Canadian developer First Gulf recently submitted preliminary plans to the Denver planning office for a two-tower redevelopment of the Greyhound Bus Station at 1055 19th Street in Central Downtown. First Gulf’s previous development in Denver was 1401 Lawrence, a 22-story office tower next to Larimer Square that opened in late 2016.
On March 6, 2020, a Concept Plan was submitted to the city on behalf of First Gulf by The Beck Group, who worked with First Gulf to design the 1401 Lawrence tower. The document filed with the city shows the proposed redevelopment of the full city-block site would include two towers each rising 400 feet in height, the maximum allowed in that part of Downtown. The development would consist of a 38-story residential tower holding 750 homes and a 29-story office tower with approximately 700,000 square feet of office space. The ground floor would include 32,000 square feet of retail and lobby uses.
Multiple below-ground and above-ground parking levels would hold 1,500 (!) automobile parking spaces and 75 bicycle spaces. The site is well-served by transit, being located directly on the path of the MetroRide, a five-minute walk from the downtown light rail loop, and a ten-minute walk from Union Station. More than a dozen bus routes make stops within two blocks of the site.
The site is outlined on the Google Earth aerial below along with a Google street view of the existing Greyhound Bus Station from the 20th and Curtis intersection.
The first step in the city’s development review process is the filing of a Concept Plan application with the planning office. City planning staff review the project concept and have a conversation with the developer about feasibility, zoning and design issues, and other factors the developer will have to take into consideration before the project can move on to the next step. Therefore, the project’s design and specifications at this Concept Plan stage are preliminary and may change significantly before formal plans are submitted to the city for review.
No rendering was provided in the Concept Plan document, so we will have to wait to see what the design of this significant two-tower development may look like.
Where would Greyhound move with this new development? We know there isn’t room for them at Union Station, but is there another location in the downtown area already in discussion?
I found this article that says they were looking at Union Station or a space near the Broncos Stadium.
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/downtown-denvers-greyhound-bus-station-is-officially-on-the-market/73-90c97a23-0c42-4e42-b766-780719d7137e
I’m not sure where Greyhound would go. I know they’ve been looking around but don’t recall hearing that they had made a decision. Anyone know for sure?
Greyhound already has some operations at Union Station. Maybe they would take some space at Civic Center Station or lease space from Los Limousines. Or just pick up on a random street corner.
Looking around the internet I read that this bus station opened in 1975. I came thru Denver in the summer of 1974 on a bus and I cannot remember where that bus station was. Anyone know?
How busy is that bus station?
The Greyhound Bus Station used to be a funky cramped bus station at or near 1730 Glenarm Place where there is now a parking garage next to the Denver Shoe Cobbler. There was also a busy coffee shop called the Red Coachman which was always full of Greyhound travelers in believe the Shoe cobbler expanded to take over the coffee shop area. The competing Continental Trailways bus station was where the twin towers of the Denver Energy Center is at 1675 Broadway. I can’t remember exactly what years but the CT closed first and the Greyhound following not long after sometime in the early seventies.
This is great news, but it’s absurd the zoning limits buildings to 400 feet in this area. This is pretty much the CBD; it’s where you want height. Denver is so weird with it’s height restrictions.
Anyway, I’m excited about the project. This whole area is next in terms of development near downtown, and I hope to see lots more hi-rise condos in the area. Any word on when the condos on 18th and Glenarm are going to break ground? They closed the bar months ago.
Couldn’t agree more. 400 feet in this location is ridiculous.
Although it doesn’t seem ANY development in Denver with height pencils out. Considering the big 3 were built in the 80s and no tower has come close to their height since…it just isn’t gonna happen in this town.
Downtown – not the CBD
Absolutely criminal to be allowing a 1500 space parking garage to be built anywhere in the city.
I couldn’t agree more. If the parking was at least convertible into future housing and/or retail, that would be something.
Absolutely. Every parking space is ~450sqft that could have been used for somebody’s home or workplace instead of storage for a mobile living room that’s only used one hour a day. 1500 parking spaces is absurd.
Other buildings in the area, including double-tower complexes like Granite/Ritz and Denver Place get by just fine with only 2 levels of parking, and the tallest building in the corridor, 17th St Plaza, has no parking at all.
17th Street Plaza has a ~600-space parking garage. Or are you referring to Johns Manville Plaza?
Not to endorse the large amount of parking in this project, but it roughly pencils out to one parking space per unit (not per bedroom), and 750 spaces for a 700K office building could hold ~3,000 workers. So it has enough car storage for 25% of the office workers and less than one unit per bedroom.
You are right. Technically, when looking at the ratios, it isn’t terrible. But in absolute terms, 1500 parking spaces is still a lot.
If all 1500 cars lined up bumper to bumper starting at the building site, at 20 feet per car, they would stretch east all the way to Yosemite Street.
I walk by this all the time. The current building is low and tends be a bit unkempt looking. Hoping whatever replaces it is a bit more urban and well-kept..
Thanks for providing a welcome diversion from all the doom and gloom out there…
You’re welcome!
An enlightened developer would flip those numbers and have parking for 75 cars and 1,500 bicycles.
If they cut the number of parking spaces in half, from 1,500 to 750—which would still be a lot of parking—at $20,000 per parking space, that would save them $15,000,000 on the cost of the project. For that amount, the developers could give 2,000 of the future residents/employees of the building an annual RTD regional pass for three years with enough left over for thousands of free scooter/bike rental coupons.
Thank God! I live near here and that Greyhound station it is so creepy and grimy. Whatever side of that building I’m near, I make sure I walk on the other side of the street to avoid it. I can’t wait for the wrecking ball!
At one point they were looking at the open lot on Sante Fe and Alameda, near the Home Depot that is now a VW dealership. Not sure why that didn’t happen as it seemed like an ideal spot.