A new hotel has been proposed to replace a surface parking lot on Blake Street in the heart of Lower Downtown Denver.
California-based T2 Hospitality submitted a Project Concept Review Plan to the Denver planning office in February for an 8-story hotel development at 1637 Blake, a 0.36-acre site with 125 feet of street frontage located across from RTD headquarters and the under-construction Market Station development. The project location is outlined on the Google Earth aerial below:
In addition to the city’s regular approval process, the project must also be reviewed and approved by the Lower Downtown Design Review Board. The first step in the LDDRB process is a review and approval for building mass, form, and context. The development’s initial submittal to the LDDRB for mass, form, and context will be reviewed at the board’s meeting on April 11.
Based on the application materials submitted to the LDDRB, the preliminary building program is as follows: A basement level will contain back-of-house and administrative functions along with the hotel’s fitness center. The ground-floor will include the main entry/lobby, a 1,625 square foot restaurant fronting Blake Street, a 2,230 square foot bar/pre-function space, about 1,500 square feet of meeting rooms, and more back-of-house functions. A total of 177 guest rooms will be located on Floors 2 through 8. No on-site parking will be provided, but some off-site parking spaces will be leased for hotel guests.
The following images were taken from the project’s April 11 submittal package to the LDDRB and were prepared by Shears Adkins Rockmore Architects. These initial renderings are subject to further modifications and refinement over the coming months as the project works its way through the LDDRB and city development review processes.
Here’s what the site looks today. The building on the right is the Barth Hotel.
If T2 Hospitality sounds familiar, that’s because they are the developers of another proposed hotel nearby at 16th and Market, which has been in the works for several years and appears to be very close to the start of construction. That project’s building permit has been under review with the city since last fall, and just a few weeks ago, a commercial construction permit application for excavation and shoring was submitted to the city. Also, T2 Hospitality has recently updated its webpage on their 16th and Market development to reflect that it will be part of the Thompson Hotels group and will be known as the Thompson Denver.
It’s always exciting to learn that another ugly surface parking lot may soon be eradicated from Denver’s urban core!
So all the windows on the one side of the Barth Hotel next door will be covered up with the new building? Does not seem fair to the residents at the Barth. Can’t they include a setback of a few feet?
The preliminary plans do show a small setback to the new hotel along the side property line with the Barth, creating a light well. But the buildings touch along the front and alley property lines to not allow a visible gap between the buildings from the street or alley.
Barth Hotel employee here. The window question has been burning in our minds since we found out about this a couple weeks ago…
AFAIK it’s against habitability code to let apartments/rooms with no windows so I’d think they will be required to have a gap so as to not put our pre-existing structure into noncompliance. All I can say is that it’s going to be a nail-biting process when they dig up our 130-year-old foundation to butt this new building right up against us! Hope they’re ready to be neighbors with our wacky residents 😉 (for those unfamiliar, the Barth Hotel in its current incarnation is a stalwart downtown icon that predates “LoDo” and has been providing a much needed low-income assisted living option for four decades. Our residents are some real characters that stick out in this painfully-trendy neighborhood and I couldn’t be more proud of the work we’re doing here)
Looks good.
I was walking by this block just the other day thinking about how I wished something would be proposed—voila! Glad to see another flat lot on the way out in this area.
As always, Denver gets materiality. I love the brick and window well proportions.
Will you please do me a favor and take a walk around Arapahoe Square and make some more wishes? I just want to make sure your newfound superpower doesn’t go to waste. (I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but I’ve got no superpowers.) Thanks!
Great news! This parking lot was always one of my most detested in Denver. This building has print will complete a nice street wall on that block. I’m anxious to hear of a new proposal for the parking lot at 17th and Blake.
Better than a parking lot. Although there is a clear design pattern being followed in this area of Denver (modern brick facade with rectangular punched windows). The lack of variation is pretty disappointing.
LDDRB drives the aesthetics in this area.
Their approach is certainly unimaginative and leads to conservative buildings. But, I can’t say there are any ‘bad” buildings in their jurisdiction (like Via for instance).
Sweet! I like the slightly modern take on a classic look with this. And it’s always great to get rid of more surface lots. Hopefully soon we will have some massive skyscrapers as land becomes more valuable downtown with less surface lots to use for infill.
I’d say that any “massive skyscraper” should be required to come with a brand-new light-rail station.
looool. Think of all the light rail stations! ONE PER CORNER IN ARAPAHOE SQUARE.
I love how, to a passing pedestrian, it would appear to be two separate buildings that (in terms of scale) homogenize with its neighbors (judging by these preliminary renderings at least). Classy.