Today we are going to head over to the River North neighborhood and take a look at the newly completed ‘Yards at Denargo Market’ project. Formally known as the ‘Denargo Market Apartments’, this 301-unit apartment project has been complete for quite some time now so it’s time to take one final look at it here on DenverInfill. We only had three updates for this project but you can follow the progress here:
Denargo Market Apartments Update
Denargo Market Apartments Update – Addendum
Denargo Market Apartments Update #2
Welcome to the Denargo Market! What used to be an open-air market in the 1940s and then a fenced-off industrial area, the Denargo Market is now a new River North district with hopes of redevelopment. Whether you are on Brighton Boulevard or Delgany Street, you can clearly tell where the Denargo Market sits with signs all around its border.
When travelling north along Brighton Boulevard, it’s pretty hard to miss this apartment building, especially at night. Along with the street signs, there is a ‘Denargo Market’ neon sign fixed on top of the apartments that glows red.
Here are some additional views of the building. In addition to the ‘Denargo Market’ sign, the ‘Yards’ sign also lights up at night. The facade is pretty standard fare compared to other low-rise buildings in this area: broken up with some brick mixed in and a somewhat jagged roof-line.
I have heard concerns about the exposed parking garage and many agree that it should be covered. There is hope though! You can clearly see there is a huge field behind the garage portion of the building which will be developed one day thus hiding the garage from sight.
The Yards at the Denargo Market is a great first step in the Denargo Market redevelopment program. With its proximity to Denver Union Station and the soon-to-be 38th and Blake commuter rail station, we should see more development and density added to the River North neighborhood over the next few years.
That sign facing Broadway is hideous. And who the hell wants those gigantic electric boxes on their front “lawn”?! These more like the projects than condos.
https://denverinfill.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/2013-06-14_DenargoMarket-07.jpg
These aren’t condos…they’re apartments.
Either way.
I really like the signage – It’s quite handsome and eye catching, and I’m generally a fan of gigantic neon signs in urban areas. So, to answer your question, at least some people like them right here on this very blog!
Yea… I think the question you are answering(?), is in reference to something other than the signage. I’m talking about the 4x6ft tall green electrical/utility boxes on their front lawn.
Regardless, anything faux is pointless and tacky.
Though, my issue isn’t with the concept, it’s the execution. This just seems strangely situated on the roof line… with a lot of braces attached to the facade. It looks like an afterthought. I think that there a lot of ways this could have worked out nicely… especially if the idea was to make it resemble some of the old factory signage that may have been in the area once upon a time.
Kind of lonely out there. Does the developer have firm plans to build more apartments in the near future? Google Maps shows a “planned” Denargo Market Rd. that would be located west of this project, and I would assume apartments would front this street and cover up the exposed parking garage.
As Ken likes to say on his Union Station tours, whatever the private sector builds “depends entirely on the market.” What I’m hoping for is that the developer — and planners — take a long, careful look at the site from the pedestrian’s perspective, from along Broadway, especially from South of Downtown. More than a “Denargo Market” sign, I’m hoping we’ll be seeing at least one tall, iconic tower, centered in the long view up Broadway, framed by the towers of the central business district. Whatever eventually gets built next to these low-rise apartment structures, we’ll all be looking at it, for decades to come. This is one place, one great opportunity for a Point Tower, anchoring North Broadway, a building that will create a lasting point of reference for Downtown Denver.
If you want a comparison, take a look at the view up Peachtree Street in Atlanta, where — about 25 years ago — developers put up a classic skyscraper, centered on the terminus of the city’s biggest boulevard, defining the importance of the downtown as the heart of Atlanta, as the Metropolis of the South. Denver’s Broadway deserves no less consideration than Atlanta’s Peachtree Street, because it, too, cuts through the heart of the city.
Let’s hope that small-time thinkers look beyond zoning and “the neighborhood” along North Broadway (low expectations for Arapahoe Square), and that planners and politicians envision — no, demand — that this key site be recognized as potentially iconic for the city’s Main Street image. Because whatever gets built there, we’ll all be seeing it for a long time, whenever we look North on Broadway.
So I did a followup check on Cypress Real Estate Advisors. They don’t appear any more substantial than the first time I checked. Based in Austin, they have updated their Web site with fresh pictures of these apartments on their Home Page, on their About page and on their Featured Investments page.
I wasn’t able to find anything that indicated future projects or other existing projects. They have normally raised money through limited partnership offerings. Whether that is still a viable option for them I wouldn’t know. I will venture a guess that this Denver site is at the top of their priority list though.
I once heard Home Depot would be going in the denargo market area. Is that long dead? I found nothing online
I still find it sad that the developer, out of Texas by the way, couldn’t find a way to save a portion of the old Denargo Market pavilion for posterity sake. It would have made an awesome shade structure or something. They use the original name, but completely erase the site’s physical history. Jack Kerouac worked at the market and it is mentioned in On The Road.
I like the sign facing broadway
I like Jim Nash’s idea about a tower to focus the eye looking north on Broadway from downtown. But I’d say you don’t have to look all the way to Atlanta. A perfect example locally is the TIAA Cref tower at 17th & Broadway. You can see it all the way from Union Station, and as you drive or walk toward the end of 17th, it forms an ever-more impressive landmark for the southeast end of the street. I remember the fairly uninteresting Shirley-Savoy Hotel that stood there before this went up during the late 1970s/early 1980s oil boom (and it was originally named for an oil company, whose name I can’t remember). This building is an elegant exclamation point that is so much better than what it replaced.
I have mixed feelings about the Denargo Market sign (the one on top, not the one next to the street, which will probably go away when something permanent is built on that spot). Yes, red neon is cool, and the font is fine (very 2013–this blocky font is everywhere these days), and I am in favor of honoring the site’s history in some way. But a sign that labels the development “Denargo Market” is misleading at best, and a dire Disney-fication at worst. You go to Seattle and see the Pike Place Market sign and find underneath it the actual Pike Place Market. Union Station Travel by Train–on a real train station. Plenty of other examples of great looking neon signs that mark a real thing. This is not a market–it’s an apartment building. I like the red neon, but why not have a sign that says “Denargo Apts” or “Welcome to RiNo” or something else that is an honest description?
Totally agaree, Mark. So why not a Denargo Market == a real one, as part of the complex? Give King Soopers some competition, and become a real food center again. If there’s anything that’s holding back the Platte Valley/RINO rental market, it’s the lack of supermarkets. It’s a great place for young urbans to live, near a future rail station — but they need close, convenient food shopping. Seems like an awesome location for a Trader Joe’s.
Mark… the sign is a really creative marketing gimmick. “Heh, let’s go check out that ‘market’ over there. Oh look, we can rent an apartment.” (I jest, I think)
I wonder how many people will drive around the area looking for the non-existent market?
If this sign confuses folks, wait until they head to Union Station to travel by train and instead find themselves in the lobby of a hotel.