Over the past few weeks, we have been checking in on a lot of the smaller infill projects that are helping repair Denver’s urban fabric. As we all know, there are also a handful of very large projects that are also eradicating surface lots into something much more useful. Piggybacking on our update of SugarSquare, arguably one of the smallest infill projects going up in Downtown Denver, we are now going to swing by 1144 Fifteenth, the largest project going up in Downtown Denver.
Since we last visited 1144 Fifteenth, in November, the project has progressed significantly. So much in fact, the tower’s core is now visible on the Denver skyline.
Let’s talk about the core. In the photos below, you can see that there is a fairly large setback. After the 12th floor, the core had its first setback because the elevators for the parking structure didn’t need to go higher. As it kept rising, more setbacks occurred because not all of the elevators will go to all 40 floors. Having a certain range of floors assigned to each elevator helps relieve elevator traffic in the tower. The core is almost topped out with approximately five more floors to go.
Not only is the core going vertical. The steel structure, for the office floors, is quickly catching up. Here are two views of the tower looking southeast from Lower Downtown and the Central Platte Valley.
As you can see below, the core is catching up to the tower crane. We have word that the tower crane will be jumped within the next week or two; perhaps being the tallest structure in Denver for a short amount of time.
Let’s move in closer and check out what is going on at the street-level. The 12-story parking structure is now completely enclosed in glass. The facade for the parking structure will match the rest of the tower, making it unnoticeable from the street.
Look up!
The back side of the project is also coming along nicely. The parking structure will have a blank wall facing the Four Seasons, which will hopefully be covered up soon by a future development on this block.
Let’s wrap up this update with two views of 1144 Fifteenth from Larmier Square.
The main structure is currently at 23-stories with 17 more to go. The exciting news is that 1144 Fifteenth is expected to top out by the summer!
The parking garage may not be visible from the street but the additional car traffic from a few hundred new parking spaces will be. When are we going to talk about parking maximums downtown?
Doesn’t D-C (the zoning for this lot) have zero parking requirements? This is what the ‘market’ calls for as far as parking in the developers eyes. I think we need prioritize figuring out why the ‘market’ is calling for this much car storage and start taking the steps to fix it.
The recent Downtown Denver Partnership survey showed that ridership on public transit was down 1% in 2016. Not a good sign. I really don’t know how they are going to fit all the cars downtown. I’ve driven to work 3 times ever and what a miserable experience. I can’t believe people do that 5 days a week.
Drove by this one a few days ago. There are metal “ribs” outside the glass panels. Will there be a second layer of glass on these? or will these always be visible?
Ryan
I love your site – its great and it’s wonderful to see the project from every perspective
Wish you’d add names I’d the design team for every project.
Thanks!
Nice design,
If only it were 25 or 30 floors taller.
VERY MUCH AGREED! Denver needs some cajunes for a ‘real skyscaper’, one that flips the skyline on it’s butt! The poor drudgery of the absence of riskers. And I say that now as the economic forecast is going back indoors pretty soon and for a long time I’ve heard speculation. So that would make for a pretty boring years ahead for a while. Well it’s been a nice life (yawn) and I’ve seen lots and lots of change in the front range of Colorado, mostly hesitation and overstudy with too many cooks in the kitchen. I think I’ll hang up my urban trousers and head for a ranch somewhere where I can watch the grass grow like the only skyscapers there are the rest of my days.
Can we officially say that the crane is the tallest structure in Denver or is it still shorter than Republic Plaza?
Unfortunately, it is still shorter than Republic Plaza by about 50 feet.