Just north of DenverInfill’s Greater Downtown Districts and Neighborhoods northern border of 38th Avenue, the quarter mile around 41st and Fox station area is finally beginning to boom. One stop north on the G and B line from Union Station, the area (or “island”) around RTD’s 41st and Fox station has been affirmed time and time again as the next destination TOD, which will remake a portion of Globeville and across the tracks, Sunnyside. While the current center of populational gravity resides somewhat west of the station, what is currently under construction on “Fox Island” will add a new urban center steps to the east of the station and benefit residents in both Globeville and Sunnyside on the west side of the rail tracks. All of the development listed below results in an additional 2,331 residences within a quarter of a mile of the transit station.
COMPLETED
Zia Sunnyside. DenverInfill last visited the 41st and Fox station area in 2018, posting the about the beginnings of Zia, an apartment and condominium mixed-use combo with affordability baked in. Zia brought an intensity of land use to the area which will soon be surpassed east of the tracks, but let’s admire the finished product for its ground-floor activation, material choices, and contribution to the street wall. Zia prefigures the density possible and soon to come west of the rail line along Inca and Jason Streets.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Stories | 316 apt, 120 condo homes | 8,700 sf retail | 353 (v) 364 (b) parking | Confluence Companies | Craine Architecture | Confluence Builders |
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Fox Iron Works. A trend here: leaving aside much of the density allowed in “Fox Island.” In the case of Fox Iron Works, 20- and 8-story zone districts get a 5-story apartment building. Replacing the old Central Denver Ironworks, half the apartment homes “wrap” around a 4.5-story parking garage. This development features a stand-alone clubhouse and a 1/10 mile walk from that clubhouse to the rail station. After construction on the parking garage was completed, construction shifted to residences and the clubhouse. A tower crane has been at work for a couple of months now.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Stories | 386 apt homes | 355 (v) 213 (b) parking | RangeWater Real Estate | Craine Architecture | MPC |
In addition, here are a couple of renderings of Fox Iron Works.
Alloy Sunnyside. Across the railroad tracks in Sunnyside, north of Zia, is Alloy Sunnyside. It replaces some warehouses, single-family homes, and a laboratory. This development will bring a welcome and bustling downtown street feel to the east side of Jason Street and features ground-floor commercial space and some live/work units. Currently, construction is moving up past the third floor of the above-ground portion.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Stories | 209 apt homes | 2600 sf retail| 186 (v) 108 (b) parking |
Prime West | RATIO | Catamount Constructors |
Iota Fox Station. This apartment building by local developers Highland Development Company is underway with (quite a bit) less than a 1:1 parking ratio and a couple of minutes walk from the rail station. Thankfully, many of the medium-sized apartment buildings proposed and underway near 41st and Fox Station are following this trend of lower parking ratios. About half of this building’s residences are studios, and the other half are mostly one-bedrooms, offering a peak into what demographic developers imagine will reside in the new neighborhood. In the photos below, we have also included a rendering.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Stories | 148 apt homes | 83 (v) 132 (b) parking | Highland Development Company | KTGY | MPC |
PROPOSED
4040 Fox Street. Across the street from what is currently a Park-n-Ride lot, this private development would top out at seven stories. Mixed-use developments on Fox Street offering retail space would bolster food and drink options for the growing neighborhood, the east side of the tracks being pretty lacking at the moment. The 2009 41st and Fox Station Area plan calls out the importance of developing a superior pedestrian experience and “shopping corridor” walking down Fox Street. Similarly, on the developer’s website, they espouse the importance of the pedestrian experience. Below are some photos of the site, which is just across the alley from Iota.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Most Recent Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Stories | 231 apt homes | 120 (v) 106 (b) parking |
Central Street Capital |
Architectural Workshop | ROW Encroachment (2022-07-20) |
In addition, here are a few renderings of 4040 Fox.
805 W 38th Ave. An exciting addition to the skyline, not just the neighborhood, this development along West 38th Avenue illustrates how station areas and parts of Denver, somewhat further from the downtown, are all booming in their own way! Major progress is being made on the permitting side: this development would include major street reconstruction and expansion of Galapago, 39th Avenue, and the interface along 38th Avenue. Demolition would remove defunct equipment rental warehouses from the site. Below are a few current site photos.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Most Recent Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| St19 Stories | 398 apt homes | 504 (v) 200 (b) parking |
Q Street Development |
TBD | Storm and Sanitary (2022-04-28) |
735 W 39th Ave. Across three structures and the accompanying expansion of Galapago Street and 40th Avenue into the site, a New York-based development company is promoting its development in this growing neighborhood. With a large parcel to work with and many ROW dedications necessary, this site will be busy for years to come before people move into a finished building.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Most Recent Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Stories | 301 apt homes | 379 (v) 150 (b) parking |
Abacus Capital Group |
TBD | Development Agreement (2022-07-14) |
4211 Inca. A new development has been proposed on the northwest corner of Inca and 42nd Avenue. Currently, there are few details on the building form that will be used or the people involved in making this happen. This development again demonstrates that it isn’t just “Fox Island” that deserves attention. Sunnyside is gaining a new, dense urban center between Kalamath and Inca, between 38th Avenue and 45th Avenue.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Most Recent Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Stories | ~100 apt homes | 100 (v) parking |
TBD |
Anchen Wang | Concept Plan (2022-06-28) |
Fox Park. A 41-acre parcel of land just north of the station, Fox Park is currently being planned for, infrastructure improvements are being drawn up, and some demolition and environmental remediation is underway. The World Trade Center Denver intends to build their new headquarters and offices here, anchoring Globeville’s extreme western edge as an office center. While we wait to see the site fully redevelop, sate your dreams of office, open space, adaptive reuse, and underground parking TOD by gazing longingly at the landing page for the developer’s website.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Most Recent Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.2M sf office | 3,400 residences | 14 acres open space |
Pure Development |
Tryba Architects | Transportation Plan (2022-09-01) |
West 45th and Huron. Only one building within Fox Park has been proposed, with a placeholder address as 4400 Fox Street, which is the general address for the whole 41-acre swath. In reality, we’d find this at the southeast corner of the future Huron Street and 45th Avenue, close to the rail tracks.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Most Recent Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Stories | 575 apt homes | 436 (v) parking |
TBD |
Tryba Architects | Concept Plan (2022-04-06) |
Still more has been proposed in the station area, but little progress has been made in permitting. We might see those projects (car-lite, affordable, and well-designed) come back again in the future. Nevertheless, the 41st and Fox area is beginning to boom, and we’re eager to see more urban centers build up along a rail stop served by two commuter rail lines. Of note in the so-called “Fox Island,” the long story of possible parking maximums (which have yet to come into being here or in any part of Denver). Much hand-wringing is currently happening over the street network in this area, seeing as the neighborhood is constrained by only three streets (38th, Park Avenue, and 44th Avenue) with which to drive in or out; this pretty neatly constrains car-dependent development in the neighborhood. It remains to be seen if developers will embrace this challenge as a neighborhood-defining trait or fall back on car-dependent designs because it’s what they know.
About the author:
Andy Cushen is a car-free urbanist living and working in Denver. Andy owns and manages @BuildupDenver on Twitter, which reports on and analyzes the construction boom in Denver neighborhoods. He is joining the DenverInfill team to help cover neighborhoods north and west of I-25 (such as the Highlands, Sun Valley, and West Colfax) and RTD rail stops with large developments nearby.
Maps for projects mentioned in this post:
Zia Sunnyside
Fox Iron Works
Alloy Sunnyside
Iota Fox Station
4040 Fox Street
805 West 38th Avenue
735 West 39th Avenue
4211 Inca Street
Fox Park
West 45th and Huron Street
Oof that parking lot in the 4040 Fox section. Needs to be its own mixed use multistory residential. And the stubborn refusal to abandon parking in an area with such constrained car access is…I don’t even know.
John Reike- I know you as the anti-car guy from your other posts. The car, though many would love to not have one, is the only way to get around most of Denver. The powers that be have made it that way.
So so true, for example, I’m someone who snowboards/hikes/and paddleboards in most of my free time up in the mountains but I work in the city. There is no way to take a train/bus to all of the mountain spots. Even if we had an amazing transit system (which we don’t), you’ll never see people give up their cars since the mountains are actually somewhere worthwhile to go. Different cities require different solutions I think and Denver is more like LA than the NYC everyone is hoping it’ll be.
You must not be a terribly creative thinker when it comes to getting around town, or have never lived in the “Fox Island.” Getting in and out of there with a car is a massive pain even with the scant development already there. Having lived up in a couple neighborhoods around Denver, some not even near light rail, you can get most everything done without a car. There have been a handful of times when I wish I had a working car, and all involved snowstorms and wanting to bring heavy things back from the grocery store.
The opening of the 41st & Fox station changed everything even though RTD service often leaves much to be desired. Hopefully the e-bike rebate program takes off and pushes the city to make protected bike lanes faster and with greater protection. Large parts of town are accessible without a car and in all times of year, you just lack the desire to get out of yours.
Love this discussion! I think it’s great that the transportation budget is gonna start favoring public transport over highway expansions. It’s pretty far in the future, but we definitely shouldn’t give up on Denver being a well connected, walkable city akin to NYC. More reliable buses are needed and will help tremendously but we have to do our part and actually use them. My personal pipe dream is some sort of subway system that links up with the light rail and connects the City Park and Cheesman Park/Cap Hill neighborhoods to downtown. Along with BRT on Colfax, ridership would skyrocket with all the commuters and nightlife-seekers from these downtown-adjacent neighborhoods.
Hopefully G line goes back to a 15 min frequency sooner than later. Or conversely, if the B line goes to 30 min frequency, the interlined section between Union Station and Pecos Junction (Via 41st and Fox) will get a combined 15 min frequency. Don’t get me wrong, I think Denver punches well above its weight when it comes to rail transit, but I think it would be nice to see true frequent transit here.
Id love to see a subway in Denver, however unless tunneling technology improves drastically causing the price to plummet, I don’t see it happening any time soon due to Denver’s relatively low residential density (outside the CBD). Outside the CBD, I think designating a exclusive center running, 2-direction transit lane on Denvers major thoroughfares, making a 15 minute bus frequency standard with some frequencies as low as 5 min, and upgrading to Toronto like streetcars in the busiest corridors (CBD-E. Colfax, CBD-I25 via Broadway, CBD to Colo/I25 via Broadway/Speer/Cherry Creek/Colo Blvd, and converting the L line to streetcar and run it north to 38th/Blake and south to Alameda and I25 via Santa Fe.
Id love to see the Light Rail/Commuter Rail eventually converted to a unified, fully grade-separated, driverless metro-like system like the under construction REM in Montreal or Skytrain in Vancouver. And instead of every line ending at Union Station and reversing direction, I think an underground Melbourne-like bi-directional loop running from Union down 17th to Civic Center, then turning west on Colfax serving Convention Center and Auraria, and rejoining the current line west of Auraria would be awesome. Norther lines would join the loop at Union Station and Southern Lines would Join between Auraria and Auraria West.
Fox Iron Works is a disappointment and missed opportunity with only 5 stories. Also, no retail space on that side of the tracks, in any of those developments? Shaping up to be a bedroom-only dead zone, just like Denargo Market?
I do like what’s happening on the Sunnyside portion of the TOD – much more forward thinking.
There is retail planning in 4040 Fox and fox park. Although I agree that it won’t be coming until renters/buyers start living in the area. There are probably a dozen more plans submitted to the city not listed here. The 5 stories was a miss at fox iron works but im okay with it cause it doesn’t block my view. The Huron street development will make up for that with its proposed 20+ stories and two towers with retail on the first floor.
Nice post! I wish there was more retail in these buildings but maybe it will come with future buildings.
And Welcome Andy to the Infill Team!
Welcome Andy, and thanks!
Wow. I had no clue so much was going on here, great to see! I almost bought at 41st and Pecos in 2009, but the area was still quite rough around the edges and the B/G line was still years off. Ended up buying by the W Lamar station.
If it’s not in the works already, now would be a great time to plan for BRT on 38th from Fox Station to Lutheran Med in Wheat Ridge
If the process is as slow as the Colfax BRT, you might get that in 20 years once they start planning it.
Excited for the coverage in the north/west areas! Bummer about the 5 stories right next to station, but beats nothing I suppose.
42nd and Kalamath is also under construction in Sunnyside. across the intersection from the Alloy construction site. Next year, a third project starts in the same area across the street from Alloy as well, with retail space planned already! There goes the neighborhood. All Industrial to all residential.