Swinging back to Capitol Hill, let’s take a quick look at the intersection of 8th Avenue and Sherman Street where the MOTO Apartments have started to rise. To refresh your memory, this is a 64-unit apartment building rising a total of six-stories.
Here are some pictures of the progress! Most of the wood framing is complete along with the base. Within the next few weeks, we should start to see the unique facade go up. Head on over to our first update for a rendering of this project.
With Capitol Hill, as a whole, almost completely built out, there are still voids in its fabric scattered throughout the neighborhood as you get closer to Broadway. Luckily, this problem is starting to get rectified with projects such as this one! MOTO is expected to open within the next couple of months.
I’m really excited for this and the other two projects nearby and they should all be done by the fall.
I think the biggest infill need (it may not be but since it’s a block from me it sure feels like it) is at 11th and Grant. There are two or three parking lots that need to go, ideally with some ground floor retail.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/1050+Logan+St,+Denver,+CO+80203/@39.732909,-104.982657,220m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x876c7ed691d3808d:0xd904c3b18548b775
Interjecting small retail spaces in non-traditional retail corridors like this is what makes Capitol Hill a successful urban neighborhood. Hopefully more of the infill includes small retail where it makes sense.
That parking lot at 11th & Grant is probably the biggest hole in the urban fabric left in Capitol Hill, though there are also a few large ones at 14th & Logan and 12th & Sherman. Neighborhood-oriented retail/restaurants would be great at that location.
The only thing that concerns me about this project and the ones nearby is how they will affect the already problematic parking situation.
The “first update” rendering looks like it has a ground floor mural by local artist Pedro Barrios, I’d love to hear more about that!