It’s official! The new SugarCube project at the corner of 16th and Blake in the heart of Lower Downtown will be breaking ground on November 8, 2006.

Here’s the schedule: The site’s last day as a parking lot (hooray!) will be November 5. On November 6, a construction fence will go up around the site, with a formal ground-breaking ceremony planned for November 8 (of course, DenverInfill is planning on being there to snap a few pics). Then, beginning the week of November 20, real construction will begin with the removal of the existing asphalt and the start of site excavation. The entire building is planned to be completed in early 2008. SugarCube is a 10-story development featuring underground parking, ground-floor retail, three levels of office space, and six levels of upscale rental apartments.

This project is significant beyond its contribution of additional retail, residential, and office space to Downtown Denver. Its corner location represents the largest undeveloped/surface parking lot site currently fronting the 16th Street Mall. The historic Sugar Building has great ground-floor vitality in the form of the Illegal Pete’s and Gumbo’s restaurants, and across Blake Street, 16 Market Square has great sidewalk activity with its Starbucks, Chipotle, and Noodles & Co. With the addition of SugarCube to the scene and its planned ground-floor retail, this stretch of the 16th Street Mall should really sizzle. Additionally, the building’s massing, similar to that of both the original Sugar Building and 16 Market Square, will greatly strengthen the street wall along the Mall and help connect, architecturally, Lower Downtown to the rest of the Central Business District.

What about SugarSquare you ask? SugarSquare is the little “Wazee infill” building that will connect to SugarCube by crossing over the alley on the second level. Construction on SugarSquare won’t begin until later on, as the site will be needed for construction staging for SugarCube. SugarSquare should get underway about the time SugarCube is ready to open.

Both the new Sugar buildings are being developed by Urban Villages. They also have a nice project website at www.sugar3.net. Here’s what it looks like (left to right):

Proposed SugarCube, Proposed SugarSqure, existing parking lot and the historic Sugar Building: