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Explore the West Corridor with ULI

Posted by Ken on August 30, 2010

Once a quarter, Urban Land Institute (ULI) Colorado hosts an Explorer series event that includes both a panel discussion and tour relating to an urban development topic, project, or site. (I’m co-chair of the committee that organizes these events). This Thursday, September 2, our Explorer event is “A West Corridor Story” where we will focus on RTD’s West Corridor light rail line currently under construction.

The panel (held at the Denver Athletic Club downtown) will focus on the corridor and the land use plans, projects, and impacts associated with the new transit line. The tour will then trace the route of the West Corridor line, with a stop and tour of the new St. Anthony’s hospital next to the Federal Center station in Lakewood. The tour will continue on to Golden, where we’ll see many of the great infill projects in Downtown Golden, ending with a reception on a terrace along the banks of Clear Creek.

For more details about the event and to register, please go to this page at the ULI-Colorado website. Tickets are going fast and there are only a few seats left for the tour portion.

By the way, you’ve probably seen all the West Corridor construction activity along Sixth Avenue, with the dramatic bridge over the highway by the Federal Center and the flyover at Indiana Street. But now the construction is closing in on Downtown Denver. Here’s a photo I took yesterday of a new light rail bridge just south of Colfax across from the Auraria West Campus station:

2010-08-30_rtd

The West Corridor light rail line will open in 2013.

Filed under Events & Meetings, Urbanism.
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You Are Invited: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

Posted by Ken on June 16, 2010

William Whyte was an American urbanist who used the direct observation method for understanding and analyzing how people use public spaces. Whyte authored numerous books on cities and public spaces and was considered a leading expert on pedestrian behaviors. One of his most regarded books was the 1980 title “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” which was made into a one-hour movie in 1988. The film is quite interesting, surprisingly humorous at times, and a must-see for anyone interested in urban public spaces.

With the design currently underway for several significant public spaces at Denver Union Station, the Union Station Advocates has teamed up with real estate firm Urban Market Partners and the local chapters of the American Planning Association and the American Society of Landscape Architects to arrange for a public viewing of Whyte’s “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” movie, followed by an open discussion about Union Station’s two major public spaces (17th Street Gardens and Wynkoop Plaza). The discussion will be facilitated by Ellen Ittelson, senior planner with the Denver planning office, and your DenverInfill blogger, Ken Schroeppel.

The event will be held Thursday, June 17 from 5:00 to 7:30 PM at 1430 Delgany (white building with the flowery facade next to the Waterside Lofts, just down the street from the Museum of Contemporary Art). The event is FREE to the public, although a small cash donation at the door would be greatly appreciated to help cover our costs. Light refreshments will be available. YOU are invited!

Here’s a flyer:

2010-06-16_whyte_movie

We hope to see you Thursday for urbanism-at-the-movies night!

Filed under Events & Meetings, Pedestrians, Public Spaces, Urbanism.
4 Comments

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.
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2010 Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge

Posted by Ken on April 20, 2010

One of the most unique and exciting competitions in the realm of urban development is the annual Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge. The challenge is organized by the Colorado chapter of NAIOP, the nation’s premier commercial real estate development association.

Each year, the real estate development program at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business faces off against its counterpart at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business over a particularly complex real estate development scenario. Over the past couple of months, several student teams within each program have battled over who gets the right to represent their university in the final competition. The two finalist teams are now set, with the final competition presentations and judging coming up on May 5 at the Marriott City Center in Downtown.

This year, the City and County of Denver is the client, and they have asked the teams to explore redevelopment opportunities in the Denver Coliseum/River North area. With various industrial and railroad uses, an interstate highway, the Platte River, old and new infrastructure, surface parking lots, a future FasTracks transit station, and the Coliseum itself all clustered into this emerging district north of Downtown, the students definitely have their work cut out for them. Their challenge: come up with an exciting and viable development project based on intense research, financial analysis, and physical design, and present their proposal before a big crowd of commercial real estate development professionals. No sweat.

For more on the rules to the challenge and background information on the site, view this PDF that was issued to the student teams. Want to attend the final presentations on May 5?  You can get all the program details and register using this form or online at the NAIOP website.

After May 5, the DenverInfill Blog will present the presentations from the two student teams. Best of luck to both schools!

Filed under Events & Meetings, Plans & Policies, Urbanism.
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Doors Open Denver 2010 – This Weekend!

Posted by Ken on April 14, 2010

One of the best annual events in our fair city is Doors Open Denver. Each April we celebrate Architecture Month in Denver by opening the doors to dozens of the the city’s most interesting buildings and sites and letting the general public tour the insides. Best of all, it’s free!

This year’s DOD features over 80 buildings and sites. Most are clustered in and around the Downtown area but several are located in neighborhoods throughout the city. Here’s a map of the locations, and if you go to the Doors Open Denver website, you’ll find the list of all the participating sites organized several ways.

Doors Open Denver site map - click to enlarge

Over thirty of the buildings have special Expert Tours that occur at specific times during the weekend. Since capacity is limited on these Expert Tours, on the day of the tour, you must first get a free registration pass at DOD headquarters at Union Station for the Expert Tour you’re interested in.  The free registration passes are given out on a first-come first-served basis. Since the Expert Tours “sell out” quickly, I strongly recommend you get to Union Station early in the morning (they open at 8:30 AM) to get your Expert Tour passes for that day. Otherwise, no registration is needed and you can simply show up to any participating building or site at any time between 10AM and 4PM, Saturday or Sunday, for a self-guided tour. A few of the sites have special hours, so please double check the list on the DOD website.

There are also a variety of other special events, such as self-guided Urban Adventure Tours, a photo contest, and activities for families and kids, such as Box City in the Wellington Webb building. I’ve served as a volunteer at Box City several times; check out my blog on the 2007 Box City. It’s a lot of fun.

Doors Open Denver is the perfect opportunity to explore Denver’s urban architecture by foot (or by bike or take Light Rail) and the weather this weekend looks pretty decent, so get out and celebrate Denver’s architectural and urban heritage this weekend at Doors Open Denver. I know I am.

Filed under Architecture, Events & Meetings, History, Urbanism.
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Reminder: Union Station Movie This Thursday

Posted by Ken on March 16, 2010

This is just a friendly reminder to stop by the Oxford Hotel this Thursday, March 18, at 5:30 PM for the LoDo premiere of the movie Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress

I’m a big fan of both historical documentaries and Denver’s Union Station, but even I wasn’t prepared for how good this movie by Havey Productions was when I saw it the first time.  You really must see this video, and Thursday night is your chance. Here are the details:

Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress
Thursday, March 18, 2010
5:30 – 7:30 PM
Oxford Hotel Ballroom – 1637 Wazee

The program begins with a reception and cash bar, followed by the film (35 minutes long) and comments by Dana Crawford and Jim Havey. General admission is $15, or for $30 you can see the film and get the DVD, or for $60 you can see the film, get the DVD, and get a discounted membership to Union Station Advocates.  Click here to download a PDF flyer about the event or for your convenience, you can pay online here.  I hope to see you Thursday night!

Filed under Events & Meetings, History, Union Station.
3 Comments

Upcoming Denver Union Station Events

Posted by Ken on March 2, 2010

With construction getting underway at Denver’s big Union Station transit project, it’s important to stay engaged with the project. To that end, here are three events coming up that you are invited to:

Union Station Advocates – DUS Loan Approval Celebration!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
5:30 – 7:00 PM
Gumbos Louisiana Style Cafe – 16th & Wazee

Help Union Station Advocates celebrate the approval of the $304 million loan to the DUS project! Stop by Gumbos and enjoy free gumbo with the purchase of an adult beverage. You don’t have to be a member of USA to join in the celebration (although we’d love it if you do become a member).  Click here to download a PDF flyer about the event.

Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress – LoDo Film Premiere
Thursday, March 18, 2010
5:30 – 7:30 PM
Oxford Hotel Ballroom – 1637 Wazee

Did you miss the big premiere at the Hyatt in February of the new film about Union Station? Did you see the film already and loved it so much you want to see it again?  Either way, you’re covered!  Union Station Advocates, in cooperation with Havey Productions, is proud to present the LoDo premiere of the film Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress.

The program begins with a reception and cash bar, followed by the film and comments by Dana Crawford and Jim Havey. General admission is $15, or for $30 you can see the film and get the DVD, or for $60 you can see the film, get the DVD, and get a discounted membership to Union Station Advocates.  What a deal!  Click here to download a PDF flyer about the event.

Urban Land Institute Colorado – State of the Union
April 1, 2010
1:30 – 6:30 PM
Denver Athletic Club – 1325 Glenarm

ULI-Colorado’s next Explorer Series event, “State of the Union”, will provide an in-depth look at the entire DUS project. The program begins with a panel discussion about the project at the Denver Athletic Club then, after a Mall shuttle ride down to Union Station, tour the site with project experts and finish with a hosted reception inside the historic station.

To register, please visit the ULI-Colorado website. Click here to download a PDF flyer about the event.

Filed under Events & Meetings, Public Spaces, Transit, Union Station.
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It’s Official: Union Station, Gold Line, East Corridor, Get Funding

Posted by Ken on February 5, 2010

Here’s Federal Transit Administration head honcho Peter Rogoff announcing that Denver’s FasTracks program will receive $300 million in loans for Denver Union Station and $1 billion in direct payments over several years for construction of the Gold and East commuter rail lines.

2010-02-05_fed_funding

This is a great day for metro Denver!

Filed under Economic Growth, Events & Meetings, Transit, Union Station.
3 Comments

FasTracks Funding Announcement Today

Posted by Ken on February 5, 2010

This is not unexpected, yet it is still huge news for the success of the FasTracks program:

2010-02-05_fastracks_announcement

This federal funding commitment will allow the Gold Line and the East Corridor Line to move forward. Construction is expected to get underway on the East Corridor Line this fall. For more details, check out Kevin’s post at the Inside Lane.

Filed under Events & Meetings, Transit, Union Station.
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16th Street Mall Urban Design Plan – Public Meeting TONITE!

Posted by Chris on February 4, 2010

As many know, the 16th Street Mall is currently the centerpiece of an important conversation.  A technical assessment completed in the Fall of 2009 investigated the construction and economic viability of the Mall’s existing surface.  Phase 2 – an Urban Design Plan focused on imaging the Mall of the next 30 years – is currently on-going… and tonite is an opportunity to see what designers and the project’s Steering Committee are considering. 

The presentation will include 3 alternative concepts for the Mall’s functional, operational, and physical future.  And as if that weren’t enough to get you excited, Laurie Olin (one of the original designers of the Mall and an internationally-respected landscape architect) will be on had to offer his impressions.  The details below:

16th Street Mall Urban Design Plan Public Meeting #2, Thursday February 4 (today)

5:30 – 7:30 pm, Wellington Webb Building, Room 1.B.6 (enter from Court Place)

Filed under Events & Meetings, Pedestrians, Public Spaces, Streets, Transit.
6 Comments
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