Construction of the 17-story Embassy Suites project at 14th and Stout in Downtown Denver is progressing slowly but steadily. In case you haven’t been past there recently, here are two photos I took a few weekends ago:
The photo on the right shows how the building is now up to the point where it splits into two sections with the gap in the middle for the glass atrium. Here’s a rendering showing the bottom few floors:
The developer has never bothered to share with the public a rendering of the full tower’s final design. I’ve sent them several requests but they have never responded. They also haven’t even bothered to post a project sign with a rendering on it at the site. Lame. Anyway, in that cool 14th Street video I posted about a month ago, if you look at it closely around the 1:25 minute mark you’ll see a 3D image of the completed Embassy Suites. A quick screen capture later, and here you go (click to double the size):
Let’s assume this is the final design.
The Embassy Suites website states only that the hotel will open in 2010. I’m guessing the 120-room hotel will open for business in September. What do you think?
The other day I had the opportunity to be the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Denver Independent Brokers group. Not only are they a noteworthy association of real estate professionals focused on the Downtown area, but they also have exceptional taste in selecting cool venues for their meetings, such as, say, the top of the D&F Tower.
The historic Daniels & Fisher tower is perhaps Denver’s most iconic historic structure, one that I’m sure you’ve all admired numerous times from vantage points throughout downtown:
Gaining access to the top of the 325-foot tall D&F Tower has not been an easy thing to do for many years. But now, thanks to Holly Kylberg, the top of the historic tower has been converted into a fabulous space for private events. The last stop on the elevator is the 17th floor, and from there on up to the 22nd floor, an internal stairwell connects six unique levels that feature the tower’s clock, the spiral staircase to the bell, and two levels with outdoor observation decks. First, the view:
Sweet, huh? Next, the interior is awesome. Check this out:
It was a thrill to get to the top of the D&F tower and hang out with the DIB folks. My thanks to John Robinson for the invitation.
So, the next time you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind Downtown space for a small private event, you should definitely consider the Clocktower.
Here’s a press release from the Downtown Denver Partnership with good news!
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Downtown Denver’s 14th Street will soon emerge has a vibrant pedestrian-oriented thoroughfare, thanks to the successful result of the November 3rd election in which private property owners along the street voted to contribute $4 million to the overall $14 million cost of the streetscaping project through the formation of a general improvement district.
Through this public-private initiative, sidewalks will be expanded, encouraging outdoor seating and ground floor shopping and dining uses that will bolster the experience one has when walking down the street. Key elements include the addition of about 200 trees, as well as new flower planters, better “wayfinding” signage, crosswalk bulb-outs, improved pedestrian lighting, decorative street corner monuments, bike racks and enhanced maintenance. A dedicated bicycle lane will be added in the street and on-street parking will be retained.
14th Street is becoming known as the “Ambassador Street” due to the diversity of visitor-oriented uses found along this corridor, including the Colorado Convention Center, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Hyatt Regency at Colorado Convention Center, and four other new or recently-constructed hotels. Altogether, $1.5 billion in public and private investments have been made along the corridor since 2002. The new streetscaping project will build on these investments to strengthen this new identity. The district covers the entire the 12 block length between Market Street and Colfax Avenue and extends approximately one-half block on either side of 14th Street.
“With the completion of this ambitious plan, 14th Street will serve as an excellent complement to the 16th Street Mall,” said Tami Door, President & CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership. “Consistent with the vision of the 2007 Downtown Area Plan, 14th Street will truly be a magnet for pedestrians, which will benefit residents, business owners and the overall community.” The project will cost roughly $14 million, with property owners contributing $4 million, and $10 million coming out of the Better Denver Bond Program, which was created in 2007.
“14th Street will see improvements on every level, from bike lanes to traffic signals, to sidewalk improvements and other placemaking installations for a truly multi-modal corridor,” said Deputy Mayor and Manager of Public Works, Bill Vidal. “The project is unique in that in addition to the Better Denver Bond funds, we have the property owners contributing to the improvements and we are thrilled to see this public private partnership moving forward.”
Meeting and consulting with property owners in the District was a four year process, assumed by the City, the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District and the Downtown Denver Partnership. A consultant team including Parsons Brinkerhoff, CRL & Associates and studioINSITE assisted with design and consensus building services. From February 2009 to June 2009, eight two hour workshops were held with interested property owners, other stakeholders, City representatives and representatives from the Downtown Denver Partnership.
“We are glad we could contribute to a greater ‘sense of place’ along 14th Street,” said Josh Fine of Focus Property Group. “As property owners in the area, we recognized the opportunity we had not only to improve the value of what we own, but the type of experience people have when they’re here.” Construction is slated to begin in the summer of 2010 with the goal of completion in the fall of 2011.
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Here is a 3D animation video of the project, modeled and produced by Parsons Brinkerhoff’s Project Visualization Group in Denver. Animation team: Brian Peterson (Viz lead), Eric Martens, Leslie Hodgdon (PM), Ryan Sander, Barry Bankhead, Larissa Holderness, and Sara Wedul (AE Intro).
A couple of days ago I had a chance to tour 1800 Larimer, the 22-story office tower under construction on Block 066. 1800 Larimer will be the new home to Xcel Energy. The project is being developed by Westfield Development, with RNL the architect and Mortenson the general contractor. Many thanks to the folks from RNL and Mortenson who gave us a great tour.
So, without further ado, how about some photos? Here’s the building we’re talking about:
The highest up we could go was to floor 19, but the view was awesome:
The extruded blue squares on the outside of the building are certainly the project’s most distinctive feature. From the inside, here’s the difference in looking through the two colors, with the regular glass on the left and the dark blue glass on the right:
And, finally, what will become the building’s lobby:
1800 Larimer will be Denver’s first LEED Platinum building and will officially top off in a few days.
A few weeks ago I speculated as to when the Four Seasons would get topped off with its 75-foot tall mast. I guessed September 5. I just learned that the mast will be installed in a big ceremony on Wednesday, August 19. Excellent!
EDIT – Wednesday, August 19:
I’ve learned that there was a delay in the fabrication of the mast so the topping-off will now occur in mid-September instead.
