Over the last few years, the redevelopment of 9th and Colorado has been trekking along nicely. Most of the blocks now have completed projects on them, leaving only a few open parcels left. Today we have a very extensive update as we are visiting every single block in the redevelopment. Naturally, a lot changed since we last visited in 2015 and 2017 when the first project, Block 7/S, was starting to go up.
Here is a current panorama of 9th and Colorado. The block maps below will follow this same orientation as the panorama – looking from east to west with north on the right and south to the left. We will visit the completed blocks first to catch up and then move on to under-construction and proposed blocks. In addition, some of the photos will be in image carousels, so make sure you look for the right arrow to scroll and see more photos.
COMPLETED BLOCKS
Block 1. A primary focus of the 9th and Colorado redevelopment is retail. While only being a single-story structure, Block 1 contains seven retail pads, with over half of them filled.
Block 2. A new ten-screen movie theater has moved in on this block, anchored by AMC. In addition to the movie theater, more retail resides around this block totaling 44,000 square feet.
Block 3. Dubbed Ella CityHomes, 35 for-sale townhomes occupy this entire block. Most of the homes have already sold, with only eight remaining. Upon completion, prices started in the mid $900,000s.
Block 4. This block contains a seven-story parking garage, providing most of the structured parking for the redevelopment. The garage is partially wrapped, with a 64,000 square foot office building to the south. Ground-floor retail also wraps around the entire ground floor. Present-day, approximately half of the retail spaces on this block are occupied.
Block 7 South. DenverInfill first visited this project back in 2017 when vertical construction was taking place. Now named Theo, this project was the first to complete in the redevelopment providing 275 apartment homes along with 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
Block 7 Wrap. One of the few existing structures in the redevelopment is the north parking garage. The east side of this garage is wrapped with a three-story structure containing 17 townhomes and apartments.
Block 7 East. The Milo Apartments occupy this block containing both full-size and micro apartments. This project provides 319 homes in an eight-story building.
Block 10. Greystar recently finished Overture, an eight-story building providing 208 age-restricted homes. Residents over 55 years old are beginning to move into this building.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION BLOCKS
Block 8. The only block currently under construction is Block 8. Most of the block is complete with a new park, Hale Park. The other portion is near completion with two single-story retail spaces. Here are some photos of the completed park…
…and some photos of the under-construction retail.
PROPOSED BLOCKS
Block 5. There are no concrete proposals on this block however, earlier master plans envisioned a hotel and more mixed-use buildings.
Block 6. This block contains the nurse’s dormitory from when this area was a medical campus. Currently, there are plans to rehabilitate the building while adding additional residential units towards Ash Street and some more open park space.
Block 9. Preliminary plans on this block call for a condo building. While there are no concrete plans, we should expect to see a good amount of density here.
That’s a wrap on 9th and Colorado! Overall, this 26-acre development provides over 2 million square feet of infill making this a great mixed-use urban center in the Hale neighborhood. Now, if only we can get some dedicated transit on Colorado Boulevard.
This stretch of Colorado Boulevard desperately needs wider sidewalks, especially on the west side (already lined with older multifamily buildings). Pedestrians are often left with no choice but to walk single file mere inches away from very high speed car traffic. Such conditions are unacceptable considering the intensity of otherwise walkable development and undermines the potential of the entire area.
Nice update Ryan. Just out of curiosity how much time does it take you to put a post like this together?
Also I’ve lived in Denver for almost 20 years and never could I imagine townhomes selling for $900,000. That is bananas.
Thanks Brett! This one took around 6-7 hours including taking the photos. The maps took a bit, there were a lot of photos to edit, and I had to research each individual block. But I’m very glad it’s current on DI now! 🙂
The townhomes shocked me a bit too haha.
“You too can live a life of luxury…driving home every day on Colorado Blvd!”
Why so much single story retail? And dare I ask how many millions is dollars were wasted on that new garage?
“One of the few existing structures in the redevelopment is the north parking garage,” said the article.
They built a second one in addition to the one that was already there because cars break people’s brains.
I feel like we had the opportunity to house a lot more people here. The density feels like a major miss. Single story retail and a movie theater taking up whole blocks? That can’t be the highest and best use of that land.
I’m a resident nearby and have a few remarks.
Block 5: This block was going to originally be a hotel when the original overpass building was there but then they tore it down and now the plans are for a surface parking lot on block 5. They recently added some buildings to the “official map” but I’m hoping it’s not like the lot in belmar that eventually became half hotel half parking lot. Block 5 would be a great block for a nice high rise.
Block 6: We were told in the last meeting they had no plans yet for the building but I’m glad to hear maybe that’s changing. They just boarded up the windows recently as people were breaking in and smashing windows. Would love to see this converted to condos/apartments or maybe a stanley market type place.
Block 9: The original plans for this lot were a 17 story tower with a few floors of above ground parking but then Amanda Sawyer was elected as the council person for the Hale neighborhood and the plans fizzled out. I’m really hopeful with the newly added density that they can make this the 17 story condo building they were planning.
Way too many parking garages in the top picture. I count at least 4.
I’m definitely in the minority on this site and don’t feel the same vehement opposition to parking as most of our Denverinfill brethren… That said, I will cede in districts like this that aim to promote “urbanism” and walkability, often times the ratio of parking spaces to available residential units can be a bit skewed.
One thing I simply cannot abide is how blatantly visible and imposing parking structures seem to be in this city, especially for new development. They are an eye sore and offer no aesthetic or street-level value. The city needs to get serious about enforcing reduced visibility requirements.
It’s been heartbreaking to see a few early renderings of a project that tend to be more thoughtful about covering the parking structure with something more aesthetically pleasing, only to see it get value engineered into oblivion. The Quincy and Delaware Lofts come to mind.
I feel like until there is some sort of development or park land added on Block 5 the whole area still feels disconnected. The only truly developed and ready stretch is the west side of Albion. if you venture east there are still mostly construction fences you’d be walking by on most of the sidewalks. I’m looking forward to seeing a more complete vision come about in the coming years.
Hi, Thanks for the updates! Any word on more info/renderings of 3930 Blake? Just saw this article in BusinessDen: https://businessden.com/2021/07/26/apartment-projects-living-structure-merges-architecture-with-nature/
This … feels too good to be true haha. Hoping this signifies the official end of the stucco shoebox land barge era.
With the partial exception of the Milo Hotel, every new building is ugly af. Major disappointment.
I live in this neighborhood and have been wondering about Block 6 and the historic building. I really was hoping it would be an adaptive reuse project as you mentioned. It is certainly worth saving. Any chance you have additional info/resources on the history of the nurse dormitory? Do we know yet what the intended use will be?