In case you missed reading about it in the Denver Post, about a week ago, Sage Hospitality and architects JG Johnson submitted their first set of plans for the W Hotel project on Block 046 to the Lower Downtown Design Review Board. It didn’t go so well. Here’s the full article: W Hotel Needs Tweaking.

This is not all that unusual for the first time before the LoDo Design Review Board. Developers often go into the process pushing the envelope regarding building height, setbacks, etc., only to be reeled back in by the LDDRB. It’s an iterative process that usually, but not always, results in a better design in the end.

I agree that the Market Street frontage needs some active storefront uses. That’s one of the big problems with the current Office Depot: the blank wall along Market Street. We would expect great street-level uses facing the 16th Street Mall, but we should insist on something engaging for the pedestrian along Market Street too.

Right now the project is just at the massing-model stage, but I’m glad to see the design process underway so soon after the project was announced. It will be fun to watch the evolution of the design of Downtown Denver’s W Hotel over the next few months.

Meanwhile, we’ve got to find a good Downtown home for Office Depot.