A new major infill development is proposed for what is undeniably the worst parking lot-infested hole in Lower Downtown. The 1800 block of Market is entirely undeveloped and is occupied on both sides by ugly voids of blight. That may change if Trammell Crow Residential is successful in completing their proposed 18th and Market project, an 11-story, 305-unit apartment building.
Here is the proposed development site outlined on a Google Earth aerial:
The proposed 18th and Market Apartments is scheduled to go before the Lower Downtown Design Review Board for the first time on August 11. As we explained the other day with the proposed 14 Wynkoop project, the first step in the LDDRB process is reviewing the development’s proposed mass and scale. And like 14 Wynkoop, city staff have put forward a “denial” recommendation for this first design iteration for various reasons. It usually takes several rounds of review with the LDDRB before a project receives all of the necessary approvals. Consequently, the renderings below are preliminary and subject to future modifications.
All of the following concept renderings are taken from the project’s August 11 submittal to the LDDRB and were prepared by Johnson Nathan Strohe (JNS), the project architect. JNS recently designed The Maven hotel component of the Dairy Block just a couple of blocks down 19th Street from this project.
View from 19th and Market looking toward 18th:
The proposed development, in its current form, would include about 9,500 square feet of retail at the corner of 19th and Market and the residential lobby at the corner of 18th and Market. Mid-block along Market Street are four walk-up ground-floor residential units, while on the alley side are 57 automobile parking spaces.
The 2nd level is proposed as all automobile parking—108 spaces—which is one of the items cited by city staff as not meeting the Lower Downtown Design Standards and Guidelines. The LoDo design standards discourage above ground parking and require that any parking above the street be set back from the front property line by at least 16 feet and wrapped by other uses. The design of the second level in this initial scheme does not meet either of those standards. The city’s staff report notes: “Parking above the ground floor has not been approved by the Board in any previous application since the adoption of the Design Guidelines in 2002.” I hope the LDDRB doesn’t start doing so now.
Moving up, the 3rd through 7th floors contain residential units, with a club room and outdoor pool near the center of the building facing Market Street on the 6th floor. The structure steps back along the front on the 8th through 11th floors, which contain more apartments units. A 4,200 square foot rooftop deck tops the building at the 18th and Market corner.
One and a half levels of below-grade parking include storage space for an additional 206 automobiles, bringing the building’s total parking count to 371 spaces, or a 1.22 parking space/unit ratio, with all parking accessed via the alley.
View from 18th and Market looking toward 19th:
Retail space fronting 19th Street near the corner at Market:
One of the LoDo design guideline requirements that we do see evident in these renderings is the breaking-up of the building’s massing, particularly along Market, to give the appearance of multiple buildings instead of one monolithic structure. It will be interesting to see the design of this development evolve as it goes through the LDDRB process.
Long-time DenverInfill readers may remember that this new Trammell Crow Residential development is not the first project proposed for this site. Back in the fall of 2000, Denver developer Bill Pauls proposed a two-building project on this site that included an 11-story, 50-unit condo building at 19th and Market and a 190,000 square-foot office building at 18th and Market. That project was cancelled in late 2001. Here’s a concept rendering of the office portion of that project:
A few years later, Corum Real Estate Group proposed a 13-story, 300-unit condominium building on the property. The first design of the Corum project from early 2005 looked like this…
…which morphed into this design by the end of 2005:
I liked the first design better. Anyway, this project never made it out of the ground and eventually got axed with the financial crash of 2008.
Let’s hope Trammell Crow Residential has better luck getting this site developed than its predecessors. This block’s current condition is just wretched and the prospect of it finally getting developed is cause for celebration!
Thank you for sharing this. Seeing that surface lot disappear would be amazing not just in connecting the neighborhoods but also making that area safer.
‘When it’s done it’s done and opportunity is spent.’ Is an old wiseman phrase that comes to mind. This opportunity looks like it’s cashing in at the expense of better by gone designs. Denver keeps in step with that Wrangler Warehousey look with a lot of these infills. Just my opinion, but that’s what this is all about isn’t it?
I prefer the design of the Corum project much more than the current design. The material and detailing seem more articulated and thoughtful. Even though these rendering are just for planning purposes, I’ve learned that they are actually quite close to the final design and minimal detail changes by the final design. The current design is just blocks of brick and EIFS that are poorly justified as a “modern” take on an old historic brick neighborhood. This is the same architect that created the un-inspired Block 32 at Rino and Alexan. To be fair, much of the blame could be placed on the developers. I feel that if it wasn’t for the LDDRB’s requirement to vary the massing, the architect would have just made one monolithic wall since that would be easier in SketchUp. Whereas the Corum design looks like the separate massings are different facades or buildings and reflect the character detail of the neighborhood.
Regardless, this development is sorely needed and hopefully curtails the crime that happens on this block. Hopefully I am wrong and this institutional developer creates something more appealing than another institutional apartment box (in my opinion).
I am excited for this as this block makes me cringe every time I drive by it.
Although, as a former frequenter of Lodo night life I know the craziness of 2:00AM let-out. That being said, they need to eliminate the street level units on Market. That would simply be miserable.
Trammel should do some research and have a few drinks at Lodo’s at 1:30am on a Saturday. That will eliminate the street level units real quick:)
Isn’t this the lot where the shoot-out occurred that left one person dead last weekend?
Glad to see this lot go and it appears a very nice infill will be taking it’s place.
My two least favorite surface parking lots. I’d be glad to see those go!
The aesthetics of these ocean liners are about as inspiring as the names of the buildings. But it IS a wretched parking lot.
This is the worst empty lot in all of downtown, IMHO. This project would be a total success for Denver.
What authority does the Lower Downtown Review Board have? Are they elected or appointed? The early designs are better.
Different companies, different designs.
My opinion on this project is pretty much along the same lines that others have voiced: an attractive project with some nice nods to the surrounding historic buildings (mostly brick, break-up and variability in the building’s massing, clear roof lines), but the first Corum design was clearly better. I would prefer if this design would add some more detailing, but that earlier design was also for condos and I am sure that makes some difference. Overall, I hope that this one makes out of the ground…and that the other side of the block is developed into condos of a similar scale but even better design.
If this project could incorporate some more detailing that would be ideal. Otherwise the architect really only delivers a building that has brick on it and in 100 years could be demolished for something more appealing. Give this building a reason to be around for the next 500 years.
Everyone should keep in mind that the Lower Downtown Design Review Board (LDDRB) has many stringent requirements that have evolved since the Corum development. These include the amount of setbacks, the amount of street-level massing, etc. In all likelihood, that development would probably not be approved by the LDDRB today in terms of its detailing, massing, etc.
In any case, I don’t understand why people like the Corum designs more. They lack articulation in the details of the brick and look like a 21st century faux postmodernist coup. Seriously, the second Corum design has a cocktail shaker on the corner for crying out loud! The design sensibilities of Denverites continues to be lamentable.
We can all agree that this is one of the worst parking lots in Denver, and virtually anything that gets proposed and built here is an improvement. Yeah? Yeah.
JNS’s design for the most part (parking excepted) is conforming with the LDDRB’s requirements on mass/form/scale/materiality. Those requirements only leave so much room for creativity. That being said, it seems reasonably well resolved and attractive, if a bit safe. Nothing earth shattering, but not terrible either.
It’s certainly a major improvement over what was proposed previously. The Pauls building looks like it belongs in some Dallas office park, just characterless. No sense of place whatsoever. And the corum building : Looks like it came out of year one design studio. Is that a glass wedding cake?! Good lord it’s hideous…
Cheers to one of LoDo’s worst parking lots going away.