The 11-story Thompson Hotel has wrapped up construction and is now open to guests and visitors. Not only does this project eradicate a surface parking lot, but it also completes the entire intersection of the 16th Street Mall and Market Street. When I started contributing to DenverInfill 11 years ago, this intersection was drastically different, with three underutilized corners and 16 Market Square being the only shining beacon of urbanism for this particular block.
Since the Thompson Hotel resides in the Lower Downtown Historic District, it has to go through design review. Like our previous post on The Fitzgerald, Lower Downtown gained an attractive building with a mostly brick facade, architectural setbacks, recessed windows, and a welcoming street presence. Let’s begin our final update tour with a few close-up photos of the completed project.
The Thompson Hotel’s contribution to the streetwall is where it shines. Below are a bunch of photos from multiple perspectives around Lower Downtown.
16th Street Mall
Market Street
Wrapping up, here are two ground-level perspectives of the project.
Welcome to Downtown Denver and Lower Downtown Thompson Hotel! It’s incredible to have a complete intersection at 16th and Market with four high-quality brick buildings.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Stories | 222 hotel rooms | 59 (v) parking |
T2 Hospitality |
DLR Group | Layton Construction |
Stunning building! The deign team took some of the best lessons of SugarCube (setbacks and material changes to tie into the existing conditions) and 1500 Market Street (prominent use of structural steel as a finished exterior material). Everyone involved should be proud.
It was really cool to click through the years on that streetview and see the changes to that intersection.
This goes perfectly with everything the D&F tower, market square, the historic buildings the modern looks perfect great pics.
I drove down market yesterday and it was awesome to see this, the Thompson, and Market Station all complete. What an improvement!
Nice work. Even a touch of Prairie-style architecture.
This will remain one of my favorite all time projects from a design standpoint. As perfect as perfect gets!
Excellent brick details. I appreciate the continued street wall it lends to. The coolest in downtown atmosphere’s are in LODO where the brick building street walls go for blocks. Always like the canyons that downtown buildings create from big city to big city across the country. Not sure I get the functionality of set backs purse. Must be some kind of re-invention of the wheel thing. I love downtowns because they are intensely urban for such reasons as density happens in the city center. If I need a relaxed kind of safe and forested environment where children can chase a ball into the street, I go back to my neighborhood. It’s great to know there are options for destinations in a city, an immense urban place with increased and daring activities testing my attention and others that aren’t as intense. Still all of the variations of place work as a whole.
We live across the street at Larimer Square and have watched the construction with delight. Completes the illusion we are back in Manhattan! Still waiting to try the French Restaurant. Odd choice for a hotel and the web page had escargot on its landing page Wondering about the social club and who will use it. Will there be music there? Cocktail hours or just private parties? A thousand people live within a few blocks. Surprised the hotel hasn’t done an outreach to surrounding residential buildings. Already planning to have relatives stay there when they visit.