Let’s head over to Denver’s River North neighborhood and check in on the completed Freight Residences located at Zeppelin Development’s TAXI compound. Today, we are going to look at the completed four-story, 49-unit project both inside and out.
Freight’s architecture is right in line with the rest of the TAXI development; an industrial look with a corrugated metal facade and bright accent colors. The residences in Freight are geared more towards families which means there are one, two, three, and four bedroom units. No Zeppelin development would be complete without their famous garage doors, located on the first and top floor units.
It may look a little barren now but, come spring, the front landscaping will feature native wildflowers and grasses that will go around and under the pathways. Water drainage from the roof will go directly into this little detention area. The large concrete blocks you see in the second picture are directly from their concrete-mixing neighbors to the north. When there is leftover concrete in the trucks, these large forms are made and are typically used for roadways and construction. Zeppelin saw an opportunity to reuse these forms for landscaping.
Orange is the theme at Freight Residences. Here is part of the lobby that will be used for kids, workshops, events, and a collaborative work environment.
Did I mention orange? The hallway on the third floor is painted what I like to call “traffic cone” orange. The floor also looks orange but it is just polished concrete reflecting the walls and ceiling.
Freight has a very interesting unit layout. On the east half of the building, two-story townhomes are stacked on top of each other. The smaller units are located on the west side of the building, along with additional townhome units. Because of this, there are only two access points for all of the units: the ground floor and third floor.
Thanks to Chris Woldum of Zeppelin, DenverInfill was able to get an inside look at Freight. Starting off with the townhome units, we can see that they feature an industrial look with very open floor plans and polished concrete floors. The same orange we saw above is also featured as an accent in all of the units.
The garage doors offer a great opening for each unit’s outdoor space. Every townhome unit has a garage door leading out to either the front, if you are on the first two floors, or a private rooftop patio, if you are on the top two floors.
Some of the townhomes feature both an east and west view that can be directly seen from each end of the unit. The master bedrooms have a unique, open layout, as you can see in the second photo.
The one-bedroom units come in just shy of 600 square feet but feel very open with only one central wall spanning from the floor to ceiling.
How about the views? Looking west, you get a great view of the mountains with the freight yards less than a block away.
To the south, you get views of the TAXI site as well as the Union Station skyline.
Most apartments going up around Downtown Denver feature very similar floor plans, and have very limited large units. Freight breaks that mold with family-sized units and unique floor plans.
Hid–e–us
Interesting design choice to have a glass shower door facing the living/dinning room. Good luck keeping the glass clean. What happens if you have a guest sleeping on your couch? Send them out for coffee?
That orange hallway reminds me of a horror film with the walls raining down with blood.
The orange in the halls is a great way to get in a large does of color, as halls are rooms designed to pass through rather than linger. If people don’t like the orange, they can choose not to buy a place in the building, or they buy, they can choose not to stay in the halls for long.
I went to the open house and I think they must be high. The layouts of these places are so awkward. The glass shower that looks into the living room is a terrible idea. The closets are all tiny with no doors. The stairs are made of painted plywood. The downstairs “bedroom” in the 2 bdr doesn’t even have a closet, but it does have a shower that’s basically IN the bedroom. None of this would be an issue if they weren’t charging exorbitant rent for these places. But they are. If I’m paying $2400 for an apartment I want a decent sized closet with a door at the very least. Zeppelin needs to get real. There may be some nice mountain views from these units but there’s also a view of the 10 train tracks directly adjacent to the building. This development is next to a cement factory! You can get a nice, luxury 2 bedroom in the riverfront district for $2200. Why would someone pay these prices for units with IKEA fixtures in a neighborhood that’s basically industrial when you can be in a way better spot with hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances for the same price if not cheaper??
I am not a snob. I live on the east side in a tiny 2 bedroom with no dishwasher. But I pay $1150 for it. I appreciate that they’ve tried to do this sustainably aka cheaply, but if you’re building with concrete and plywood your prices should reflect that.
It’s almost like they were going for the converted warehouse in Brooklyn vibe. While people snatch those places up in NYC, I doubt Denver’s residents are going to be fighting to live here. They built this thing from the ground up….the design/layout choices are SO questionable. I feel like this thing was designed by all men and quite frankly, it shows.
YES!!!!
It looks like my garage, if remodeled into a studio apartment, complete with the God-awful garage door support in the middle of the living space. Don’t even get me started with the peek-a-boo shower into the living room. Denver deserves MUCH better than this!
“Geared towards families?” What?
I, for one, do not have with the design of these apartments. They have their own look that is unique. I would not there, since I do not find them all that appealing, but someone else just might. It is good for the city to have different residential developments that appeal to different people. The problem I have is with the development itself. To have so much surface parking that also surrounds each building strikes me as so much like a suburban office park. Granted, this development is somewhat far from downtown proper and it probably needs to have higher amounts of parking, but does does that parking need to be in the form of surface lots fronting the buildings? I don’t think so.
Hi Jerry,
The TAXI master plan, when built out, will have no surface parking lots. There are at least four or five buildings yet to go. They are using surface parking for now but as they build out the TAXI plan, those will be replaced with new buildings and structured parking.
Ken,
Well I am glad to hear that. I look forward to their completed vision.
Is the TAXI Master Plan available online somewhere? I would be interested in taking a look at that but I haven’t been able to find it. Thank you
This looks like housing from some dystopian future movie where everyone is forced to live in miserable conditions under the ever watchful eye of an oppressive regime. The can see everything….even you in the shower.
Of all the projects that have gone up in our city over the last few years, this has to be the worst. Cheap materials, lazy design and planning, frankly a sore eye to RiNo. Zeppelin, for all the patting they do on their own back, should be ashamed of themselves.
These buildings will look horrible a few years down the road. I have seen lots of similar buildings pop up along the light rail. The buildings will be run down eye sores in a very few years. What are we doing to our city allowing this kind of horrid ghetto like architecture?