A large project has started to make its rounds through the Arapahoe Square Design Advisory Board. Kenect Denver, located mid-block between 21st and 22nd along Lawrence Street, is set to rise 34 stories and provide 441 residential units along with office and retail space. The total height of Kenect Denver rivals the recently completed Confluence tower, rising 14 feet higher for a total of 362 feet.
Below are two aerials with the project site outlined. As you can see in the second aerial, this tower will contribute a lot of height to the area as there are no structures above 10 stories.
The tower will primarily feature an all glass facade with light paneling facing the adjacent properties. These two renderings, designed by Shears Adkins Rockmore, were retrieved from the submittal documents. The developer is Akara Partners.
As a disclaimer, these are conceptual renderings. This design is not final and can change throughout the review process.
Kenect Denver will feature 28 floors of Studio, 1-bedroom, and 3-bedroom units; there is no mention of 2-bedroom units. Five above-ground floors of parking will be completely covered up by retail and office space. Below, you can see how the tower is broken down by each floor.
Here are three current photos of the site. All of the existing structures on the block will be preserved; the tower will only take up the majority of the surface parking lot. As we mentioned above, this tower will add significant height to the area.
Kenect Denver still has to make its way through design review before construction begins. We will keep you posted with any updates of this project as it makes its rounds through the review process.
Any info on number of affordable/income-restricted units? Curious about that in any residential project.
I like:
-The low-rise buildings on the corner remain. With this much density mid-block and considering the size of the corner lots, I think they will be effectively protected from redevelopment.
-Covering parking with commercial uses.
-Ground floor retail.
-Setbacks.
-Neither the north or south facade are completely blank. (The south facade is relatively barren, however I argue just one strip of windows makes all the difference. Look at the new hotel at 15th & California; compare the west/alley facing cap which is plain but has some small windows strips to the south/14th St cap which is barren and looks like the NASA shuttle hanger)
I like this building.
If I were a resident of the building (but I’m not!):
The pool is on the east side and will get no sun in the summer!
Love the added density, not a huge fan of the 34 story blank wall…
I have long imagined what might go on this lot, and hoped fervently that Phoenix Concept and the historical building on the other end of the block wouldn’t be bulldozed when it happened. I’d like to think this is the kind of infill we’d have seen all over Denver if DURA and property owners hadn’t left us with a dozen contiguous blocks of surface parking.
If the RMPM’s Buell gets out of the ground this August on the other side of the alley with this project close behind, it will be a mind blowing transformation for this area. I think the construction of something like this in this neighborhood will serve to highlight the gap between the “have”s and “have nots” commingling in this part of Denver.
This building looks like a much taller version of One Cheesman Place, the modernist concrete obelisk that sits at the Northernmost tip of Cheesman Park on 13th Ave and one of my favorite structures in Denver.
I like the project, just wish the building was more attractive. I would dare to say this is the ugliest rendering I have seen yet. Support the development, but sure hope this thing gets a redesign.
The blank wall is trash. I would hope this means they have knowledge of another potentially tall project located at the corner there that will demolish the existing brick structure. They’ve got another 40 feet or so to work with, why not add a cool architectural top? …. Another box… lame. Still excited as it shows more growth in Denver and removes surface lots, but a little bummed on the design.
I enjoy the infill as much as the next person; so that’s a win.
Something more contextual definitely would be easier to celebrate (i.e. not 34 stories adjacent 10 and under) and as mentioned above, leaving 34 stories of wall nearly barren isn’t ideal, but covering the parking with commercial is excellent (and should be standard).
Looking forward to seeing refined designs.
It’s three blocks from other skyscrapers. Should the footprint of the city where high rises are permitted remain the same into perpetuity, even as the city and metropolitan region balloon in population and land area?
I agree with Rich. Denver doesn’t have a dense, skyrise residential neighborhood adjacent to its CBD like a lot of other big cities do. But with the extent to which the City is booming and residents are becoming increasingly resistant to increased density in their own neighborhoods, it could sure use one. If Denver is going to have to grow vertically in order to accommodate all the new jobs/residents that are inevitably coming to the City, as much of that vertical growth as possible should be funneled into a neighborhood where it would be in closest proximity to Denver’s existing skyscrapers, most politically feasible, and most sustainable.
In any, more established downtown neighborhood, like Uptown or LoHi, zoning that would allow for anywhere near this kind of height would be impossible as it would meet too much resistance from the neighborhood – but with Arapaho Square you have more of a clean slate to work with. It’s also directly adjacent to the existing skyscrapers of the CBD, well served by transit, and within walking distance of over 100,000 jobs. I can’t think of a better neighborhood for it. Perhaps the Golden Triangle would be runner-up (and probably the only other neighborhood in the City where it could ever possibly be politically feasible).
The design looks a bit sterile now, so it’s nice that it’s still subject to change.
Surprising that there’s 5 floors of above-ground garage, but nothing underground.
Quality of the renderings aside, I like the concept of this project. I appreciate the simplicity of the building, the podium/wrapped parking structure, the modernist aesthetic, the generous setback to somewhat mitigate for the height of the building, and the big bike room for enclosed bicycle parking. Do we know what the elevation of the building facing the alley will look like? I’m looking forward to seeing how this project shapes up through the development review process.
Anyone know what the new tower crane just south of diamond hill (I-25 and 23rd) is for?
12 story, 248 unit apartment tower
https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2017/10/31/2-new-apartment-towers-coming-to-denver.html
It seems we have a consensus that this one has a bland design. I don’t know how you guys are gleaning so much from this cartoonish, preliminary rendering. It looks to me like it could go either way, so I’m withholding judgment on the design/aesthetics for now. I’m just really glad to see Arapahoe Square might finally start getting some slender towers instead of the behemoth land-barges currently being developed there.
Great project for the area, lets hope more like this get built. There might not be to much sunbathing on the pool deck across the street to the North.
Is this building going to be required to have a green roof?
Two things. 1) Do we know if the plan is for these to be for rent vs for purchase? 2) I have a feeling the final design will look much better in person than in these renderings.