The next stop on our Cherry Creek infill tour is a project named The Residences at Fillmore Plaza that has already been under construction for a couple of months. This is a unique project as it is being built on top of an already-existing parking structure. Here are some photos of the project from a couple weeks ago:
A tower crane has been put up on the parking garage, and the new structure is already about halfway up.
The Residences at Fillmore Plaza will be along East 2nd Avenue between Fillmore and Milwaukee streets. Here is a map with the project site outlined:
Last but not least, here is a rendering of the building. The 3-story structure on top of the parking garage will feature 27 apartment units with 6,700 square feet of ground floor retail. Judging by this rendering, it also looks like the garage will be receiving a face-lift.
The Residences at Fillmore Plaza is being developed by Realty Management Group and will cost a total of $12 million. Completion is expected for this summer.
This is a sharp looking building and a huge improvement over the original parking garage! I can think of numerous downtown parking garages in need of similar projects. Adding apartments above existing parking garages seems to be a new, and very welcome, trend. I first noticed this in Chicago several years ago. It makes great sense.
Looks like a good value for RMG. I could see this being a new trend around town if this project is successful.
$12 Million dollars for that project seems very cheap!
Does anyone have any insight into that? I feel like there are some houses in this state that go for around 12 Mill!
This is completely off topic, but I have thought for awhile now that Skyline Park should be made into a sculpture park as well as the large space for public events that it already is. Thr north and south ends could have the majority of the pieces. There are nice free sculpture parks in Seattle and Minneapolis and even Loveland. It would liven the park blocks tremendously. I would also like to see residential towers replace the two story parkinh garage and health club along the west side of the park (between 17th and 18th). Skyline Park has tremendous potential to be a great space. Especially if some day the Fed Reserve Bank were to be relocated and that prime block redeveloped as a multi-use high-rise complex.
Sculptures in public-owned places that produce aesthetically pleasing results must be difficult to achieve. There must be so many political battles to overcome in order to get something done. I’m afraid the artistic result often times is nothing more than the result of that battle. There are cities in this world that achieve this greatness, but not many. Ideally, a sculpture would be something so well done and of such quality that it lasts forever. I’m afraid those days are gone forever.
timothy, let’s hope for the Mizpah Arch. A gate of welcome and a blessing, to all people stepping through. If anything, make it bigger than the original. The Arch glowed with hundreds of white bulbs. But it was eventually neglected, then taken down and thrown away. To make room for cars. Walkers lost a few square feet of grand public space to drivers, and eventually to parking.
High, inspiring public art, timothy. Let’s meditate on a grand, elegant Gateway to the world. Will it be inside the terminal lobby, or over the platform entrance to Union Station, or back in the same place where it belongs?
Unfortunately the mayor already chose a design for the Union Station artwork and it’s nothing like you were hoping for. It’s going to be a massive, kinetic sculpture. There’s a video of it in action here: (http://vimeo.com/71837469). I’m waiting to pass judgment until it’s actually erected and in place, but I’m fairly certain that I’m going to hate it.
I don’t really get the sculpture. It looks like someone knitting. I guess we will see how it ends up. Too bad Alexander Calder isn’t still with us.
Ryan, thanks for bringing this thing to light. Since when does the mayor get to decide on the artistic focal point of Union Station? This whole project’s been in development a lot longer than his involvement. Why isn’t Dana Crawford steering this? She has the historical perspective to commission and place a piece that speaks to the importance of Union Station, as the gateway to the city. This looks like a 3-D Circle K sign, with the commercialism of the Target logo. Modern Denver public art produces another masterpiece, to go with the Big Red Chair and the Big Blue Bear.
In regards to the kinetic sculpture at Union Station and artwork at the station in general:
First off, the DUSPA selected the public artwork, not the mayor. The selected piece was selected in September over two other proposals by DUSPA Board Members. This follows the termination of the original public artist as his work was deemed “butt ugly”. I think that a bronze statue is always the way to go and provides some ideal space for pigeons to roost, but we seem to be past that stage in the public realm. Or an artistic clock tower.
Second, the Mizpah Arch is still a possibility; I believe that provisions were made for the installation of an arch either at 17th and Wewatta or somewhere in on the plaza in front of Union Station in the form of electrical cabling being run to power an arch. But, the cost of the arch has been estimated to be in the millions. The budget for public art at the station is $300K. There’s a huge funding gap.
The Mizpah Arch has to be a follow-on project if it is to happen.
I thought I had read that a committee selected a few finalists and then the mayor made the final decision (but I can’t seem to track that information down). My apologies for the misinformation. I’m glad to hear the Mizpah arch is still a possibility, so much of downtown Denver’s early architecture has been lost, it would be great to see some of it restored.
Great new project. It looks like they relocated the vehicle entry. Or, at least planted a tree in front of it.
Too bad this project kind of kicked off what has turned out to be the demise of Kazoo and Company. Probably was inevitable, but hate to see casualties along the way.
Is the garage able to remain open during the construction (It looks like it)? If so that’s some pretty impressive construction phasing.
It was when I used it a few months ago. I use the word “used” lightly as there were no open spaces in it.
My dream is that something like this will happen to the parking garages that surround 1801 California.
Why all the development in CC (not integrated with rail) and not enough development downtown, where it should be?
Well, Jeffrey, I’d have to say Downtown is probably doing OK on the development front compared to CC: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z-FGD6PyU5KM.ksDDeVi84WUQ
But let’s hope we can work to improve transit to CC anyway!
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