DenverInfill Blog

For today’s AMLI Riverfront Park update, I had the opportunity to go inside the construction fence to take a look at the progress being made. Thanks to Andy Mutz of AMLI Residential for giving me a tour and a rundown of what’s currently happening at this project site.

First we’ll take a look at what is going to be the courtyard. There will be a paved portion along the edge of the property where cars will be able to get in and out of the parking garage. This will be a single entrance / exit garage. The courtyard will be pretty standard from what we’ve been seeing with these new developments: a common meeting place with a swimming pool wrapped around with residential units.

If you haven’t noticed or been by the site lately, the wood framing has also started to go up. Many sections are at different stages but along the parking structure facing 20th Street they are working on the 3rd floor. When this tops out, it will cover the parking structure along 20th Street.

There are two areas where steel has been needed. This is for two story open indoor spaces where wood framing cannot be used for structural support. The future clubhouse, pictured on the left, is an open 2-story space where residents will be able to meet and host private events. On the right is a 2-story leasing office which will have a very good street presence along Little Raven.

Lately I’ve been getting some pretty good vantage points on all the development going on. So, for this post’s high-resolution bonus photo, here is the whole Denver Union Station redevelopment taken from the top of the parking structure. Neat!

AMLI Riverfront Park is expected to open this Fall and will be providing the neighborhood with 242 rental units.

A little over a week ago Ken announced the Balfour at Riverfront Park project. This project has already started and construction is in full swing!

Like many other projects around Downtown Denver, Balfour at Riverfront Park is at the earth moving stage. Bassett Street has also been closed which will be interesting to see when the building bridges over it. Remember, this development will consist of two buildings: a 3-story building adjacent to the tracks / the DaVita Headquarters and a 5-story building towards Little Raven.

High resolution bonus photo time! I think I found a pretty good spot to follow this project’s progress.

Seeing how many projects around Downtown Denver are in the same stage of construction, it’s going to be quite a sight when everything goes vertical around the same time!

The on-again, off-again proposed retirement community by Balfour Senior Living, planned for the corner of 15th and Little Raven in Downtown Denver’s booming Riverfront Park/Union Station area—originally known as the Cosmopolitan Club—is finally on again and actually under construction.

The project, now known as Balfour at Riverfront Park, has its roots back in the early 2000s as the second phase of the Archstone apartments (now called The Station at Riverfront Park) located across the street from Balfour on the southwest side of 15th Street. In 2005, Balfour, a senior care residential developer, acquired the project and redesigned it as an upscale housing community for urban-oriented seniors. The development went through a series of design changes in response to opposition from its Riverfront Park neighbors. By the time a compromise was reached and the project was ready to move forward, the economy tanked. Fast forward about five years, and the project is back and is now under construction.

The Balfour at Riverfront Park project has been scaled down from its original design, which was envisioned as a seven-story project with 264 units. Now, the project includes 204 units in 5-story and 3-story buildings. According to Balfour’s website, Balfour at Riverfront Park will include 112 units of independent rental homes, 65 units for assisted living, and 27 memory-care units. The project still includes the rehabilitation of the historic Moffat station, which will become the community room for the development. That is awesome.

Getting information about this project, particularly renderings and site plans, has been a challenge. But, here’s a rendering we’ve been able to obtain off the internet of the Little Raven and 15th Street corner, where the 5-story component is located. The 3-story section will be adjacent to the railroad/light rail tracks to the southeast:

Balfour at Riverfront Park should be completed by summer of 2014.

Today we will be taking a look at the AMLI Riverfront development. Just like 2300 Walnut, a prefabricated parking structure has been under construction. We all know that parking garages take a lot of time to build, so the prefabricated method saves on time and money.

Here is an overall view of the site. The parking garage is trucked away and out of sight. This is a good thing given the structures are not the most appealing to look at. However, the plans show the garage structure will blend in to the main building and not just be a concrete shell.

When you are walking, biking, or driving down 20th Street, there will be a significant street wall above giving the Riverfront Park neighborhood a definitive border. Even though 20th Street isn’t the most pedestrian friendly street, it will still be a nice visual touch.

There are a lot of points on Downtown Denver’s street grid that give certain streets a visual terminus. Basset Street isn’t a diagonal like central downtown streets are but it does end at 19th Street with AMLI Riverfront being a new visual terminus. With the Manhattan Lofts just being completed, there is a lot of density in this little area.

There is infill going on wherever you turn and in almost every downtown neighborhood. I’m happy to see key parcels, such as the one AMLI Riverfront is taking, finally getting developed.

In addition to my update on the AMLI Riverfront project, Andy Mutz of AMLI Residential provided me with some great aerial photos I would like to share with you. Click the thumbnails to embiggen!

These aerials give you a sense of how large the parcel is for AMLI Riverfront. It’s always nice seeing a lot of this size getting ‘infilled’!

Over in Riverfront Park, 20th and Little Raven to be exact, AMLI Riverfront construction has begun. For renderings and details head over to Ken’s post here.

Construction equipment has moved on to the site and ground / utility work has begun. This is another huge hole getting filled in this neighborhood and is one of the final parcels to get built out in the Riverfront master plan.

AMLI Riverfront will create a nice street wall from 20th Street and will make the entrance to Riverfront much more pleasing to the eye. It’s amazing what 5-stories is going to do to this view.

All of these developments around Downtown Denver are helping our urban core become more of a tight knit walk-able mecca. AMLI Riverfront contributes greatly to this.