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RTD's FasTracks team has recommended approval of a
proposal to build out the
North
Metro Rail Line to 124th Avenue in
Thornton, the RTD Board of Directors will open the
process to public comment before making its final
decision Nov. 26. FasTracks staff recommended that RTD
move forward with a proposal from Graham, Balfour
Beatty, Hamon Constructors (GBBH) to design and build
the North Metro Rail Line. GBBH's proposal called for
building out the line to 162nd Avenue, but RTD staff
recommend that the company complete the first phase of
the project to 124th Avenue by 2018 with funding that is
currently available. More at:
http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/nm_2
RTD's newest bus service, the
Free
MetroRide, will debut in downtown Denver
next spring. This free bus service will complement the
Free MallRide, and will provide passenger service
between Union Station and Civic Center Station along
18th and 19th streets during rush hours. The 60-foot
articulated buses will feature low floors and three
doors for quick passenger loading and unloading. A
bright, modern design will enable passengers to easily
identify the buses and bus stops, and set them apart
from other RTD bus routes. The free MetroRide buses
will start operating May 9, 2014, MetroRide buses will
stop every two or three blocks along the route instead
of every block like the MallRide.
The
Regional
Transportation District (RTD) took top
honors at the American Public Transportation Association
(APTA) annual meeting where RTD General Manager Phil
Washington was named Outstanding Public Transportation
Manager. RTD also won the Grand Prize Award for the
Social Media category. The awards were presented at the
APTA Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Denver City Council member Robin Kniech provides the
following update of the
former CU
Health Sciences Center at 9th/Colorado
Boulvard. The 33 acre site has been vacant since CU
moved to the new Fitzsimmons campus in Aurora, with an
additional 4 acres likely to be added. Three different
development teams have come and gone, but the first
phase is finally underway with a 6.75 acre sale to the
Lionstone Group for the construction of 325 market-rate
apartments in the southeast section of the site. In
July, City Council approved an Urban Renewal Area and an
initial $2.4 million property tax increment finance
reimbursement for demolition, abatement and
infrastructure costs associated with Phase I.
Public meetings are held approximately once each month
by the Colorado Boulevard Health Care District, which
brings together the institutions and neighborhoods that
surround the site.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) was only approved for
Phase I of the project, additional Council approval
would be required for the use of TIF on any future
phases of the project.
1) At the time the Phase I TIF was approved, Council
comments included a strong desire to see a comprehensive
redevelopment of the remaining portion of the site,
rather than a piece-by-piece approach, in order to
achieve a unified vision for the site.
2) Several Council Members also pointed to mixed-income
housing in the vision and planning documents for the
site, and asked that mixed income housing be
incorporated in future phases since the first phase
would build only market-rate housing.
3) One of the biggest challenges the site has faced is
finding anchor retail tenants who are willing to build
to the urban design standards adopted for the site and
can generate the sales tax necessary to fund the
remaining infrastructure needed on the site such as
reintroducing much of the street grid. Balancing the
need for retail with the desire for a mixed-use
neighborhood with new residential housing will continue
to be a significant discussion as the University,
Denver, and DURA discuss the next phase of the
project.
Denver City Council Member Jeanne Robb reports that the
University hopes to be able to announce the new buyer by
before Thanksgiving and is working with the Romani Group
and an evaluation committee which will recommend which
firm should be selected as the buyer for the former
campus. The evaluation committee includes Tracy Huggins
of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, (DURA), Diane
Barrett from the Denver Mayor's Office, Lilly Marks,
University of Colorado Vice President and Executive Vice
Chancellor for the University of Colorado Anschutz
Medical Campus, Steve Zweck-Bronner, legal counsel for
the University of Colorado Denver and Ray Baker,
president of Gold Crown Management. The committee's
goal is to seek a developer who is best able to
ultimately close on the sale and whose proposal can best
meet the needs of the University and the City of Denver.
http://www.ucdenver.edu/about/newsroom/newsreleases/topics/9thandColorado/Pages/default.aspx
Denver City Council Member Mary Beth Susman reports
that the Lowry Redevelopment Authority is working on the
zoning application for
Boulevard
One, grading has begun and demolition of
the Defense Finance and Accounting Service Center
continues. Approximately 130,000 cubic yards of soil
is being graded, stockpiled, and used to fill the hole
left by the former DFASC building. Five new streets will
connect to 1st Avenue; and the 1st Avenue berm will be
removed to make way for the new streets. Many of the
existing trees will be preserved or transplanted within
the Boulevard One site. The trees that were recently
removed were diseased and not viable to be preserved or
transplanted.
Council Member Robb also reports that over 75 people
attended recently attended a
Cherry
Creek Land Use and Transportation Forum
in Cherry Creek. Public Works Manager Jose Cornejos
and Community Planning and Development Manager Rocky
Piro attended. The meeting was part of an ongoing
discussion for the future of Cherry Creek's North's
business district and an effort to connect
transportation questions and concerns to the discussions
of the Cherry Creek Zoning Task Force. The event
presented the 1st and Steele Intersection Study,
proposed storm water improvements, concrete repaving of
University from 1st Ave to 6th Ave, the city's parking
and traffic conditions inventory completed earlier this
year, the CCNNA Cumulative Traffic Study, the RTD
corridor transit study for Union Station, Cherry Creek &
Glendale and Bike Denver and Cherry Creek Plan bike
route proposals. The City has received funding from
DRCOG for a mobility study of the Leetsdale/Alameda/Steele/First
Ave/Speer Corridor. This study, which will begin in
2014, will lay the groundwork for priority transit along
the corridor.
Roundtable discussions focused on reducing cut-through
traffic in the neighborhoods, the need for more
information and way-finding on parking in the business
district, a strategy for transit, better pedestrian
crossings particularly along East First Ave east of
Steele, the need for adequate parking in new
developments, and the desire for a BIG idea for Cherry
Creek. In a clicker straw poll, participants voted for
their top three transportation improvements in Cherry
Creek.
24% - Improvements to East 1st Avenue between Steele and
Colorado
22% - Study of transit opportunities to connect Cherry
Creek to regional hubs
14% - Residential neighborhood traffic calming received
11% - More information on parking in the business
district
10% - Improving bike and pedestrian improvements
10% - Improvements to existing bus service -10%.
Transportation Solutions
offered an opportunity this summer for people living or
working along the 1st Avenue/Speer/Leetsdale Corridor to
try transit as part of its SmartMoves Along Leetsdale-Parker
campaign. The outreach program signed up over 1,000
people during August and September who took a survey
about their commuting behavior and received a ten ticket
book of RTD passes in exchange, particularly to try the
83L bus that serves the corridor. The corridor campaign
was funded with a competitive federal air quality grant,
and aimed to reduce car traffic along this congested
corridor, specifically during Denver's summer ozone
season.
RTD's feasibility study of the demand for future
transit
service along the southeast corridor
from
Denver
Union Station to Cherry Creek and Glendale
is nearly complete including meetings with more than a
dozen the study's stakeholders, including
representatives from Glendale, Visit Denver, the Cherry
Creek Shopping Center, Cherry Creek North, the Downtown
Denver Partnership, hotel interests and Golden Triangle
neighborhood and business leaders. Transportation
Solutions worked with the study staff to gather
information on projected travel demand in the corridor
and potential alternatives options for meeting the
demand. A draft of the study will be available shortly
and it is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.
The lead study consultant is Transportation Management &
Design (TMD) of Carlsbad, California (www.tmdinc.net),
which serves as RTD's ongoing General Planning and
Operations Consultant. As part of the study,
Transportation Solutions has prepared a background white
paper on the potential demand for increased connectivity
in the corridor available at:
http://www.transolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Denver-Union-Station_Cherry-Creek_Glendale_Corridor_White-Paper-1.pdf
Denver Community Planning and Development reports that
the Technical Task Force working to recommend
new zoning
for Cherry Creek continues to make great
progress. The all-volunteer group of residents, business
owners, design professionals and other stakeholders has
devoted many hours to the project and has achieved
consensus on about two dozen specific zoning topics.
There is much more yet to do. At its next meeting, the
Technical Task Force will review working drafts of the
zoning code and zoning map, and will discuss new topics.
The project has stayed on schedule, and a complete draft
is expected to be available for public review in late
Spring 2014. Task force meetings are open to the
public. More at:
http://DenverGov.org/CherryCreek
Next Technical Task Force meeting
December 17, 2013
5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
299 Milwaukee St., basement conference room
The Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association reports
that on the CCNNA website is a link to the
Business
Improvement District Cumulative Traffic Study
which forecasts BID building growth and its associated
traffic and parking over the next 10 and 20+ years.
Eight intersections were evaluated as to their future
traffic impact from development. According to CCNNA,
"The study is a simple forecasting model or planning
tool that uses actual data and some growth assumptions
that can be easily modified to reflect changing zoning
and market conditions. Traffic and parking estimations
are based upon development growth projections and use
existing codes and national standards. As with all
forecasting, the tool cannot predict what will actually
happen in the future but should help provide some
guidance by using meaningful data for planning
purposes. The study's true value is in being a catalyst
for productive discussions on traffic and parking, which
should be helpful in the present and upcoming CCCN
zoning and transit deliberations."
http://www.ccnneighbors.com/
The
Cherry Creek Area Business Alliance
released a report on the economic conditions in the east
Denver commercial district. According to research
contained in the State of Cherry Creek report the area
in 2013 has recorded strong growth in retail sales,
assessed valuation of real property, salaries and
employment. The vacancy rate for retail space in the
area was, at 2.4%, half that for the overall Denver
market. Retail rental rates were also well above the
city average. The Cherry Creek Area Business Alliance
defines the area as generally bounded by East 6th
Avenue, Cherry Creek South Drive, University Boulevard
and Colorado Boulevard.
The hotel that will be part of the redeveloped Denver
Union Station has been named the
Crawford
Hotel in honor of Dana Crawford, a
longtime downtown developer and advocate for historic
preservation. Sage Hospitality selected the name for the
112-room hotel which will open when work on the historic
station at 17th and Wynkoop Streets is completed in
2014.
Inland American Real Estate Trust bought the
Hotel
Monaco, a 189-room boutique hotel at
1717 Champa Street in downtown Denver. The Denver hotel
was part of a $189 million portfolio that included
hotels in Chicago and Salt Lake City. The seller was
Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, which will continue to
manage the hotels.
Strata Capital acquired the historic
Ghost
Building at 800 18th Street in downtown
Denver. The 124-year old building contains about 15,516
square feet of space. The purchase price was $3.9
million, or about $251 per square foot. The private
seller was represented by Nick Koncilja of the St.
Charles Town Company while Jeff LaForte and Robert
Pipkin of Fuller Western Real Estate were agents for the
buyer.
LaSalle Investment Management bought the
Millenium
Financial Center in downtown Denver for
an undisclosed price. The 133,500 square foot building
at 1550 17th Street was built in 2000. CBRE brokers
Geoff Baukol, Kevin Shannon and Tim Swan handled the
transaction on behalf of the seller, Dividend Capital
Diversified Property Fund.
Ruth's Chris Steak House
will return to Denver, leasing 10,000 square foot for a
restaurant in the Denver Dry Building at 15th and
California streets in downtown Denver. The restaurant
chain previously operated a store at 1445 Market Street
that closed in 2009.
The tightening office market in downtown Denver
convinced a Toronto firm to change its plans and develop
a 21-story office building instead of a high rise
condominium tower.
1401
Lawrence Street will contain about
290,000 square feet with ground floor retail space and a
347-space parking garage. First Gulf Corporation did not
announced a schedule for construction to begin.
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank announced the construction of
The Lab, a 73,000 square foot,
four-story office building in Lower Highland. The
building will be located near the intersection of 17th
and Platte Streets, with an entrance and retail space
fronting 17th Street behind the Denver Beer Company
building on Platte Street.
Denver's historic
Brown
Palace Hotel is for sale. The ownership
group, Brown Palace Joint Venture, acquired the 121-year
old hotel over thirty years ago. Eastdil Secured is
marketing the 230-room hotel for the owners..
The Stonebridge Companies plans a December opening for
the
Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center Hotel.
The 230-room hotel is being built in the former Colorado
National Bank building at 17th and Champa streets, The
98-year old building sat vacant for years after the bank
was acquired by US Bancorp. Stonebridge bought the
historic building, added two floors and renovated
interior spaces, including several Allen Tupper True
murals.
Unico Properties bought an office and retail building in
downtown Denver's Writer Square. The eleven-story
building is located at
1512
Larimer Street and contains about
179,271 square feet. Unico acquired the 33-year old
building for an undisclosed amount in partnership with
LaSalle Investment Management. The seller was GDA Real
Estate. Unico is a Seattle-based investment company with
several Denver holdings.
Vitamin Cottage
will open a 20,000 square foot natural foods store in
Capitol Hill. The store will occupy a former Office
Deport on East Colfax Avenue between Pearl and
Washington streets and is scheduled to open in January.
The renovation work on the building includes a new
80-space parking lot.
The Pauls Corporation filed plans with Denver planners
for a
200-unit
apartment building in the Golden
Triangle neighborhood south of downtown. The seven-story
building will occupy a site on East 8th Avenue between
Broadway and Lincoln Street. Pending approvals from the
City and County of Denver construction may begin by year
end.
Trader Joe's
announced the location of their fourth Denver area
store. The supermarket chain will occupy a site at the
southwest corner of East 7th Avenue and Logan Street
across from Governor's Park in Capitol Hill. The store
is expected to open by the end of 2014.
Denver Health
cut 170 jobs due to a budget deficit caused by a growing
number of uninsured lower income patients seeking
medical care and reductions in federal payments. Until
earlier this year the publicly-owned hospital at West
8th Avenue and Speer Boulevard had been operating at a
profit. The City and County of Denver created an
independent authority to operate the hospital in 1997.
Construction started on an office and hotel project at
Broadway and West 12th Avenue near the Denver Art Museum
in the Golden Triangle neighborhood on the southern edge
of downtown. Kentucky developer Corporex has partnered
with Denver developer George Thorn to building the
50,000 square foot Museum Center office building and the
165-room hotel known as
The Art.
Construction is scheduled to begin in November on a
Hyatt Hotel at 14th Street and Glenarm
Place in downtown Denver. The 21-story building is being
developed by White Lodging. The 361 room hotel combine
facilities for two types of Hyatt hotels, a Hyatt House
and a Hyatt Place. Completion is scheduled for the
spring of 2015.
Treehouse Brokerage and Development began construction
on
Framework
at Sloan's Lake, a 28-unit townhouse
project in west Denver. The project will occupy a site
on West 17th Avenue at King Street. According to the
developer, 13 of the 14 first phase units are already
under contract to sell, Work on the second phase is
scheduled to begin in 2014.
The owners of
Guiry's
Paint and Supply bought an industrial
building at 2627 West 6th Avenue in west Denver. The
company paid RW Properties $2,680,000, or $29.49 per
square foot, for the 90,870 square foot building. The
seller was represented by CBRE brokers Jim Bolt and Mike
Camp while Nick Shill of Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors
was agent for the buyer.
Cleveland-based Snavely Development plans to begin
construction by year end on EnV Denver, a 224-unit
apartment tower at
1000 Speer
Boulevard in the Golden Triangle
neighborhood south of downtown. The 16-story building
will occupy a triangular piece of land at Speer
Boulevard, West 10th Avenue and South Cherokee Street.
Google selected Denver-based
Galvanize
as part of its seven-city network of entrepreneurial
tech hubs. Galvanize operates a co-working center for
small tech companies at 1062 Delaware Street and
recently announced plans for an expansion to a new
building planned for Platte Street in Lower Highlands.
The other centers selected by Google are in Chicago,
Detroit, Minneapolis, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham and
Waterloo, Ontario. Google will sponsor events, technical
support and training programs at the hubs.
Trammell Crow Company filed site plans with City and
County of Denver planners for
Alexan at
Sloan's Lake, a 378 unit apartment
community on the site of the former St. Anthony's
Central Hospital at West 16th Avenue and Raleigh Street
in west Denver. The Denver City Council recently
approved concept plans for redeveloping the six-block
site occupied by the now-vacant hospital into a
high-density urban infill community.
Construction started on
Mile High
Vista, a mixed-use project at West
Colfax Avenue and Irving Street in west Denver. The
project includes the 25,000 square foot Rodolfo Gonzales
branch of the Denver Public Library and a 72-unit
affordable apartment building that is being developed by
Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation. A future
phase will include a small retail building fronting on
West Colfax Avenue.
An investment partnership associated with principals of
Hyder Construction plans to acquire
414 14th
Street, a 90-year old office building in
downtown Denver that at one time housed the
administrative offices of the Denver Public Schools. The
project will ultimately contain about 49,138 square feet
once renovation is completed and 6,000 square feet
added. Upon completion the building will be known as the
Ambassador.
United Way
started construction on its new Denver headquarters. The
63,000 square foot office building is located at 711
Park Avenue West. The charitable organization will move
to the new building from its current headquarters at
2505 18th Street in Lower Highland. That building was
sold to a developer who is expected to demolish the site
and build apartments once United Way relocates.
Ogilvie Properties acquired the
Key Bank
Building at 3300 East 1st Avenue in the
Cherry Creek East neighborhood. The 93,611 square foot
building was built in 1980. Ogilvie bought the building
from Colorado Heritage Investment LLC, which was
represented by Jeff LaForte and Bob Pipkin of Fuller
Western. The buyer was represented by Tim Finhom and Sam
Leger of Unique Properties. The sale price was $14
million, or approximately $150 per square foot.
Solera National Bank
leased 12,500 square feet at 101 University, a recently
remodeled four-story office building at East 1st Avenue
and University Boulevard in Cherry Creek North. The
48,000 square foot office building was acquired by
Western Development two years ago and has been
extensively renovated, bringing it back to Class A
status.
Smith/Jones Partners plans to begin construction later
this year on the Residences at Cherry Creek, a 297-unit
apartment building at
360 South
Monroe Street in the Cherry Creek East
neighborhood. The developers have already demolished an
office building that occupied part of the site. The
apartment building will be eight stories and occupy
about two-thirds of the block bounded by Monroe and
Garfield streets and East Alameda and East Dakota
avenues.
Discount Forklift Brokers purchased
4625
Colorado Boulevard in north Denver. The
company bought the 23,000 square foot industrial
building for $1.6 million, or about $70 per square foot.
The seller was represented by Timothy Finholm and Sam
Leger or Unique Properties. Eric Carson of Real Living
Colorado Properties was agent for the buyer.
Construction began on
Industry,
a 120,000 square foot office building at 3001 Brighton
Boulevard in the River North neighborhood. The business
incubator will be oriented to technology and creative
businesses. A partnership of Koelbel and Company and
Jason and Ellen Winkler will own the project, which is
similar to their smaller Battery 621 building at West
6th Avenue and Santa Fe Drive. About 20,000 square feet
will be dedicated to retail and service uses. A $1
million loan from the City and County of Denver will
help fund the project.
Zeppelin Development plans another building at its Taxi
mixed-use campus on Ringsby Court in the River North (RiNo)
neighborhood.
Drive 2
will contain about 60,000 square feet and will be the
seventh building constructed in the park along the South
Platte River near downtown Denver. Taxi now contains
about 200,000 square feet of office, flex and retail
space occupied by sixty tenants with nearly 400
employees.
Chair Five Equities plans to spend $2,250,000 to
renovate the
Mayfair
Center, an older 11,700 square foot
retail center at East 14th Avenue and Krameria Street in
east Denver. Plans call for exterior renovations
including a new parking lot, pedestrian patio and new
signage.
Lincoln Property Company revealed the specifics for its
planned expansion of the
Colorado
Center office complex at South Colorado
Boulevard and I-25. The complex, which is adjacent to an
RTD light rail station, will be expanded to include
another 200,000 square feet of office space, a 189-unit
apartment tower and 42,000 square feet of retail space
in a main street design. Construction is expected to
begin in early 2014. A later phase may include a hotel.
Contractors for the
Gates
Corporation began demolition of the
company's historic manufacturing plant at
999 South
Broadway. The plant, which used to
manufacture rubber products, has been closed and
derelict since 1991. Demolition will allow Gates to
address environmental pollution at the site and
ultimately sell it to developers. The property is seen
as a logical location for a large transit-oriented
mixed-use development because of its proximity to RTD's
nearby light rail station at I-25 and South Broadway
where the southeast and south lines converge.
A local investment group bought the
Stark
Lumber Company complex of industrial
buildings at 924 West 1st Avenue, near Santa Fe Drive.
The 2.5 acre site, which has been occupied by Stark
Lumber for 130 years, contains about 48,000 square feet,
which the new owners will convert to multi-tenant space
while retaining Stark as a tenant. The purchase price
was $1.8 million, or about $37.50 per square foot. The
buyer was represented by Hal Naiman of the Sherman
Agency while the seller's agent was John Segelke of
Segelke Real Estate.
Sagacorp bought the
Jefferson
Pilot office building at 1095 South
Monaco Boulevard in southeast Denver. Alimorra LLP sold
the thirty-year old, 20,439 square foot building for
just under $2 million, or about $96 per square foot.
Scott Peterson of Counsel Realty Group represented the
seller.
East First Avenue LLC purchased the
Promenade
at Lowry, a 25,606 square foot office
building at 8190 East 1st Avenue in east Denver. The
building was acquired for $5.3 million, or about $207
per square foot, from Lowry Promenade LLC. The five year
old building is fully occupied, mainly by medical
tenants. The seller was represented by Newmark Grubb
Knight Frank brokers Dan Grooters and Riki Hashimoto.
YPSI-Ann Realty Company bought the
Lowry
Professional Plaza, a 14,278 square foot
medical building in the Lowry neighborhood of east
Denver. Hampton Partners sold the six year old building
for $5.6 million, or about $393 per square foot. The
seller was represented by Riki Hashimoto of Newmark
Grubb Knight Frank and the buyer by Unique Properties
brokers Marc Lippitt, John Sheflin and Scott Shwayder.
Granite Partners acquired the
Ambassador
at Cherry Creek, an 85-unit apartment
property at 4805 East Kentucky Avenue. The seller was
RLE Properties for a price of $6.4 million, or about
$75,000 per unit. Tim Shunta of Unique Properties LLC-TCN
Worldwide was broker on the sale.
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