Since our last visit to Capitol Hill in January, the Sports Castle Lofts project site has been busy with demolition and, recently, the construction of a new tower crane. In addition to the new crane, demolition is complete for the parking garage directly north of the Sports Castle. As a reminder, the Sports Castle is not going anywhere; the Sports Castle Lofts will reside directly north of the existing building.
Let’s begin our tour by looking at the project site up close. Cleanup from the demolition is mostly complete, with excavation and utility work now underway.
Scooting out a little, here are a few photos from across Broadway. The Sports Castle Lofts will rise 15 stories when complete, replacing a nondescript two-story building.
A post would only be complete with photos of the new tower crane. It’s always nice to see high-density infill development on the land between Broadway and Lincoln.
Seeing more development underway between Capitol Hill and the Golden Triangle is a great sight!
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Stories | 284 apt homes | 2800 sf retail | 368 (v) parking | Cypress Real Estate | Meeks Partners | ARCO Murray |
Great to see dense infill. Disappointing, once again, to see the majority of the street frontage be building amenity space instead of retail, with a hulking parking garage facing the street above. No ties or relation to the beautiful Sports Castle building next door. The fabric of an otherwise interesting and dynamic retail street like Broadway will again be interrupted by a massive residential lobby and resident-only co-working space because the merchant developer isn’t going to make enough money. Look at what happened along Brighton Boulevard when the Cypress’ of the world threw up buildings with “activated” uses like lobbies and fitness centers. Who wants to spend time there? Look at the failed experiment of Upper Downtown with its shiny (vacant) office lobbies and spandrel glass. Who wants to spend time there? What is different about Cherry Creek North that makes it so people want to spend time there?
We can rely on developers to do the right thing which, in my opinion, is to contribute to the success of the city by enhancing vibrant retail corridors and pedestrian experiences for locals and visitors. But the majority of developers who are going to build this stuff and sell it don’t care. More retail = more risk and (potentially) lower NOI which means they make a mere $28 million instead of $30 million in three years when they sell it. Call me an enemy of the free market, but the day cannot come soon enough when Denver mandates more retail and better aesthetics along our strongest retail corridors and stops considering building amenities “activated uses.” That will force the developers who do not care about our urban fabric to play on the same field as well-intentioned developers who want to do the right thing.
I don’t understand your disappointment. I can only find one rendering of the “frontage”, and it’s not nearly as specific as you say.
Why do you want more retail? When the US already has 23 square feet of retail space per person, the most by far of any country? You do understand the retail establishment that previously operated at this location went bankrupt? And it’s been vacant ever since.
Exactly how does Denver mandate “more retail”? Force corporations to maintain unprofitable stores? Or round people up and force them to buy things in the name of “better aesthetics”?
Please know that we align philosophically. I agree that all of this new density would be more effectively integrated into the neighborhood with public services and retail placed on the bottom floor. But we’ve built all kinds of ground-floor retail in the last decade that simply isn’t being utilized. Some of it, and I often use Union Station as an example, has never even been occupied—and this was a pre-pandemic problem.
Somebody smarter than me could probably provide an explanation, but my working theory is all these spaces are financed to accommodate national chains. It’s as if all these developers think they can lure a private-equity-backed behemoth like Shake Shack or Orange Theory Fitness, and when that doesn’t happen, the space is too expensive to rent to anything else. In more developed cities, ground floor retail is occupied by immigrant-run restaurants, local boutiques, and unique offerings that aren’t found in every other neighborhood in every other part of the country. In Denver, everything needs to cater specifically to affluent DINKs who cosplay outdoor instagram model on the weekends—and that’s only so much of the population.
Maybe we’d need more ground-floor commercial space if Denver was positioned to rent it to the Bhutanese restaurant in an Aurora strip mall, the bespoke denim boutique selling on Etsy from a Littleton basement, or anything else that might provide a physical human experience worth leaving the couch for. Otherwise, I just don’t think there’s enough demand. Might as well just build the housing.
Densify yes, but the central city skyline mesa needs a booster! Dare to complain it is exciting to see change upon the old stomping grounds but the 10-20 story lay of area height seems to be waiting for a someday in diversified building heights and styles. Is this the new urbanism of similars in visual form? I find more intrigue in a collage of styles historic to modern.
Now it’s time for someone to complain about too much parking!
I am very happy to see that this plot is going to be put to a much higher and better use of land, especially on such a busy artery.
Based on the renderings I found on the internet, I am a little more disappointed that the new tower has no visual relationship with the very dignified-looking Sports Castle. It seems to me there’s no real relationship or dialogue between the structures at all.
Where the Sports Castle could have informed some exciting design elements, the new structure completely snubs the other in form and materiality, isolating the Sports Castle to her own tiny little corner—a lonely gem preserved like a trinket, engulfed by this land yacht of a development.
In any other neighborhood, particularly newer and trendier ones, this tower would fit right in and project a strong silhouette. It has nice shoulders. Unfortunately, in the context of this quirky, historic and eclectic part of town, the tower is a somewhat uninspiring visual failure. What could have been a playful exploration of visual-vocabularies across the decades becomes a misplaced form which ignores her surroundings and will (very literally) stand out in the neighborhood for being a bit of a bore.
The treatment of this project does make me wonder about other prominent new developments coming to market, such as the pretty and historic El Jebel Shrine. Integrating inspiration from surrounding structures while keeping within the constraints of budgets should be more of a priority. It would make for more thoughtful and creative shared spaces.