A significant project has been proposed in Downtown Denver that will add a good amount of height and density. The X Company, a new apartment brand to Denver, has proposed their third project: X Denver 3. Work has been underway on the first X Denver in Union Station North for some time now. A second X Denver has been proposed right next door to the first X Denver, more on that later, with the third X Denver proposed over in Arapahoe Square.
Before we get into more details, let’s take a look at where X Denver 3 will be located. Below is a map with the project site outlined at 2100 Arapahoe Street.
As X Denver 3 is making its way through the Downtown Design Advisory Board, it appears that site preparations are already underway. This includes demolishing two buildings that resided on the site. Below are current photos of the project site showing that the buildings have been cleared. To see what was on this block before, a quick Google Street View search will suffice.
So, what is going up at 2100 Arapahoe Street? According to the plans filed with the city, a 22-story tower with 410 apartment homes will be constructed that includes 6,100 square feet of ground floor retail and 20,000 square feet of co-working space. These “X social communities” also include a large amount of amenity space for their residents as we’ve seen with X Denver. This new project follows suit with close to 20,000 square feet of resident amenity space.
X Denver 3 is currently going through design review and will adhere to the Design Standards and Guidelines for Arapahoe Square. Currently, there is only a preliminary rendering showing the massing however, more detailed renderings will be available as it goes through design review. The rendering below is courtesy of BusinessDen. The architect on record is Studio PBA.
Update – 11/20/2019 – Thanks to Studio PBA, we have a fresh and much more refined rendering of this project. The image below has been replaced with the new rendering.
With a fence up around the project site and site prep underway, we can only hope that vertical construction will start soon. As we recieve more details, and more refined renderings, we will post another update.
Oh man, looking at that Google Earth imagery is both exciting (for the new building) and depressing (the flatness all around it). Hopefully this spurs more infill in the surrounding blocks.
I had similar thoughts. A lot of potential in the area.
This, along with the 24-story Kenect project a block away (assuming that project is still moving forward), will be a nice addition to an area that is mostly a sea of parking lots today. Assuming they fine-tune the design and actually make it look good.
This is great! I seriously doubt the building will be black (like it is in the renderings), but the height is promising. Hopefully we’ll get more tall/dense stuff on that side of town!
I think this is cool and will spark a lot more height in that part of town. It would be nice to have anything new that didn’t have a flat roof. I realize the developers have priorities in maximizing their return (and that makes sense, I get it), but it would be nice if we could get some buildings with interesting rooflines. 1144’s slope is a nice touch, the spire next door obviously too. But we like our buildings boxy here.
*the four seasons next door… Always thought it was funny that both the spire and four seasons built basically at the same time… Although the four seasons is the one with the spire…
They really captured this rendering at the right angle! Glad we are starting to box in those parking lots. I will say though the pools are more fun at 90 degrees. At least in the winter they could use the area as a common square.
I thinking I’m feeling a pulse, yes, oh good I’m not dead. Pheeew! I suppose that could be referred to as being a little excited to see this and that it’s not just another glob building half it’s height. Is the planning department alright? Refreshing to see some height and in Arapahoe Square where change was implemented not too long ago and hopefully the demand for downtown condos will spur a few more towers on those parking lots in the area.
Great to see a new project go into the so-called Arapahoe Square area but it’s unfortunate that some of the last remaining 19th-century structures of interest in this part of the city have to give way when there are so many other empty lots nearby. These two buildings stood next to the large Turnverein Building (which I think burned down). Portions of that building still remain within the facade of the structure that will remain to the north. Here is a link showing the block with these two doomed structures in earlier days: http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/30574/rec/8
I agree that’s too bad. I wonder if it’s a zoning snag like the ground floor area ratio to allow for height. What was the purpose in that again?
Am I the only one feeling a little bittersweet that this is going to involve the razing of those two nice historic buildings on the north end of the lot? Totally get that the viability of the project might hinge on utilization of the full site, but I really wish they would have integrate those two historic buildings into the new project a la Southern Land’s deal in Uptown or the hotel at 20th/Chestnut.
I’m with you. I love it when new construction finds a way to incorporate old neighborhood charm.
I agree, it’s sad to loose two relatively nice historic buildings. It looks like in the photos that they are already gone.
I think this is also surprising because both of those buildings were renovated in 2018 after being boarded up since god knows when. Seems like it would have been easy to incorporate them. Especially since there is no podium.
While I agree that it’s sad to lose those historic buildings–Denver definitely does not have a wealth of historic brick buildings–and incorporating them into the project would have been nice, it certainly would not have been easy as suggested. Probably the easiest way to incorporate them would be to build amenity space on the roof, but that would eat into about a quarter of the residential floor area (not an option when it comes to profits). Building the tower over the buildings could potentially yield something architecturally intriguing, but would be a logistical nightmare either trying to build foundations withing the buildings to support the weight of the tower or cantilevering the tower out over the buildings. Without any historical protection, this was probably the only result we were ever going to get. It’s a shame, but we could do worse with the building we’re getting here.
You’re not. I’m more bitter than sweet. We have already destroyed too many old buildings that had character. While I like what is replacing them, I’m very sad to see these two buildings get razed.
Looks great. Doesn’t look like they’re considering a massive parking deck either.
This project solves a few issues: affordability, density, sense of community, walk-ability, etc. Great to see.
Cool Project! nice to see some more density. Btw are you guys working on a new 3D skyline?
It’s nice to see a building with no podium…will there be underground parking?
Just attended a presentation by the architects and there is no parking included at all. Most of the units are small and there are also shared units where one can rent just a room. Most of them will be furnished and geared to people right out of college or renting their first apartment. A demographic that is badly under served right now in Downtown Denver.This is also right along the 5280 Loop and so a great location for people with no cars. However, I am curious to see how the over 400 units will rent with no parking available. It certainly fits with the cities long term plan of discouraging cars from the downtown area. Nevertheless, it is exciting for me to see some high rises coming to the Arapahoe Square area even though we sometimes have to give up some of the older buildings to make way for density.