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On Sunday, July 17th @ 5:30 PM the
Denver
Municipal Band will play in
Pulaski
Park at Cherry Creek Drive North/Bayaud
Avenue. The Cherry Creek East Neighborhood Association
will provide free cup cakes to the first 50 to arrive
and bottled water for the first 100 to arrive. The
Association hopes to convince Denver Parks and
Recreation that this would be a great place for a band
shell.
The Denver Housing Authority has been awarded a $22
million grant by the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development to aid in the development of the
South Lincoln Homes at 10th and Osage
Street. The $91.7 million project will provide a total
of 457 units on a 17.5-acre site that is near a
light-rail station.
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, as well
as use-tax revenue of 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.
A new apartment complex is to soon begin construction in
downtown Denver. Located at 2020 Lawrence Street, the
2020 Lawrence Apartments by Zocalo
Community Development are to have the first rating of
the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
ever awarded to a project insured by the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development, and are to include
amenities such as fitness center, bicycle maintenance
room, and informal work rooms for telecommuters and
home-based workers, among others. The units will range
in size and rent from 500 SF and $1,400 to 1,100 SF and
$1,600.
The 7-year old
JW
Marriott Hotel in Cherry Creek was
recently exchanged between buyer DiamondRock Hospitality
and seller Sage Hospitality Resources. Totaling 196
rooms at 150 Clayton Street, the property was purchased
for $72.6 million, or $370,000/room.
A
new apartment complex totaling 213 units
is to be completed near the University of Denver in the
spring of 2013. Spearheaded by developer David Elowe of
Urban West, the 11-story building at the
SEC of
South University Boulevard and East Evans
will also host 25,000 SF of ground floor restaurant and
retail space and provide 357 parking spaces.
The beginning of the second phase of the rehabilitation
project of
South
Broadway occurred this week. To cost
$6.5 million, the work to rehabilitate the stretch
between Wesley and Yale avenues is to be completed in
about a year, and is to be followed by two more phases.
Mayor Larry Harte reports on
Glendale
real estate:
1. King Soopers opened in November and is off to an
exciting start. The store is busier than they expected
and they are exceeding their revenue projections.
2. The shops and restaurants at 1000 S. Colorado Blvd
are fully leased. Modmarket is a restaurant that serves
fast food that is good for you. Give it a try.
3. The Loews Hotel will be undergoing an extensive
re-model later this year. Watch for a new lobby and an
enhanced restaurant/bar area!
4. The interior of Super Target is going to be renovated
over the summer without closing and a "Grand Re-Opening"
is scheduled for October.
5. Work on Phase 2 of the Hilton Garden Inn will begin
in September. The project is called "City Set" and
includes another hotel, a few restaurants and valet
parking.
Denver City Council Member Jeanne Robb reports that
after months of debate, design, and construction,
Fillmore Plaza will officially reopen on
Saturday, June 25 with a free festival and concert from
2 pm until 8 pm. The BID worked with NorthCreek and AEG
Live to bring a broad spectrum of music artists to the
festival on June 25th including "Flash Cadillac, Lannie
Garrett, Sons and Brothers, and Haunted Windchimes
On May 23, Denver City Council formally endorsed by
proclamation a
Complete
Streets policy applauding Denver's
Department of Public Works adoption of this policy. 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.
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 The
cycle track was recently installed on
Bannock
Street as part of the Better Denver Bond
Program, and it borders Civic Center Park, across from
the City and County Building. Denver has been recognized
as a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of
American Bicyclists for over 10 years. The improvements
include the unveiling of new "Bicycle Friendly
Community" and bicycle directional signage. 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.
A recent ranking puts
Denver/Aurora in
first
place according to the
Top 10
Best Cities for Public Transportation
published by U.S. News and World Report. The
Denver/Aurora area outranked New York, Los Angeles and
Boston, Portland, San Jose, Salt Lake City, San Diego,
Seattle, and Honolulu. The rankings take into account
per capita spending on public transportation, number of
safety incidents per million trips, and the number of
trips taken per capita.
RTD has received a $486,465 grant from the Federal
Transit Administration (FTA) for the
Workforce
Initiative Now (WIN), a partnership
between RTD, Community College of Denver, Urban League
of Metropolitan Denver and Denver Transit Partners. WIN
is a sector workforce partnership that strives to meet
the hiring and training needs of local employers by
helping to create and retain living wage careers in the
transit and construction industries, as well as
providing local residents with skills development
training, jobs and career pathways to work in these
industries. This funding represents the largest grant
awarded through FTA's Innovative Workforce Development
Grants program. WIN will use this funding to provide
enhanced access to training equipment and materials for
WIN network partners, hire support staff, and increase
available funds to support foundational and skilled
training.
Fiscal Year 2011
federal
budget allocations have been announced,
and
RTD
has done very well. The
East, Gold
and West rail lines are slated to each
receive $40 million--$120
million total. Earlier there was
concern that each of the allocations would be reduced,
but FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff announced yesterday
that he plans to move forward with these grants, despite
budget uncertainty. Senators Mark Udall and Michael
Bennet "made the case to Rogoff that the federal
government must keep its promise to share in the cost
for FasTracks."
Rich McClintock, Executive Director of Transportation
Solutions reports that DRCOG approved a
Regional
Transportation Demand Management (TDM)
program budget including $480,000 for the six
Transportation Management Associations (TMAs) in the
metro area per year ($80,000 each) and $680,000 for a
new regional "drive less" TDM marketing campaign funded
out of DRCOG's RideArrangers budget.
The Denver Business Journal reports that the owner of
the Tamarac Square mall in southeast Denver announced
that it will demolish the building and sell the land to
Target so the retailer can build a store on the site.
Diversified Realty Corp. said it will redevelop adjacent
retail space at Tamarac Square "to accommodate demand
from additional high-quality retailers." The company
said it will spend a combined $20 million to raze both
Tamarac Square and another non-income producing shopping
center in San Antonio, called Terrell Plaza. Tamarac
Square is about 90 percent vacant. The interior of the
mall was closed earlier this year. The remaining tenants
occupy space in an outdoor section of the shopping
center. Diversified Realty said Target will build a
130,000-square-foot store, while it will renovate the
adjacent 33,000 square feet of retail space. Once that's
done, the project will be 98 percent leased, the company
said.
Continuum Partners reports that it has joint ventured
with Regency Centers Corporation to develop a 30,000 SF
King Soopers store at the
Kent Place
retail and residential development at the
NWC
Hampden/University. The store will have
a 10,000 SF mezzanine, and an additional 20,000 SF of
high-end retail and restaurant space. Residential
development plans are also currently underway for the
remaining portion of the 11.4 acre site by Forum Real
Estate Group. The grocery store will be the first store
of this type for King Soopers and will emphasize fresh
and organic foods presented in a store concept unique to
this location, featuring chef-prepared items, along with
special selections such as artisan breads, expanded
specialty cheeses, freshly prepared sushi and
chef-prepared bistro meals.
As the
Cherry
Creek Shopping Center considers
replacement tenant(s) for Saks 5th Avenue, listen to
Taubman, Centers Inc. COO Bill Taubman describe the
success of the company's upscale mall portfolio and
outline major themes from the 2011 International Council
of Shopping Centers annual RECon meeting.
http://retailtrafficmag.com/recon2011/video_taubman_sees_continued_success/
Nick LeMasters, General Manager of Cherry Creek reports
that rumors of expansion of the very successful Apple
Computer store into the former Saks space are not true.
The space will very likely be leased to multiple tenants
and the building will be expanded closer to East First
Avenue with more windows making it more pedestrian
friendly.
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