As I was in the area this afternoon, I noticed that two sites in Lower Highland were cleared and are now ready for vertical construction.
The first site is 1615 Platte which will feature 80,000 square feet of office along with 10,000 square feet of retail.
The small grey building is still pending demolition but should be cleared out shortly.
Over on 32nd and Tejon, Dickinson Plaza has been fully demolished to make way for Alexan LoHi; a 106-unit apartment project with 10,000 square feet of retail.
That’s it for today, have a great weekend!
I have mixed feelings about these two projects which is why its funny you post about both at the same time. Sadly both of these projects involved the demolition of older buildings that added an historic and somewhat gritty character to the street and neighborhood. Yeah they were showing their age but these are characteristics I personally appreciated and one that can’t be replaced. Especially with Dickinson Plaza. As great as these new projects may be it seems too much is now being sacrificed during the Denver construction boom. Before we know it neighborhoods like Highland will be nothing but new infill projects. You can clearly see it happening in the pictures provided within this post. Whether the new builds look cool or not and serve a better purpose is somewhat beside the point. Don’t get me wrong, I think both projects will have an overall positive impact.
Agreed.
The second smaller building has been demolished.
The saddest thing about these projects is that all these old buildings could have been saved and integrated into new developments on these parcels. Both sites had large vacant areas or parking lots surrounding them that could have been build on instead (similar with what they’re going to do with the old fire station at 20th and Chestnut). All of those old buildings would have made an interesting addition to the new buildings surrounding them and kept a bit of character in areas of town where character is being replaced at an alarming rate in favor of bland “modern” cookie-cutter developments.