A new project is well underway on East Colfax between Downing and Marion Street. Over the past few months, the Ramada Inn that used to reside on the project site has since been torn down, with a new residential project starting to go vertical. This new seven-story project is not to be confused with Route 40; the project proposed to replace the Smileys Laundromat building. We will also be visiting the Route 40 project soon.
As mentioned above, this new project, developed by Kairoi Residential, is well under construction, with the first structural elements starting to go vertical. In addition, a tower crane now resides over the project site. Below are a few photos of the project from around the perimeter.
Moving in closer, you can see that most of the underground structural work is complete, with the first floor starting to go vertical.
Let’s wrap up with a rendering of the new project, pulled from the most recent construction permit. Even though it is monochrome, we can see that there will be a lot of brick elements on the facade, which is always a win. The inclusion of ground-floor retail will contribute nicely to the already active retail environment of East Colfax.
While East Colfax developments are not entirely common due to the already established urban fabric along the corridor, it’s nice to see high-quality projects get developed along the avenue.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Stories | 334 apt homes | 6,000 sf retail | 342 (v) 166 (b) parking | Kairoi Residential | GFF Architects | Hinton Constrcution |
The contractor, Hinton Construction, has some colored images of the project, but they are a bit small.
https://hintonconstructioncompany.com/construction-project/tripoint/
Nice, thanks for linking that. Good to see what brick color they’re going for.
Ken and Ryan, thanks for coming to the Cheesman part of Colfax, glad to see you covering areas in this older part of Denver. The scale of the Kairoi will be a little jarring for that stretch of the street, but area retail has not been successful in maintaining the neighborhood, and some better solution is needed.
Note that just two blocks away at Franklin and Colfax is another development project that should be taking shape across from the 1st Bank branch, and more opportunities stretch East and West on old US 40.
There has been a problem since the advent of Covid with keeping East Colfax moving ahead with many restaurants and bars closing their doors, most notably the Snug. We should hope that with Tom’s Starlight opening the trend will be reversed.
There’s a pretty good step back on the higher floors along the majority of the project along Colfax, so that should help with any scaling. Excited for the project on Franklin too, that’s another good one. Hopefully as time goes on, this part of Colfax can revitalize a bit in terms of retail.
What’s happening at the corner of Franklin? That whole stretch is a blight with the Burger King shuttered as well. Thanks for all that you do, Ruan.
While I do think this is a very attractive addition to this part of Colfax and will create a very vibrant intersection at Marion and Colfax, I do have a qualm. With plenty of very low intensity lots on Colfax, It seems a shame that a moderate intensity development was demo’ed to make way for this project. While the Ramada certainly wasn’t an attractive building, it had good ground floor retail and 2 stories above that could have been used for much needed low income housing. It would have been nicer to a very low impact site be demoed (Like the Papa John’s, the Grease Monkey, the empty lot on the SE corner of Colfax and Corona, or several other, take your pick) to make room for this project. Then once those loe impact sites start filling up, move on to the dated but not historic buildings (like the Ramada).
I do completely understand that it’s commercial real estate market forces that determine what gets redeveloped, but it would be nice if there were some incentives that made sense regarding prioritizing redevelopments.
Judging from the rendering it’s going to attract a diverse bunch of slender white people with lots of money. There goes the neighborhood.
LOL, yes as a once very long time Capitol Hill resident and retail business owner, I have to agree. Sorry to use the term ‘land barge’ but it seems most of the housing in most of central Denver is yet so blob wide. Send in the suburban types that can only think they’re urban. All the development action I have observed over the years doesn’t necessarily empower the small businesses or working class residents who have contributed to the community for years and decades. Meaning the city’s carefully schemed comatose permit process in tandem with the holding back impeding product to market real estate demand results in bloated land values which results in displacement of the working class neighborhoods to be replaced by residents from higher paying jobs who would rarely support the immediate area retail but travel to Cherry Creek to shop. We are not going to see these residents strolling up and down the Colfax sidewalks hoping for a bistro. I remember going to a Colfax neighborhood development meeting where the developers voiced their situations with city zoning not allowing for taller structures which they said would be the only way they would get a return on their investment. All of which more points were made about more density allowing for more affordable units that could be rented to the restaurant staff at future bistro. Come on the reason retail isn’t coming back around is nobody in real estate understands or cares about a small business or relates to how it’s impacted by the pandemic while they are operating on a tight business budget anyway pandemic or not. Why doesn’t the city sponsor small business stimulus loans in the first place to help these people get back on their feet? Just renting out high dollar residential is not going to create a trickle down fantasy economy, those residents are going to be waiting years for Colfax to gentrify similar to their tastes like RINO or Uptown. X10 the number of affordable housing. Oh my golly it’s not a crap shoot for developers but you want real vibrant neighborhoods?
I have noticed that around our city many of the small scale, charming old buildings that are perfectly fine are being uglified. They seem to be intentionally painted to look run down and over the course of a year or two they become eyesores. They get tagged with graffiti, the weeds come up, the window get broken. Then a fence goes up and then suddenly overnight it’s gone. Nobody remembers what was there and those that do are glad to see it go because it was just an eyesore anyway. But, it was perfectly fine and lovely not long ago. I think this is done intentionally so when the time comes to tear it down, nobody will care and anything, no matter how bloated will seem like an improvement. I won’t miss the old Ramada, but I don’t think this new building is an improvement. It’s big and gloomy and pays no homage to the vivid history of Colfax. It belongs out at the airport.
I have to disagree with that claim. The Ramada Inn was a 1970’s/early 80’s stucco affair. While in it’s heyday, there were storefronts along Colfax, the Downing Street facade was mostly a blank wall at the street level and a parking lot fronted Marion Street. The improvements at the street level along those two streets will make a world of difference. Also, that is a greyscale image and I suspect the real building will appear much “brighter.”
Now perhaps you are thinking of the Smiley’s Laundromat building one block West. If so, I would agree with you. No rendering that I have seen of the various versions of the replacement building possesses a style that can surpass the original building with its associated architectural details.
Might be time for Denver to finally commit to making Colfax a 16th Street mall but with light rail infrastructure, and just two driving lanes. Shift the car driving work to a reworked 17th, 13th and 14th and get rid of free parking. If you’re going to live in an expensive and popular city, then pay for it in parking. As it is in many cities, drivers troll streets looking for that one sweet parking spot. Only to be locked out after work tomorrow. Yes, here and there, good ideas pop up. But is there any integrated planning for the future?