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Archive of posts filed under the Adaptive Reuse category.

Re-Envisioning the Denver Coliseum

Posted by Ken on May 6, 2010

DenverInfill had the privilege to partner this year with NAIOP-Colorado to promote the Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge, the annual high-profile competition between the real estate programs at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver. This year’s challenge, as discussed in my post of April 20, involved a re-envisioning of the Denver Coliseum property near I-70 and Brighton Boulevard in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood.

The challenge focused on a 46-acre site that included the Coliseum and its parking lots to the southwest toward Globeville Landing Park. The site sits at the crossroads of the redeveloping area north of Downtown that features nearby the RiNo arts district, future FasTracks transit stations, South Platte River amenities, and excellent highway access. One of the competition’s main assumptions was that the Coliseum had to remain the property of the city and continue as an entertainment venue. For all of the program’s rules and requirements, review the document included with the April 20 post.

Last night, over 600 people packed the ballroom at the Downtown Marriott to hear the two teams’ presentations and the selection of the winner. The result: the University of Colorado was victorious and snapped a four-year DU winning streak. Congratulations CU!  Both teams, however, put forth excellent presentations that offered innovative, yet different potential futures for the Coliseum area. I’m happy that DenverInfill is able to present both teams’ proposals from last night.

CU envisioned the site as the Denver Center for Creating Art, with the Coliseum reconfigured as a performance and rehearsal venue and new development providing space for the Art Institute of Colorado and other arts-related businesses. Below is CU’s proposed site plan and here are links to PDFs of CU’s executive summary (1.6 MB) and full presentation (14.7 MB).

2010 RMREC - CU Team Site Plan

DU, on the other hand, envisioned the site as the Frontier Center at the Denver Coliseum, a complex focused on “agri-tech” and alternative energy education and business development, with a conference center and incubator space for entrepreneurial businesses focused on these evolving industries. A site plan from the DU presentation is below, and here are links to PDFs of DU’s executive summary (0.6 MB) and full presentation (6.1 MB).

2010 RMREC - DU Team Site Plan

While both plans represent academic exercises only and do not necessarily reflect what will eventually be planned for the Coliseum, the potential for the site as described by both teams is exciting and gives Denver citizens and its leaders plenty to consider as the Coliseum area transforms into a vibrant extension of our urban core. Congratulations to the students from both schools, and many thanks to everyone at NAIOP and the City involved in organizing this year’s Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge and for their efforts to enhance the quality of both universities’ real estate programs and to promote excellence in Denver’s urban environment.

Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Brownfield, Elyria-Swansea, Events & Meetings, Infill, Plans & Policies.
7 Comments

Saddlery Building Renovation Update

Posted by Ken on February 18, 2010

Last fall I mentioned that the Saddlery Building at 15th and Wynkoop was finally getting its long-overdue makeover, and how amazing the exterior is looking after a good scrubbing. Today I’m happy to provide additional details about the historic structure’s rehabilitation, thanks to Kevin and Nancy from Studio K2 Architecture.

Work continues on the brick facade restoration, with only the 15th Street side remaining to be cleaned. Also of note has been the work on the windows. Many of the windows, particularly the large ones at street level, had been bricked in years ago. Now, the brick has been removed and, while the new windows are not yet in place, it is exciting to see the building’s steady transformation.

The completed project will include retail/restaurant space on the ground floor, office space on Floors 2 through 5, and the addition of two copper-clad residential penthouses at the top. The images below are courtesy of Studio K2 Architecture:

Here’s a perspective of the entire building as viewed from the roof of the Steelbridge Lofts across the intersection:

2010-02-18_saddlery2

and the Wynkoop side from ground level:

2010-02-18_saddlery1

and the project site plan:

2010-02-18_saddlery3

You’ll notice in both images that a new wide sidewalk will be installed in front of the building along Wynkoop Street. Since the building’s construction in 1900, there’s never been a sidewalk along the Wynkoop side of the building given the loading dock’s location there. Speaking of the loading dock, the existing dock will be removed and a new, wider dock will be added that will not only allow for ADA access to the building, but will provide sufficient room for other uses, such as a restaurant patio. While the diagonal parking and narrow sidewalk located in front of the surface parking lot to the north along Wynkoop will continue to inhibit pedestrian movement, the new wide sidewalk in front of the Saddlery will be a huge improvement to the Lower Downtown streetscape.

The Saddlery Building project will be complete later this year.

Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Historic Preservation, Lower Downtown, Office, Residential.
11 Comments

Historic 17th Street Bank to Become Hotel

Posted by Ken on December 24, 2009

You may have read about this a few days ago in Margaret Jackson’s article in the Denver Post, but Stonebridge Companies, a major Denver-based hospitality management and development firm, has recently purchased the former Colorado National Bank building at 17th and Champa in Downtown Denver.

The historic bank building, built in 1915, is a contributing structure to the Downtown Denver Historic District. Its neoclassical design was intended to convey a sense of respectability and security that one expects from a bank. In fact, when it opened, the bank’s boast was “the bank that looks like a bank”. The original 1915 structure included only the first three floors.  In 1926, an addition matching the original design was added along Champa Street, and then in 1964, an additional three floors were added featuring a design with a modern interpretation of the neoclassical base. On the left is a DenverInfill photo of the building from 2006 and on the right a Bing maps bird’s eye photo (click to embiggen):

Colorado National Bank at 17th & Champa 2009-12-24_cnb_birdseye

For more on the building’s history, please read Shawn’s post over at the Denver History Tours blog.  Shawn also has a follow-up post about the building’s beautiful murals inside. Also check out the building’s page at the Historic Denver website.

The building has sat vacant since 2007, and the building’s Champa Street side near the bus stop is particularly shabby looking.  Anyway, the good news is that Stonebridge is planning on converting the building into a boutique hotel and adding a few floors in the process.  JG Johnson Architects has been given the task of adding a contemporary addition above the 1960s addition which sits above the 1915 original base. That will be an interesting architectural challenge. I have no problem philosophically, however, with adding yet another addition to this building. Buildings, even historic buildings, need to evolve and flex over time to stay relevant and contributing to the vibrancy of the city.

Hopefully this proposal will stay on track and, in a few years, we’ll have a new hotel operating along 17th Street in a repurposed and scrubbed-up and slightly taller historic building that will thrive well into the new century.

Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Architecture, Central Downtown, Historic Preservation, Hospitality.
8 Comments

LoDo Renovations

Posted by Ken on November 21, 2009

Two important Lower Downtown historic buildings are being restored: the Colorado Saddlery Building and the Wazee Exchange Building.

I mentioned the Colorado Saddlery Building the other day. Not only is the building at 15th and Wynkoop getting a thorough exterior restoration, but the inside will be completely renovated and converted to offices with ground-floor retail and a new 3-unit residential penthouse up top. Also, the missing sidewalk and streetscape along Wynkoop will finally be installed! This is a project that was approved in 2006 but is now finally being executed. Excellent!

The picture on the left is the still-dirty 15th Street side, and on the right, the freshly-scrubbed Wynkoop side:

A few blocks away at 19th and Wazee, the Wazee Exchange building’s renovation is nearly complete. Along the Wazee side, paint has been removed from the building’s brick exterior to reveal a formerly hidden but dramatic historic commercial painted sign. On the left is the “before” and on the right is the “after”:

Along 19th Street, the historic storefronts have been restored, including the removal of the green metal panels to reveal the storefront’s beautiful cornice and modillions. Again, left is “before” and right is “after”:

It’s great to see that even in a down economy, investment in Downtown Denver continues.

Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Historic Preservation, Lower Downtown, Office, Residential.
5 Comments

Colorado Saddlery Building Rehab

Posted by Ken on October 7, 2009

A few years ago there was a proposal to renovate the historic Colorado Saddlery Building at the corner of 15th and Wynkoop and convert it into offices with some residences up top. The project was canceled or put on hold or something, but now there is some working going on at the building. They’ve had the Wynkoop facade covered up with fabric while doing some power-cleaning and yesterday they removed the cover. I’m not sure of the extent of the current work on the building and if it’s the same proposal as last time, but one thing is for sure: the Wynkoop side looks amazing! I never knew the Colorado Saddlery Building’s brick was the same orangey-red color as so many other LoDo buildings. I always thought it was more of a darker brown color like the Steelbridge Lofts building diagonally across the intersection. Wrong! Go see for yourself the difference since the 15th Street side hasn’t been cleaned yet.

I’ll try to post a photo later today or tomorrow.

Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Historic Preservation, Lower Downtown, Office, Residential.
5 Comments

The High Line

Posted by Ken on July 23, 2009

I’m in New York City on business and, as luck would have it, within a couple of hours of my arrival I found myself walking along the city’s newest park, the High Line–a park built on top of an old elevated train viaduct. In several places it runs through buildings. Anyway, it is very cool! Here are a few photos:

For more on the High Line, check out their website here.
Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Historic Preservation, Public Spaces.
24 Comments

15th and Champa?

Posted by Ken on July 17, 2008

Several of you have asked me over the past week or two, “What’s going on at 15th & Champa?” For those of you who haven’t been at that corner lately, here’s what I’m talking about (many thanks to Scott E. for the photos!):

The building in question on Block 130 is the warehouse for the old Woolworth’s that closed in the 1990s and was later converted into a data center. What I’ve been hearing is that the building is being remodeled to accommodate offices for the Social Security Administration. Now, don’t get me wrong; punching windows into this building and adding some human activity into it is better than a windowless data center. But I’d rather see the SSA lease some office space in one of the new office buildings under construction Downtown and, instead, have this dispensable building replaced with, say, a grocery store with a residential tower above, or a hotel or something.

Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Central Downtown.
29 Comments

New Downtown Denver Project at 18th and Lawrence

Posted by Ken on March 15, 2007

Denver-based developer Central Development LLC, led by principal Jeremy Records, is planning to construct a 17-story hotel at 18th and Lawrence on Block 066 in Central Downtown.

The project is unique in that it incorporates the historic Denver City Cable Railway Company building as part of the development. The historic Cable Railway building was built in 1889 to house the power plant and maintenance facilities for Denver’s cable railway system. The building is both a Denver Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and currently is home to the Spaghetti Factory restaurant. Here are photos of the historic building’s 18th Street (left) and Lawrence Street (right) sides:

The proposed new tower will rise from the back corner of the historic building, along the alley which parallels Lawrence, and set back from 18th Street. None of the historic building’s 18th or Lawrence Street facades will be modified; in fact, the new tower will not have direct frontage along either street. While final interior space planning has not been finalized, the main entrance to the hotel will most likely be the dramatic 2-story arched entryway on 18th, with the rest of the ground floor consisting of retail and restaurant uses. The hotel lobby and some guest service functions will be located on the entire second floor of the historic building, with guest rooms located in the new tower which will rise 15 floors above the two-story historic base for a total of 17 floors. One level of underground parking will be constructed beneath the new tower. The exact number of hotel rooms has not yet been determined, but is planned at around 200. A hotel operator has not yet been chosen.

Architecturally, the new tower will be very different from its historic base, as required by the Denver Landmark Commission’s design guidelines, which stipulate that any addition to an historic structure must incorporate materials and other design elements that are clearly contemporary in nature and distinguishable from the historic structure. The new tower will feature a modern glass facade and will include a unique configuration to wrap behind the historic Cable Railway building’s soaring brick smokestack. The developers have designed the new tower to defer architecturally as much as possible to the historic building, which is intended to remain as the centerpiece to the development. In fact, Central Development LLC chose this site specifically because of the historic and architectural significance and integrity of the Cable Railway building. By adding the hotel use to the site and converting the historic structure to serve as the street-level face to the entire project, the long-term well being of this important property is ensured for many decades.

The project’s design is being refined and the latest rendering will be available in a week or so, and you can bet that you will see it here first at DenverInfill.com!

This new hotel project is located on the same block as Westfield Development’s proposed 22-story 1800 Larimer project, which breaks ground this summer. This is clearly a win-win situation for both developments, as 1800 Larimer will benefit from having a hotel and additional retail options right next door, and the hotel and its retail partners will have about a thousand potential customers across the alley. Also on the block is the 17-story red-colored AT&T Building. In just a few months’ time, this block has gone from a relatively quiet block on the border between the CBD and LoDo, to a block with two major new proposed developments that will significantly energize this part of Downtown. Add the new Ritz Carlton that is under construction just two blocks to the southeast, Corum Real Estate’s 300-unit 1800 Market project just a block to the northwest, and David Zucker’s 8-story, 69-unit 2020 Lawrence project two blocks to the northeast, and suddenly you’ve got yourself a new hot part of Downtown!

The new Cable Railway hotel project is planned to break ground in Spring 2008 with completion set for Fall 2009. The project is already in preliminary review with the city planning office, and the Landmark Preservation Commission has already given its approval to the project concept, and is working with the developer on tweaking the design details to reach final approval.

Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Central Downtown, Hospitality.
2 Comments