Yesterday was the groundbreaking ceremony for 1601 Wewatta, the 10-story, 300,000-square foot office building with ground-floor retail planned for the corner of 16th and Wewatta.
1601 Wewatta is being developed by Hines and Jordon Perlmutter and Company, and will occupy the half block next to Cadence, the 13-story apartment tower currently under construction at 17th and Wewatta. 1601 Wewatta represents another major project to get underway in Downtown Denver’s booming Union Station district, where fourteen projects are currently under construction within a half-mile of the historic station.
Here’s what 1601 Wewatta will look like:
For additional renderings and project details, check out our original post on the project.
A backhoe is now on site and, hopefully, we’ll see excavation for the four levels of underground parking begin soon. 1601 Wewatta is scheduled for completion in May 2015.
I absolutely love the design of this building.
You should create a Google earth map that shows all the parcels currently under construction around union station, so we can see how that plays out spatially.
Chad
Chad… hold on for just another couple of days. A big DenverInfill upgrade is soon to be launched!
This office building is another milestone for DUS. Maybe too early to call it an office boom, but there is a real apartment construction boom all around this project.
It is quite remarkable how quickly the old railroad yards have been redeveloped. I recall the original estimates being about 20 years but I think is has been faster. I recall from my high school days in the ’60’s all the viaducts and bridges from downtown to the then scary Lower Highlands. I also recall the view from my offices on the top floors of the 17th Street Plaza building (the purple granite clad 32 story building at 17th and Arapahoe) looking north over the row after row of abandoned railroad tracks and the unsavory neighborhoods in between. The catalyst for change was certainly Coors Field, and the results have been pleasing indeed, which include Elitches on the west end and will include River North as a book end. I have traveled extensively and few cities can boast such successful redevelopment. I think we are past the mid-point now and the area will probably be essentially complete in another 5-7 years.
Dan, in LA — where I’m living and working before I retire in Denver — the railyards and old run-down industrial areas around the downtown are called “brownfields.” Same thing underway as in Denver, sort of. No grand plan to infill around the business center, but it’s happening, anyway, with a lot of apartments being built. However, the transition around the North half of Downtown Denver is much more comprehensive. I agree with you that we’re probably just 5-7 years away from build-out in the Platte Valley. Exciting, to see our city grow up!
Three weeks now, and still just an idle backhoe. C’mon guys!