Alexan Uptown has topped out at 12 stories! The project has been going up quickly thanks to a relatively new technology. Here is what we said about the structural system in our previous post:
The steel used for the structure is a fairly new technology; they are using what is called the Prescient system. Each steel beam is prefabricated and snaps into place; there is no need for welding.
Alexan Uptown has quite a presence when looking at it from Benedict Fountain Park. The 12-story project is roughly the same height as its neighbor across the street and also maximizes on the allowable height per the zoning code.
The brick facade, which will be featured on the first four levels, is starting to shape up nicely. We are not sure what the upper levels will look like, from a materials standpoint, just yet. For a refresher, head on over to our announcement post for renderings and more details.
Alexan Uptown encloses Logan Street and helps make it one of the densest blocks in Uptown. Remember, this project site used to be an entire half block of parking. Next time you are in the area, make sure you walk the street and check it out!
UGH…
Denver’s zoning code is ridiculous. View plane…shmew plane.
If there were 2 thirty story towers on this lot, the view from City Park would be improved. Not hurt. So dumb…
How wonderful to get rid of the parking lot you hate so much–now where are all the people that work in the immediate area supposed to park? Granted, the lot Alexan Uptown now occupies was one of the worse-maintained lots in the city, but hundreds of people have been forced to find alternate parking (at tremendously increased prices) as this lot, and at least three others within a few blocks have been closed for development projects over the past couple of years. Yeah, the lots are ugly, but they’re there for a reason. Not all of us have the luxury of taking mass transit due to work requirements, picking up kids, difficulty in walking 1/2 mile to the metro ride (with its limited operating hours) or the light rail stations(both along Welton in the Five Points area–ok in daylight, a little more chancy during the fall or winter when it’s dark before and after office hours). Snobbery, snobbery, snobbery. Real people are affected daily. (PS: I take RTD when possible, and park over 1/2 mile away when I drive–I can do this, many can’t.)
It’s not snobbery, it’s simple economics. Surface parking lots are a huge underutilization of space is the part of the city with the highest land values. If there is demand for more parking downtown, the private sector will figure out a way to provide that at a profit. We celebrate the removal of surface parking lots because they are fundamentally anti-pedestrian and anti-urban, and downtowns are first and foremost places for pedestrians.