November 2010     

The new King Soopers grocery store at Leetsdale Drive/Cherry Street has opened.  The former Cub Foods store was redeveloped by the grocery chain after lengthy and difficult negotiations with the City of Glendale over zoning issues.  The 78,000 SF store will include a gas station, pharmacy, bank and the chain's only (10,000 SF) liquor store, as permitted by state law.  The pedestrian oriented development includes some additional retail space along Cherry Street.  The larger store is part of a trend among groceries toward diversified product lines oriented toward different income levels and ethnic groups.  The King Soopers stores at Belcaro on Colorado Boulevard and at Leetsdale/Monaco will reportedly remain open, but the store at Evans/Monaco will close.

A streetscape project in downtown Denver will result in better connectivity between 16th and 17th streets and the Larimer retail area.  Funded by the Better Denver Bond Program and the Downtown Denver Partnership, the $2 million project will make the area more pedestrian friendly with wider sidewalks, new lighting and trees. 

The possible relocation of the Greyhound bus station from downtown Denver has sparked optimism that its current location will become a prime redevelopment site.  Located in the block between Arapahoe/Curtis/19th/20th Streets, the 106,685 SF site near the Arapahoe Square district has long been eyed for redevelopment due to its size and its proximity to downtown.  Greyhound is considering relocation to near RTD's Alameda Station light rail stop, near south Santa Fe Drive/I-25 where a new freeway interchange is being built.

Officials for the Westin Tabor Center hotel at 1672 Lawrence Street have announced that the hotel has been given a new name.  To be known as The Westin Denver Downtown, the hotel was given the new name to better identify its location to travelers.

The Denver Public Works Department has announced that the downtown Denver area will gain overnight parking via the introduction of smart meters in 2011.  Anticipated to be a boon for local businesses, the move will replace the current $25 citation for those parking overnight Monday through Saturday with hourly rates of $1 for 10 PM. to 2 AM and $0.50 for 2 - 8 AM and maintaining the current free parking on Sundays for maximum 2 hours.

Denver Public works is re-timing traffic and pedestrian signals in the central business district as it does every few years.  This time the adjustments will implement new generally accepted standards of a walking pace at 3.5 feet per second (down from 4 feet per second), RTD's plans for 4-car light rail trains to expand capacity, and eliminate the "Barnes Dance" with diagonal cross-walks.  Studies show that only 10% of pedestrians use the Barnes Dance.  The new arrangement will allow all four crossings at an intersection simultaneously but discourage walking diagonally.

The 16th Street Mall and the Colorado Convention Center are planned for giant LED video advertising screens 18x32 and 25x60 feet.  The signs at 16th/Champa and 14th/Champ will promote Denver Theatre District events 15% of the time and carry conventional advertising the rest of the time.

The Denver Housing Authority has entered a race to win a $22 million grant to aid in the redevelopment of the South Lincoln Homes at West 10th Avenue/Osage Street.  To be awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the $92 million project will provide a total of 457 units on a 17.5-acre site that is near a light-rail station.  This is expected to place it in good standing for the HOPE VI grant since its focus is to encourage transit-oriented development.  The agency expects to know the outcome of the decision perhaps in April. Separately, the DHA recently began construction of a 100-unit apartment complex at the same location dedicated to low-income seniors.

The Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District has completed its $18.5 million streetscape renovation including lighted gateway signs and replaced benches, pavers and planters.  And the controversial parking kiosks have been replaced with "smart" parking meters that accept credit cards and coins. The Fillmore Plaza open space in the Cherry Creek North retail area is to be redeveloped with a small street and plaza.  The design approved by all groups involved satisfies retailers in the area with street side access to their stores, but also prevents the street from being large enough to discourage pedestrian activity in the area.  The mall is to be completed before July 2011 at an anticipated cost of $2.5 million. 

The Federal Reserve Bank will open its new Money Museum in January in the Federal Reserve Building on the 16th Street Mall at Champa Street.  The 7,000 SF museum will expand public access to the building and showcase the history of money and how to detect counterfeit notes.

The 3-building, 317,200 SF Broadway Station office complex sold recently for $49.5 million or $156/SF.  Located at 900 and 990 South Broadway, and 200 East Tennessee Avenue, the three buildings are served by a 665 space parking structure and are part of the former Gates Rubber Co. site that is part of a transit-oriented development served by RTD light rail.

A 5-story medical office building at Portercare Campus has been sold for $8.7 million, or $124/SF, by the Broe Group of Denver dba 850 East Harvard Avenue.  Totaling 70,400 SF at 850 East Harvard Avenue, the property was purchased by Portercare Adventist Health System.

A joint effort between the counties of Denver and Adams and Brownfield Partners of Denver is to result in the transformation of the 77-acre Asarco site in the Globeville neighborhood into a 1.1 million SF redevelopment that is to be called the Globeville Commerce Center.  Located at the NWC East 51st Avenue/Washington Street, the transformation will include the cleanup of the site, which is to be completed by 2014 funded by a $10 million Section 108 loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant obtained by Denver County.

Developer Sherman Associates has broken ground on a 60,000 SF apartment/retail building on Colfax Avenue between Poplar and Pontiac Streets. The 5-story $10.5 million Phoenix on the FAX will include 50 affordable residences on the upper floors with office and commercial space on the ground floor.  The 52,000 SF site sold recently to the developer for $1,175,000 or $23.00/SF of land.

The former Albertson's store in the Lowry Town Center has been purchased by Cole Real Estate Investments for $7.68 million, or $148/SF.  Sold by Albertsons LLC of Boise, Idaho, the building has roughly 52,000 SF.

The Boulevard Point office building at 4101 East Louisiana Street sold recently.  The seller was the Bank of Denver which had previously foreclosed.  The $1,050,000 sale price was equivalent to $35/SF for the 30,200 SF building which was 65% vacant.

The Malo Mansion just east of the Governor's Mansion at 500 East 8th Avenue sold recently for $2,850,000 or $180/SF.  The 15,800 SF building was built in 1921 and later converted to office space.  Long ago it was occupied by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority and most recently it was owned, occupied and sold by the Buchanan-Yonushewski Group, architects and construction managers.