Yesterday was an exciting day for the teams over at 1401 Lawrence; the project has officially topped out! What exactly does that mean? The project has reached its final height, at 22-stories or 304 feet, with the last beam lifted to the top yesterday. I was very fortunate to be the event photographer thanks to the great folks at First Gulf, the developer of 1401 Lawrence.

The topping out ceremony consisted of four speeches made by (left to right) John Macneil, President of First Gulf, Steven Bangert, CEO of CoBiz Financial, Amy Hansen, Real Estate Department Partner at Polsinelli, and Albus Brooks of City Council, District 9. Polsinelli is the anchor tenant, and CoBiz will have a branch on the ground floor, as well as corporate offices on two other floors.

After the speeches, these four were the first to sign the beam which will be kept on the building for its lifetime.

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Everybody at the topping out event had a chance to sign the beams, including myself. The team for the Beck Group, who have worked around the clock building 1401 Lawrence, posed for a photo right before the beams were hoisted up.

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Once the crane hook came down, the beams were hooked on and lifted to the top.

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Up they go!

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1401 Lawrence is turning out to be a really great project. The most notable feature, the glass facade, acts like a mirror, reflecting Colorado’s brilliant blue skies.

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In a sea of masonry and earth tones, the all glass building brings such a great change around this area of Downtown Denver.

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The aluminum and glass paneling is also making quick progress on the northeast side. Since this project is now topped out, what you see here is the final height of 1401 Lawrence.

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With fourteen updates, it is almost time to bring 1401 Lawrence to a close. The next time we visit it will be when it is completed; around this fall. What a fantastic project!