In Downtown Denver we have many worthy sites in need of a good infill project, particularly in the no-man’s land between 20th Street and Park Avenue West. Mr. Gino Rodrigues has an infill project in search of a good site. So how about Philadelphia?

In my blog post of December 12, 2005, I reported that a website (www.NorthBroadwayTower.com) was promoting a proposal for a 34-story high-rise at the corner of 20th and California. A few days later, the Denver Post picked up on the story and published an article by Kristi Arellano (Latest Downtown Luxury Condos Also Most Speculative) that shed more light on the project, including that several facts stated on the project’s website weren’t factual at all. I learned shortly thereafter that Mr. Rodrigues was just trying out some design ideas for his project website and was using preliminary or hypothetical information as a placeholder for project details that hadn’t been determined yet. He never intended for his website to be seen by the public at that point in time. The problem, of course, was that he was uploading his draft web pages to a live Internet site and–surprise!–his project and all its not-quite-factual data is all over the media. (Let this be a lesson for us all: If you don’t want the whole world to know something, don’t put it on the Internet!)

His website has since been cleansed of its non-factual information, and just recently he’s added a blog, where we learn that he was unable to obtain his proposed site on Block 157 and is now leaning towards building his tower in Philadelphia. Apparently that city’s high-rise condo market is stronger than ours and he’s found a site he likes. Given that Mr. Rodrigues lacks investors and has never developed a tower of any kind before, I really doubt his project will ever rise from the ground in Denver, Philadelphia, or any city for that matter. Nevertheless, I wish Mr. Rodrigues the best of luck with his tower project. But I think it would be appropriate now for the North Broadway Tower, the infill project in search of a site, to be removed from DenverInfill.

Just when an infill project like the North Broadway Tower goes away, another one pops up in its place… or at least just down the street. In a recent Denver Post article (Developer Buys Lots in Five Points), Margaret Jackson reports that Triton Development is in the process of acquiring the land on Block 180 in Northeast Downtown for a proposed transit-oriented development. The block, along Welton between 22nd and Park Avenue West, is dominated by, what else, surface parking lots, and also features a few nondescript buildings including a six-plex along Park Avenue West that is boarded up, covered in graffiti, and sprouting a large “For Sale–Development Opportunity” sign in the front yard. While the details of Triton’s project remain unknown, I would say the chances of something getting developed there are pretty good, given they’re a well-established real estate development firm.

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The Welton Street corridor has the potential to be one of Downtown Denver’s best streets. The new Convention Center and the new Hyatt Hotel are found along Welton (although, unfortunately, both these projects turn a blank wall to the street) and nearby, the new Hilton Garden Inn is going up at Welton and 14th and the Denver Athletic Club hotel/condo tower is planned for Welton and 13th. Up at Welton and 15th, there’s the planned project by Evan Makovsky (see my blog post of June 21, 2006) on the site where the Target was going to go. The Fontius Building at Welton and 16th will be restored back to its original glory at some point this century (dare we dream) and the vacant parcel at Welton and 17th is a prime “Wall Street of the Rockies” infill site.

Up at Welton and 18th is an entire half-block of surface parking that’s situated between two light rail stations, and the 32-story One Lincoln Park project is going up at Welton and 20th. Century Real Estate’s Welton Place project is set to break ground across Park Avenue West from the Triton block, and at Welton and 25th is the sharp Blair-Caldwell Library. At that point, you’re into the Five Points commercial area with all its historic and cultural charm. With just a little help and a couple of key infill/restoration projects, a journey along Welton from Colfax to Downing (that’s 1.75 miles) could be a fine urban experience.