We interrupt our Top 10 countdown for the following news flash: Buzz Geller’s Bell Tower is making a comeback!
John Rebchook has the scoop in today’s Rocky Mountain News. Here’s the article in PDF format. The tower has been thinned by 18% in response to the city’s and the Lower Downtown Design Review Board’s comments that the previous design wasn’t skinny enough.
Mr. Geller’s decision to put the tower on a diet and resubmit it was influenced, in part, by the positive and encouraging comments he received here at DenverInfill, particularly on this post which generated over 60 comments, including one from Mr. Geller himself. Good job everyone!
Getting the tower built will still be a challenge but, with a little luck, it will happen and become a new icon on the Denver skyline. I’ll be editing this post to add some high-resolution renderings of the tower’s new design later today.
AFTERNOON EDIT:
Here are two high-resolution images (courtesy of Fentress Architects and Buzz Geller, by way of John Rebchook) of Geller’s proposed 34-story tower in Downtown Denver. The image on the left compares the “before” and “after,” and the image on the right is the new narrower tower with the proposed low-rise office building and park across the creek.
Great news, we need more developers like Buzz in this city. I hope it gets built. Is the height still the same?
I believe so. It's just been skinnyfied.
This is great to hear. It's such a neat are of town and definitely on the upswing, with great views and access to the creek. It's a nice area to walk around and the promimity to Larimer Square, shopping, and the entertainment options are excellent.
With more infill activity like this, it can only act as a catalyst for more investment in the future, which bodes well for everyone.
As far a nearby parcels, I am amazed that nobody has built anything on the blocks facing 14th at the ends of Market and Blake. Why have parking lots here?
In regard to the Bell Tower, will there by the additional structure on the other side of the creek as well? I'll also be interested to see how they incorporate a public space into the adjoining park. Hope it looks nice.
Wow. Unbelievable. Good job on all accounts.
Huzzah! Good luck to you Mr. Geller!
Yes, I think we can assume that the low-rise office building planned for the other side of the creek would still be in play too.
Wow, this building actually does look better skinnier! I was not expecting good news for a looooooooooooooong time. Go Buzz!
I really hope that the first design of the adjacent office building gets built as well. It's a far superior facade.
^^^ I agree 110%, Dirt. Here's to hoping for the best in this new round of proposals for the Bell Tower site! I too would like to see the original option 'A' retained as best as it can (facade wise), while still getting the tower on a slim-fast plan to construction 😀
Excellent News! Way to go Mr. Geller.
This is incredible news! Great job Mr. Geller! Also it sounds like we owe Ken a thank you for providing such a great venue to voice our opinions! Now i just need to find a way to become a multi-millionaire in the next few years so I can buy my own piece of this stunning tower. Ideas anyone?!
I'm so very thrilled and inspired to know that a community can really express themselves in an open forum and influence their city. The design of the building will change the face of Denver and I can't wait.
Awesome news! Hopefully the LoDo Board will allow this to move forward. Good job and best of luck!
excellent news. the speer corridor needs some major help once you pass lodo! good luck buzz.
Let's how they approve it this time.
Keep fighting Mr. Geller. You've designed a beautiful building, and I can't wait to see it take its place in the skyline.
And thanks for the site Ken.
Great news. Best of luck to Mr. Geller and thanks denverinfill! Stay vocal readers….
Great News! It will strengthen that part of the skyline!
Good news. I hope the thin design is enough to get approval. This will be a lovely building right at the gateway to downtown.
Glorious!! Glorious!! Damn me if it shatunt be built though.
YES!!! Make it happen Buzz. It does look a little better. Hope to see it soon on SSP.
Wow, just did a back flip and moon walked down a 100 ft hallway!
This proposal does look better.
fantastic news…way to stick to it.
with 18% width reduction, a nice compromise would be to allow 5-10 more floors. however, this would probably add an unspported cost to the structure.
WOO HOO!
Definitely exciting news…I was having the winter doldrums so thanks for the spark! I get excited watching the skyline change with the Spire and Four Seasons. Then I was worried that that would be it again for another five years, uugh. Wow this will the most impressive skyline addition when entering the city, great job 'staying in action' Mr. Geller!
Swish.
It is gratifying to see an independent developer like Mr. Geller triumph over bad odds and bring this tower back to life. Many thanks to the city of Denver (especially Denverinfil folk) for supporting a truly striking and innovative addition to our skyline. I wish Mr. Geller the best of luck in bringing this project into fruition.
Two things here.
1. How great is it that Ken site, plus all of our interest and comments really had an impact on this situation!
2. This whole process goes to show that sometimes being patient is a good thing. I was furious about the whole fiasco with the board and the first design; but in the end I really do like the new thinner tower better.
WAY TO GO MR. GELLER !!! WE'RE PROUD OF YOU!
And there was much rejoicing!
Thanks Ken! And THANKS Mr. Geller!! Way to not take no!
Buzz is a hero. Many developers, I assume, would have sold the property and packed their bags for another town. I applaud Buzz's persistence and am happy that people like him will make our city a better place to live in. Thanks for not abandoning us Buzz!!
I like this new thin look. Im not really a big fan of its greenish color. Yet, the skyline could use some more diversity anyways. I want to see a high quality rendering of this tower during the day and night, a Speer perspective, and a Market perspective. The last renderings didnt do it for me, because they didnt illustrate what a pedestrian or driver would see. I really hope this new design gets approved. In fact, I hope that the architectualy offensive abomination known as Beleza gets cancelled, so that more demand can be placed on this tower,the Spire, and Four Seasons ;-p
Anyone agree?
Buzz, You are the new hero in town, you rank right up there with Evan. Beautiful Building, I really hope to see this one get built.
What is Beleza?
https://denverinfill.com/2008/07/new-river-north-project-beleza.html
Congrats all involved. I hope it gets approved. We need more signature buildings to the skyline to be in the same class as Chicago, NY, Paris, Dubai, etc… This building gives us a Sydney Opera house from a TV camera view when sports are broadcast national from Invesco or the Pepsi Center. Way to step up Mr. Geller!
What's wrong with Beleza? It's (1) new development, (2) development in an area that still needs development, (3) appropriate development for the area (not a new warehouse) and (4) Not absolutely terrible looking.
Sure, it will likely be extremely dated in 10 years (like a bad 80's building), but in the grand scheme of things, should we really be not building something because it's subjectively dipleasing to a group of persons? i thought that's why we were for the Geller bld. – even though it's architectually dissimilar to many other condo structures, and therefore it's uniqueness will likely p1ss some people off, it's the fact that it's not only development, but appropriate development for the location that had us up in arms about its inability to get approved.
Many of these same arguments can be made for the Beleza.
Sorry for the run-on sentence, but this is a blog response, so anything goes, I suppose.
River North has so much awesome potential: its gritty industrial character, artistic communtity, location near downtown, and access to public trials and future mass transit. The two major developments in River North so far(TAXI and Jerrerson) have set the standard and direction for future developments in that area. Beleza is definately going in the wrong direction. River North has the potential of becoming our version of Granville Island, Vancouver. There must be a careful balance between preserving its industrial heritage and artistic character during this period of gentrification
There is nothing wrong with Beleza, it has an LA feel which I think is a good relief from the typical condo designs you get downtown. i think this project is a drop of fresh water in this barren area. I also have to say that I was pleased to see this, the PURE town homes, and most of all the Komorebi emerge as proposals. I hope they all get built.
Alas, Komorebi died late last summer/fall. I hope it comes back, though. I would have really liked to see that building go up.
Additionally, how do we get the office portion of the Bell Tower back to the far-superior original design?
To Paul:
Keep voicing your opinions loud and proud on this blog, and perhaps Buzz will take them into account (as he already did)!
I'll just say it again for effect: I too liked the older facade of the office portion, Buzz. However, if you took the old facade with the top floor arched windows and paired it with the red brick, that would be perfect, IMO.
^^^Oh, but try to also incorporate the open-glassed portion of the second design into the facade on the bottom floor, as it looks friendlier to ground floor retail aesthetics. Sorry, but I do like that portion of the second design 😉
This is great news. Hopefully this project will happen – with this and the 4S tower, Denver will hopefully start adding a little more architectural diversity to its skyline. Given its location, I would think that the Bell Tower would have an impact on the skyline – at least from certain vantage points – despite being only 30-some stories.
It's also great news that this blog made a difference – it shows there are a lot of people in this city that want to see more than just boxes go up. I just hope Buzz isn't counting on any of us to actually buy a unit…
Ken,
You should update the big picture.
Since Buzz Geller reads all these comments, I have to disagree with the "bring back the original design for the office building portion" crowed. The second version is better, but it could use more tweaking. The arched windows in the original design were its worst element. If anything, I'd prefer to see the office building changed a third time, so that it more closely reflects its commonality with the tower. And I'd like to see its park-facing wall run in the same direction as the tower's park-facing wall.
–historymystery
Hey Buzz, Check out skyscraperpage
to see what the rest of the world thinks of your building;http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=163619
YES!!!!!!!