After many months of waiting for vertical action, Block 162 is completely above the street level with work beginning on the third story of the podium. In addition to the progress on the podium, the core is starting to rise above the completed floors.
Over the next couple months, the core will stay pretty even with the podium; however, when the steel floors begin to go up, the core will rise well above the completed floors just like 1144 Fifteenth here.
Below are two additional angles of Block 162 from behind along Welton and California streets. You can now clearly see the ramps going up for the parking deck.
The podium will be the slowest segment of this build as it will be an all-concrete structure. With that said, it might be a little bit until we visit this project again but we will check back in later this summer.
Looking good! Should fill in this downtown development gap pretty well once complete. Any word on Two Tabor which was supposed to start this spring? Was hoping both that tower and this one would go up at the same time.
Is Two Tabor a done deal or is it still vaporware?
It hasn’t moved through the process, and has been stagnant since 5/2018.
If you would’ve asked me two years ago what the worst vacant blocks are in Denver that I would wish to see development, I would’ve picked this block, 16th & Market Street, 18th & Market, and the Rockies parking lot at 20th and Wazee. The fact that all four are currently going vertical with quality infill is pretty amazing.
With these eyesores out of the way, what is the next “worst” vacant lot on the chopping block? I’d probably still vote for the sea of asphalt around 19th and Broadway.
Definitely. I’m sincere in saying that I can’t wait to start complaining about the parking lots on the northeast end of downtown. Despite sitting adjacent to tallest structures in the city, so much of the immediate surrounding areas is still completely infested with parking lots. Really looking forward to someone with the right vision, investor connections, and land rights to begin connecting this area of Denver to uptown.
Yes to everyrhing you said. These projects are addressing some of the very worst vacant lots in the city. Around 19th and Broadway now has to be the worst in the downtown area. A perfect place for a 1,000ft mega structure perhaps?
next cycle
15th & Welton/California is still awful.
This project (1775 Federal) isn’t covered here but I thought it was interesting to see this one go vertical as they are using modular, prefabricated construction for the residences. This is such a departure from the typical building methods from we see in Denver.
Article on the project:
https://businessden.com/2018/11/30/five-story-modular-apartment-building-set-to-break-ground-along-federal-boulevard/
I’m not sure if everyone will be able to see the video below of the units being craned in. If not head over to 17th and Federal!
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:6546517087513309184
I’m a random guy, not on linkedIn, and I could see the video just fine. Thanks!
Is downtown destine to become all concrete and urbanization? Is there no green allowed? Whatever happened to urban open space. It seems to me that the thrill of Denver becoming a world city has missed the element that makes a great city. It is loosing it’s human character.
I’m starting to take a photo from my building every Tuesday of this project. I figured it might make a good time lapse at some point when it is completed. The view will be looking to the northwest from Republic Plaza. I’ll eventually have a Google Drive folder for folks to grab from eventually.
I’m thinking about the future…maybe the next economic growth cycle (or two). We (rightfully) celebrate a lot of the parking lots in the downtown area finally being developed…I absolutely think it’s friggin’ AWESOME! …but what happens when all these great (highly desirable) downtown open lots are no longer available (because they are filled with mediocre 8 – 12 story buildings) and our economic and population growth would warrant much larger (taller) buildings being built. So often on this site, comments are “I wish it was taller” (I’m one of those people), with the response that it’s not economically feasible at this time. Maybe in 10, 20, 30 years, it will be feasible, and we are stuck with a downtown full of (fairly recently built) under-scale structures?
What do they do in New York or San Francisco? I know what they do in older parts of Hong Kong, where I live–they often very sadly raze a block or two of old, 10-storey housing, obliterate whole swaths of street-activating, ground-floor retail, and replace it with a blank-walled podium (a mall, not a garage) sprouting several tall towers. Denver won’t be there in my lifetime, but maybe in a hundred years or so.