You may have noticed recently some activity at the former Gates employees’ parking lot site at 16th and Delgany. The trees are being removed, the light fixtures are gone, and the surface parking lot is on the verge of being eradicated to allow for the start of construction of 1900 16th Street, the $100 million mixed-use project planned by Trammell Crow.

First, let’s start with an updated rendering of the project that shows all of the project’s phases. Here’s the latest:

The first phase consists of an 18-story, 335,000 SF office tower, prominent in the image above, at the corner of 16th and Delgany/Wewatta. Also part of Phase 1, visible to the left of the office tower, is a 1,200-space parking garage–3 levels underground, 3 levels above ground–along the 15th Street side of the block.

Phase 2 of the project consists of a 10-story office building, visible to the right of the Phase 1 tower next to the Millennium Bridge. Finally, Phase 3 would build eight levels of condominiums on top of the parking garage, as depicted in the above rendering. The timing of Phases 2 and 3 will depend on market conditions.

What’s also great about this project is that, regardless of when Phases 2 and 3 may happen, Phase 1 includes ground-floor retail along the 16th Street side of the 18-story tower, plus restaurant spaces along the parking garage’s Delgany and 15th Street sides! The 15th Street side of the parking garage will be set back slightly to allow extra room for enhanced landscaping and restaurant patios spaces.

More good news: A traffic signal is planned upon completion of the project for the intersection of 15th and Delgany. Currently, there are traffic signals at 15th and Wewatta and 15th and Little Raven, with traffic zipping along in between at speeds not conducive to an urban environment. If you’ve ever tried crossing 15th Street at Delgany–the entrance to the soon-to-be-open Denver Museum of Contemporary Art–you know that it’s like playing Frogger in real life. Fortunately, once 1900 16th Street is complete, you’ll be able to walk safely across 15th Street from the Museum to the restaurants along Delgany, the 16th Street corridor, and all the development and transit facilities behind Union Station.

Phase 1 of the 1900 16th Street project should be complete in 2009.

1900 16th Street rendering courtesy of David Owen Tryba Architects.