire some 2 year ago. The Urban
Land Conservancy also has purchased a portion of
the center and plans to install a basketball court
and mural after obtaining community
input.
Mark
your calendar! Denver Cherry Creek Rotary Club's
annual Golf Tournament will be returning to
Bear
Dance Golf Club in Larkspur on Thursday, July
29. Jeff Maen
of the club says, "We know times are tough for
almost every business and family, your donation
goes to many worthy causes. If you have played in
our tournament, you already know how much fun it
is." More at:
According to Denver City
Council Member Jeanne Robb, discussions about the
future of Fillmore Plaza in Cherry Creek North
continue, and she continues to listen. The Board
of the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement
District voted to move forward with the hybrid
street/plaza concept on April 14. Robb says,
"That means they will begin to get the various
approvals necessary from city departments and
eventually City Council will vote on either an
Inter-governmental Agreement or a street
vacation." The Cherry Creek North
Neighborhood Association membership voted
overwhelmingly against the hybrid concept proposed
by the Cherry Creek North BID. See the
results of the vote at
The
Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Zoning Committee
held a presentation and discussion on the plaza
May 5. The Cherry Creek East Neighborhood
Association will be holding a forum and discussion
on Thursday, May 20. Life on
Capitol Hill reports that the CCNNA conducted an
informal survey of the businesses in the CCN BID
and over 90% favored retention of the plaza. The
newspaper also reports that the Denver Fire
Department requires a 25 foot wide paved lane in
the plaza for fire truck
access.
Council Member Robb also
reports that Colfax is now a safer place part
thanks to the installation of 'Halo' security
cameras along Upper Colfax (Grant to Josephine).
This comes as a result of the new relationship
between the Colfax Business Improvement District
(CBID) and the Denver Police Department. On
April 20th, CBID Board members gave a
check for $180,000 to Councilwoman Robb and Denver
Police Lt. Martinez to finance the installation of
the security cameras.
A
public meeting for the 1st Avenue
Improvement Study (Steele Street to Colorado
Boulevard) took place at the beginning of April.
Updated concept drawings are available and
narrative will be posted when completed
at:
Robb
says there is certainly additional work to
do.
It is clear that there are differing
philosophical opinions about the future of 1st
Avenue to balance the needs of pedestrians,
drivers, transit users, cyclists, businesses and
residents.
The
recently completed Colfax Streetcar Feasibility
study found that transit ridership on Colfax would
increase and the operational/maintenance costs of
a streetcar would be more economical than local
bus service in the long run. The study
recommends doing an Alternatives Analysis which
would look to the actual building of a streetcar
line from the Auraria Campus to the Denver-Aurora
border. Such an analysis would cost nearly
$500,000 - not likely to come soon from the
city. Robb intends to continue to seek
community advocates and support. More
at:
Funding options, range from sales
and/or property taxes, parking meters, special
districts, and perhaps even DMV fees. Robb says,
"While our present transit system on Colfax - the
15 & 15L - serves an awful lot of riders, the
anticipated growth on the corridor in years to
come make a compelling case for a better way to
travel. Only then could we achieve the
stated goals of:
·
enhance mobility in the
corridor
·
improve sustainable
transportation options
·
Enhance and promote
economic development in the
corridor."
The
Denver Bike Sharing program was launched on April
22nd. Pick up a bike at any of the
conveniently located bike-sharing stations and
drop it off when you're done. It's
affordable, clean and simple. The
bike-sharing stations in Denver's downtown and
nearby neighborhoods including Cherry Creek and DU
campus provide some 500 shared bikes.
Depending on the success of the first year, Denver
Bike Sharing plans to launch an additional 400
bikes with added stations in 2011. More
at:
and
pick up a free copy of the 2010 Denver Bike Map at
locations listed at
And
Pedal to Properties LLC plans to start a bicycle
based residential real estate brokerage in
Denver.
The Boulder based company has just begun
offering franchises and the Denver Business
Journal reports they have interest from a
"successful downtown Realtor." The
company offers the option of showing homes on
Electra Cruiser bicycles rather than by
automobile.
A total
of nine irrigation projects are currently under
construction in Denver parks, nearly one third of
the 37 irrigation projects being funded by the
Better Denver Bond Program. This will complement
the 16 already completed by Denver Parks and
Recreation. Another 12 are in the design phase and
6 of those will begin construction this summer.
The $17 million project to improve irrigation in
the parks is estimated to save up to 247 acre feet
of water and up to $192,000 annually based on the
current water rates. The goal is to reduce water
usage to 15-18 gallons of water per square foot.
In parks with the most outdated infrastructure,
this represents a savings of 27 percent in
addition to reduced labor and repair costs. Parks
affected in southeast Denver include Alamo
Placita, Cheesman, Speer Blvd and Congress
Park.
As
another part of the Better Denver Bond program,
renovations of the Ross- Cherry Creek Branch
Library are complete. Join in
the celebration of the reopening of the
Ross-Cherry Creek branch Library at 305 Milwaukee
Street on May 19 from 5:30pm-7pm. More
at:
Over
the next several years, Xcel Energy is replacing
600 miles of gas pipe line throughout Colorado and
nearly 100 miles are in the Denver metro area.
Local southeast Denver projects
include:
-
Humboldt Street from
East 14th Avenue to East
Colfax
-
Humboldt Street from
East 12th Avenue to East
13th Avenue
-
East
11th Avenue from Lafayette Street to
Humboldt Street.
-
East
Colfax Avenue from Grant Street to Pennsylvania
Street.
-
Sherman Street, Grant
Street, Logan Street and Washington Street from
approximately East 4th Avenue to East
Center Avenue
-
East 7th
Avenue and East 5th Avenue from
Sherman Street to Downing
Street
-
Logan Street and
Washington Street from East 8th
Avenue to East 2nd
Avenue.
Denver Council Member
Carla Madison announces completion of improvements
at City Park and several events from May 31 to
June 4.
The new green restrooms at City Park and
its playground, and improvements to Duck Lake, are
made possible by the Better Denver Bond
Program.
More about City Park Week and the
improvements at:
