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Denver Union Station Update #61

Posted by  on April 29, 2011

I spent a couple of hours yesterday touring the Union Station work site thanks to Jerry Nery, RTD’s DUS Project Manager, and Hunter Sydnor, Kiewit’s Public Information Officer. The highlight of the tour was getting inside the bus terminal. This posting concentrates on that part of the tour. I have several other updates in various stages of development and editing. I will post them over the next few days so stay tuned for more news from inside the construction fence.

Here are close-ups of the entrance/exit ramp, one looking in, the other looking out. Buses will enter the terminal from this ramp near the freight tracks or from the ramp that has not yet been built behind Union Station. Buses will travel in a clockwise direction around the passenger waiting area which runs along the center of the terminal.

One descriptive word came to mind when I walked in the terminal itself: huge! It’s possibly the largest single room that I have ever been in. And the other half isn’t even built yet.  Airport concourses and convention halls may be as big or bigger, but this one really made an impression. The first photo below shows a long view of the facility. The second is me trying to give perspective on the size of the column next to me and the beams overhead.

Here is a shot of the escalators and stairs that will take passengeres between the bus terminal and the Chestnut Pavilion above. There will be one escalator and stairway going up and one of each going down. And there will be an elevator close behind them.

Let there be light, lots of natural light. The first of the following photos is a long view of the passenger waiting area with bus travel lanes on both sides. The bright light in the center comes from the seven skylights above. The second photo is a side view of the middle skylight which is also the largest.

Let’s move on to the mechanical rooms. First, here is a reminder of what they looked like under construction on December 18, 2010. The mechanical rooms are just above and parallel to the canopy at the new light rail station.

Here are two photos of the inside. The mechanical rooms will house systems for air filtration, electrical, communications, etc.

I will post my next update over the weekend with more information from my tour.

Please see our Denver Union Station page at JobSiteVistor.com for more photos.

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Filed under Government & Civic, Infill, Transit, Union Station.
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Upcoming Union Station Walking Tour Schedule

Posted by  on April 29, 2011

We normally aim to do our DenverInfill/Union Station Advocates walking tours of Union Station on the first, third, and fifth Saturdays of the month. This Saturday, April 30, is the fifth Saturday, but due to the chilly and rainy forecast for Saturday morning, we’re going to skip this weekend.

Our Union Station walking tour schedule for May is Saturday, May 7 and Saturday, May 21. Both tours in May will be led by Rick, who’s now up to  Union Station Update #60 and counting. As always, meet in front of the historic station at 17th and Wynkoop at about 9:50 AM. The tour will begin promptly at 10:00 AM and conclude around 11:00 AM on the Millennium Bridge. Suggested donation is $10/person with proceeds going to the non-profit citizens group Union Station Advocates.

There is a lot going on at Union Station. We hope you’ll join us on May 7 or May 21 to see first-hand Denver’s biggest construction project!

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Filed under Events & Meetings, Union Station.
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Grocery-Anchored 20th & Chestnut Project Moving Forward

Posted by  on April 26, 2011

The Nichols Partnership, developers of the successful Spire residential tower in Central Downtown, announced back in June 2007 that they had purchased almost the entire block bounded by Wewatta, 19th, Chestnut, and 20th in the Union Station district. At that time they proposed for the site a mixed-use concept consisting of a ground-floor grocery store with residential and possibly other uses such as hotel or office above. The project didn’t proceed, however, as the pending economic collapse and other factors intervened.

Four years later, I’m happy to report that the Nichols Partnership, along with partners Loftus Developments and the Mulhern Group, announce that the project is now ready to go!

The project (named “20th & Chestnut” for now) will be built in two phases. The first phase will cover about three-quarters of the block fronting Chestnut Place and will feature a 42,000 SF urban grocery store (national chain TBD) and an additional 13,000 SF of retail, plus 307 apartments above in a five-story building. Included within the ground-floor level are 104 parking spaces reserved for the retail uses, with vehicle access to these spaces from Chestnut Place. Below grade are two levels of parking containing 447 parking spaces for the residential uses, accessed via 19th Street. Here’s the street-level site plan:

2011-04-26_20th-Chestnut1

The building will feature a prominent glass corner entry at 20th and Chestnut and a facade consisting primarily of glass and brick. Here are renderings looking toward the 20th & Chestnut corner and the 20th Street side:

2011-04-26_20th-Chestnut2 2011-04-26_20th-Chestnut3

Here’s a view from above showing the overall building orientation and footprint. The remaining one-quarter of the block fronting Wewatta Street will be developed as a future Phase 2 as a 12-story mixed-use tower.

2011-04-26_20th-Chestnut4

If all goes as planned, the project will begin construction in December, 2011 and will open in 2013.

It looks like Downtown Denver is finally going to get a full-service grocery store!

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Filed under Infill, Residential, Retail, Union Station.
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Denver Union Station Update #60

Posted by  on April 26, 2011

Here we go again. Digging the second half of the bus terminal has began this morning. Here is a photo of a familiar sight: a line of dump trucks, an excavator, and a bulldozer. As you can see in the photo, Kiewit started digging next to the historic station and will work toward the existing section of the terminal.

Also in the photo above, you can see that work has begun on removal of the canopy that is attached to the back of Union Station. The canopy offered protection for passengers waiting for buses that departed downtown via the HOV lane to Interstate 25.

In other news, the Traction Power Sub Station (TPSS) is being moved today to a new spot near the Union Gateway Bridge from underneath the Millennium Bridge. I know little about the function of the TPSS. But I do know that it has something to do with controlling movements of the light rail trains. The first of the following two photos shows where it was located on the concrete foundation that is barely visible under the bridge. The second photo shows it being hauled away on a flat bed trailer. It looks a bit like a big camper trailer.

Later this morning, I will get some street-level photos of today’s activities and post them to our Denver Union Station page at JobSiteVistor.com.

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Filed under Government & Civic, Infill, Transit, Uncategorized, Union Station.
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