I’m thankful several of our bigger Downtown Denver projects were able to get underway before the financial crisis hit (not pictured is the 22-story 1800 Larimer project):
Let’s hope our nation’s current economic predicament comes to a resolution in 2009 and the next wave of high-rise construction Downtown can begin.
Awesome picture!
It certainly would be nice if that high-rise construction included some more affordable housing.
Ken,
I agree and am glad to see our skyline changing and improving. My only concern is how are these 40+ story condo projects going to fill up once they are complete, be it a recession or a boom economy? There are hundreds of ultra-high dollar condos going up all across Denver right now and I always wonder to myself "how many people in this town can/will afford to buy an $700k-$1 million condo?"
I hope it all works out and the projects all flourish, but some of these high-rise, high-dollar structures seem awfully over ambitious to me.
Barton
I've had the same concerns as Barton–hence my earlier, snarky comment about affordable housing.
I remember in the 2001 recession, Colorado took longer than other states to feel the pinch. I worry that will also happen with Denver's real estate market.
people seem to be obsessed with this small town question of "how can colorado afford these?". have you looked at the numbers on this?
colorado, and denver in particular have lead or been in the top 5 of income per family for at least a decade. our economy is older than people realize creating plenty of 'old money' here from land speculation, ranching, cable TV, energy and still plenty from technology.
as for affordable towers – it will never happen without massive gov't support in the form of no interest loans and land contributions at no charge. construction / risk is way too expensive for it to be possible even at break-even levels.
I echo Partin & Barton's sentiments. I would love to move back to denver but i would like to rent (not purchase) an apartment in a highrise near the city center. But they don't seem to exist! Not sure how this is possible in a city that fancies itself a "24 hour city". Get with it denver. You need actual people living in the core to earn that title. What are the chances of the city of denver itself investing in/building some apartment units in the city center? (Just to get things started) Slim to none, i'm sure. But it has to start somewhere. I'm not sure if other cities have ever taken this approach, but it seems to me that it would be a good investment in the city. I know i would be interested.
If Randy sticks with the 160 – 200 K for the first 10 stories, I'm getting one in the Spire. I'm willing to believe that a lot of people will bite on the less expensive condos in the Spire. Ken, if things pick up in a couple years, how much do you think these condos will increase in value?
^ never gonna happen…at that price the most you will get is a studio. $200k might get you a 1 bed on the lowest floor.
what people want, and what they can afford, and what is truly realistic given construction / finance costs are completely out of whack it seems.
what's next? it's a "right" to live in the city or own a home?
ken, do you ever answer the questions posted in this blog or do people post questions hoping that another poster will respond? seems that very few questions ever ever receive a response on your blog. thanks
This is a picture of 1900 16th Street. Not 1800 Larimer.
^ Right, that's why I said "not pictured" is 1800 Larimer.
^^ I try, and sometimes others will post the answer before I will.