Denver-based Paradise Land Company and national developer Hines are working together in a joint venture to bring a mixed-use project featuring a proposed W Hotel, upscale condominiums, retail, and enhanced public space to two triangle-shaped sites along Cherry Creek between Market and Larimer streets in Lower Downtown. Below is a Google Earth aerial with the two parcels outlined, along with a bird’s-eye view of the site:

The project is early in the conceptual design stage and a development application has not yet been filed with the city. However, the development team’s preliminary plans include a proposed W Hotel with approximately 275 rooms, 30 condominium units, retail space facing Larimer Street and an improved Bell Park, and about 300 parking spaces on four underground levels. The project would consist of two buildings—one on each side of the creek—with a narrow connecting structure spanning across the creek featuring a bar and social spaces. This stacking diagram, courtesy of Paradise Land Company/Hines and HOK, the project architect, shows the conceptual vertical arrangement of uses on the site:

Long-time DenverInfill readers will remember this as the site of Buzz Geller’s (owner of Paradise Land Company) proposed Bell Tower, a thin glassy 34-story condominium planned in 2008 for the corner of Speer and Market with a companion low-rise office building along 14th Street. The evolution of Bell Tower’s design and the LoDo design regulations that permitted the tower is quite an interesting story, which you can read all about here at DenverInfill as we covered the project extensively. Ultimately, the recession nixed the Bell Tower project.

However, part of that story is relevant to repeat here. When the city created the new Lower Downtown Special Review District along Speer Boulevard (known as the Historic Urban Edge District) in 2007, they customized the height and setback rules for each block along Speer within the district. For Geller’s block, there were two options. Option A would permit a 375-foot tower (up to 400 feet with a spire) on the Speer side of the creek with a very small footprint (7,500 square feet) and a 55-foot high LoDo-style building on the 14th Street side of the creek, also with a fairly small footprint. Option B would allow a maximum 85-foot high building along the Speer side but with a much larger building footprint, while on the 14th Street side the same 55-foot height limit would apply but with a slightly larger building footprint. Here are two diagrams that show these options—the Geller site is labeled as Subarea 01 and Subarea 02:

The Bell Tower of the pre-recession era was the Option A project. Why not bring the Bell Tower design back today? The problem lies with the tower’s very small footprint. Bell Tower in 2008 was envisioned to have one condo unit per floor. That doesn’t make market sense today and, according to Mr. Geller, the tower’s small size and odd shape makes it unworkable for accommodating multiple units on a floor. Thus, the proposed W Hotel Denver project uses the Option B scheme instead.

The other important thing to note is the Old City Hall View Plane Ordinance that applies to the site. Right at the corner of 14th and Larimer sits a large bell from Denver’s old city hall building that occupied the site from 1883 until the 1940s. The small plaza where the bell is located is known informally as Bell Park (hence, the origin of the Bell Tower name). Bell Park is not an official Denver park and the property is owned by Paradise Land Company. However, an official city view plane from Bell Park does restrict development looking west toward the mountains. In the exhibits of the proposed project below, the view plane lines are visible in the ground-floor plan (left) and clearly evident in the 2nd level plan (center) and 3rd-5th levels plan (right):

Here are a few massing model images showing the proposed project looking northeast (left), from the Larimer Street bridge (center), and looking south (right). Keep in mind, the project has not yet been designed—these are conceptual massing models only.

A few closing thoughts…

This is very exciting project for several reasons. First, the partnership with Hines is huge. Hines is a national developer with significant expertise locally. The Hines team in Denver has not only recently completed 1601 Wewatta, but is currently under construction with 1144 Fifteenth, a signature 40-story tower going up just two blocks from the Bell Park site. Second, having HOK as the architect is also big news. HOK is an internationally renowned firm, so I’m looking forward to what they come up with as they take this concept and refine it into an actual design. The narrow span of the building over the creek gives HOK a lot to work with to elevate the design into something iconic.

The presence of the view plane also ensures that the corner of 14th and Larimer will remain open space. The concept designs show not only an enhanced plaza at the corner but an extension of the plaza terracing down to the creek. Add in the proposed restaurant/retail space facing the plaza, and the “new” Bell Park will really elevate the vitality and aesthetics at the corner.

Finally, this is one of the most important sites in Denver’s history. Denver started off in 1858 as the fledgling outposts of Auraria and Denver City, with Larimer Street on either side of the creek serving as the “main street” for the two towns. The first bridge over Cherry Creek was finished in early 1860 on Larimer Street and, on April 6 of that year, a celebration was held on the new Larimer Street bridge to commemorate the approval by voters to consolidate Auraria and Denver City into a unified community known as Denver. Thus, we should honor this site with something better than surface parking lots. This proposed project will do exactly that.

We appreciate Mr. Geller and his development team sharing their concept plans with DenverInfill. We look forward to tracking this project as it moves forward.