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A downtown office building at the gateway to Union Station
was recently purchased by American Realty Advisors of
Glendale, California for an estimated $120 million, or
$391/SF, according to industry insiders. Known as
1515 Wynkoop,
the sale of the 8-story 307,000 SF building is considered
to be one of the largest this year in the western U.S. and
combines with the sale of the 1800 Larimer building to set
a new benchmark in the central business district for
high-end office space.
By comparison, the office building at
1675 Larimer
Street in downtown Denver has been
purchased for $17.5 million by Unico Properties LLC.
Totaling 118,000 SF, the price/SF equals $148.
The
Capital Center office complex sold for
$24.2 million, or $155/SF, for the 156,000 SF property.
Located at 225 East 16th and 1600 Sherman Street, the
building includes a 12-story office tower, a 3-story
building totaling 22,000 known as the Colorado Trust
building, and a 234-space parking garage.
The downtown Denver area is to gain a
full-service
grocery store courtesy of The Nichols
Partnership. To be located in the Union Station district,
the 42,000 SF store will serve as anchor to the 20th and
Chestnut development, which is to be in the block bordered
by Wewatta, 19th, Chestnut Place and 20th. To front
Chestnut Place, the development is to also
provide 13,000 SF of retail topped by a 5-story apartment
building totaling 307 units. Anticipated to open in 2013,
a 12-story mixed-use tower fronting Wewatta Street is to
be developed as phase two of the project.
Developers looking to build in the 26-block area known as
Arapahoe Square will now be able to seek
tax-increment financing. Denver City Council approved the
Arapahoe Square Urban Redevelopment Plan, which allows
properties to apply for tax increment financing on an
individual basis. Located northeast of downtown Denver
within 20th and 24th Avenues and Lawrence and California
streets, the affected area totals 93 acres.
The redevelopment of the former Children's Hospital site
into the new
St. Joseph
Hospital is anticipated to be an economic
boon for the city. Set to break ground on June 26, the
3-year construction period is estimated to benefit the
economy with 1,400 construction jobs annually and as much
as $340 million in wages for the $623 million facility.
Use-tax revenue will be over $13 million for the city of
Denver and $8 million for the state. Upon completion, the
new hospital will total 826,000 SF and offer 348 beds.
Recent data released by the city of Denver indicates that
sales-tax revenue in the
Cherry Creek
North retail district increased in 2010
from 2009 by 16.0%.
D.H. Friedman Properties has announced plans for
4.15-acres of the
former
Marriott Hotel site at the northeast
corner of I-25 and East Hampden Avenue. If approved, the
company will develop the site this fall with as much as
20,000 SF of shopping space among 3 buildings, a
restaurant with a rooftop patio, and a bank, and allow the
remainder of the site to be occupied by other services.
Completion of the project is anticipated next spring. An
apartment project totaling 350 units is also anticipated
on the north side of the site.
The town of
Glendale
is making efforts to create a
Riverwalk
development along Cherry Creek that would add 900,000 SF
of development to the town. To include more than 400,000
SF of retail space, a 3,000 to 4,000 capacity
amphitheater, two hotels, and a theater, the 42-acre site
chosen for the development is located between South
Colorado Boulevard, East Virginia Avenue, South Cherry
Street and Cherry Creek Drive South. To be built on a
man-made navigable channel to the north of the creek, the
proposal would flank businesses on both of its sides and
retain 20 acres for open space.
MDS Realty II LLC sold the
Sports
Authority and Petsmart building off
Alameda Avenue in Glendale to Weingarten Realty
Investors. Totaling 78,000 SF at 4300 East Alameda Avenue
in Denver, the former Mervyn's property was exchanged for
$24.5 million, or $314/SF.
RTD construction progress continues at
Denver Union
Station and the West Rail Line, as part of
the FasTracks project to allow trains to utilize the new
Station in the future. Light rail service from the
Southwest and Southeast Lines will be interrupted at
10th/Osage from July 23-August 14 while track is relocated
from just west of the historic Union Station building, to
the new Light Rail platform 2½ blocks west near the
Consolidated Main Line. During the interruption,
connecting bus shuttle service will run between
10th/Osage, INVESCO Field at Mile High, Pepsi Center/Elitch
Gardens and Union Station. No service will be provided to
the Auraria Campus Station during the interruption.
The 16th Street Mall Shuttle service will continue to
provide service to and from the turn-around loop behind
the historic Union Station building and will be extended
to the new Light Rail platform from its current location
at the end of the interruption. The new lines are
scheduled to open on August 15. Service on the rest of the
RTD light rail system will not be affected and
construction continues of the new Union Station Regional
Bus Facility and plaza between the historic building and
the new Light Rail platform.
Denver City Council Member Jeanne Robb reports that
Council formally endorsed by proclamation a
Complete
Streets policy by its Department of Public
Works. The policy "supports visions and strategies to
invest in a more sustainable, balanced and multimodal
transportation system." It means that Public Works will
incorporate safe and convenient access for all users into
routine planning, design, implementation and operation of
our streets and right-of-way.
A major part of Complete Streets is bicycle mobility.
Improvements will include a new "Bicycle Friendly
Community" and bicycle signage. Denver's first "cycle
track;" a new bicycle facility that
designates space for bicyclists off the street and
adjacent to the sidewalk has just been completed on
Bannock Street along Civic Center Park as part of the
Better Denver Bond Program. Denver Moves; the city's
bicycle action plan and the bicycling component of the
Denver Strategic Transportation Plan (STP), set a vision
for Denver's bike network and aligns with the Complete
Streets policy. Based on those plans and policy, the city
of Denver has added and will continue to add bicycle
amenities and improved bicycle connections throughout the
city.
Evans School
on Acoma Street between West 11th and 12th Avenues is
coming out of hibernation. The 46,000 SF former elementary
school was built in 1904 and has been vacant for decades.
Across Acoma Street from the Clyfford Still Museum under
construction and the Denver Art Museum, the building has
been substantially renovated as office space and is
available for lease at $14/SF to $18/SF triple net.
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