Happy 2019 Denver! Let’s start the new year off with an exciting infill announcement: The redevelopment of Lower Downtown’s “Bell Park” block is once again in play.
Currently occupied by surface parking lots and a small plaza featuring the bell from Denver’s long-gone 1886 City Hall building, the Bell Park development site is bounded by Speer, Market, 14th, and Larimer and bisected by Cherry Creek.
The big news: Kairoi Residential submitted a Project Concept Review Plan to the city on December 27, 2018 for a 36-story residential tower on the west (Speer) side of the creek, and a 5-story office building on the east (14th Street) side of the creek.
Before moving on, here’s a bit of recent development history for this site:
In 2007, the block was rezoned and a new “special review district” within the Lower Downtown Historic District was established to allow a tower up to 375 feet tall (400 feet including rooftop mechanical or architectural crown) on the west half, and a shorter building up to 55 feet tall (70 feet including rooftop mechanical) on the east half. That whole special review district process, plus property owner Buzz Geller’s proposed “Bell Tower” project (residential tower and office building), were covered extensively here on DenverInfill. By 2009, Mr. Geller’s project had received approvals from the Landmark Preservation Commission and the Lower Downtown Design Review Board, but by that point the country had plunged into the Great Recession and so the project died.
In 2017, a new vision for the block emerged that would have included two shorter buildings, a hotel and an office building connected via a plaza over the creek, but that project never made it past the concept stage.
And that brings us to the present, with Kairoi Residential’s concept of a residential tower along Speer and an office building along 14th Street being fairly similar to Geller’s plans from 2009.
A Project Concept Review Plan is the first submittal a developer makes to the Denver planning office, so details at this stage in the process are fairly light. But here’s what we know about this project from what’s publicly available on the city’s website:
The residential tower will rise 36 stories, contain 169 apartments plus a leasing office and resident amenities, and sit on top of three levels of underground parking. The 5-story office building will also sit above three levels of underground parking and will feature ground-floor retail space adjacent to a new public park at the corner of 14th and Larimer (where the Old City Hall bell is).
Additional information about this proposal is available in a BusinessDen article from a couple of days ago. Through a public records request, BusinessDen also obtained the renderings submitted by Kairoi Residential in their Project Concept Review Plan and published them, so we are presenting them below.
Keep in mind that these are the conceptual renderings that will undergo significant refinement in the coming months, particularly since this project must be reviewed and approved by the Lower Downtown Design Review Board.
To wrap up this post, here is a bird’s-eye view from this afternoon high above Auraria Parkway looking southeast, with the Bell Park block in the center of the photo:
Having parking lots on this prominent and historic block is a disgrace. Let’s hope this project makes it out of the ground this time!
I’m going to be counterintuitive here and say that this development has too much green space. Downtown blocks don’t need green space they need activation. If we want green space we need to buy blocks and build parks.
John, it actually has to do with the Bell Park View Plane which starts at the corner where the bell is and fans out to the west. Of course, since the State is not subject to local regulations, the two new CU Denver buildings block the view the view plane protects, so keeping the Bell Park View Plane is pointless in my opinion, but that’s the way it is. You can clearly see the view plane’s impact on the site design in the image bottom row left. Also, the LoDo special review district dictates that a tower on the Speer side, to be able to go up to the 375/400-foot limit, must have a footprint of 7500 SF or less–leaving the rest of the Speer side as open space.
Street activation along Speer is just never going to happen within our existing transportation paradigm. It’s a thoroughfare for single-occupancy cars to traverse multiple neighborhoods. There are like three street-facing businesses along the entire stretch of road. This simply isnt a realistic goal.
That said, the zoning doesn’t make sense to me either. If you’re going to allow a 35+ story building on one plot of land, then why should the adjacent plot max out at five? If this is really to maintain the views of a nearby city park, then this is silly city planning. Height maximums need to be eliminated from downtown.
The lower building height on the 14th Street side is to mirror the heights of the historic LoDo buildings across the street on Larimer Square. But across the creek and along Speer, you are removed enough from the historic context for a 30-plus story tower to be OK. That was the thinking behind the height decisions.
I agree completely regarding the Old City Hall view plane. It is dead already and just making things more difficult. It protects nothing at all so far as I can tell. You cannot see the mountains, Tivoli, etc. I would much rather see that entire block get redeveloped. The Speer side will never be usable open space. I am ambivalent on the 14th Street open space. I don’t think it is necessary, but could be nice if done well.
I do think that the 14th Street architecture is conceptualized badly. It is of the right scale, but the arcaded, column and glass facade does not speak to the texture around it. The architects should do a little design study to see what makes the scale and design of Larimer Square work and incorporate it in a meaningful way in their design. I am not one to complain about modern architecture, but I will complain about lazy public realm design all day long!
Other than that, I am excited to see a project come up here. I don’t necessarily believe it yet, but I am excited. What is this, the third, fourth proposal for this site in the last 10 years?
What’s with all the asemetrical architecture in Denver??
Symmetry is the refuge of a weak design mind.
I’ve walked/biked/driven around these chunks of land for years. It really is a bit of a mess/no man’s land. This looks like a good project to take care of that. Regarding too much green space let’s not forget the adjacency to Cherry Creek trail system. Let’s keep as much light and greenery next to that as possible. It is an under appreciated amazing asset for downtown Denver and usage has grown significantly since the City figured out how to substantially eliminate the drug dealing/usage and camping that was occurring in that section. Will be interested to see how this project could integrate for City’s pretty ambitious Speer/Cherry Creek activation plans and with other potential project including major envisioned DCPA revamp. Sure would be a convenient place to live for pedestrian access to Pepsi Center and other entertainment amenities downtown current and future. You mentioned apartments, I’m assuming that is correct and not for sale condominiums?
The term “apartment” was used in the submittal, and Kairoi is an apartment developer, so I’m assuming they do mean rental apartments and not for-sale condos.
Small parks with high traffic streets on all sides are a waste of money. Burns Park is a perfect example, bounded by Leetsdale, Alameda and Colorado Blvd, and it’s not all that small – just impossible to use. The city could swap some of these areas to developers in exchange for other better park sites, keep the direct cost relatively lower compared to direct acquisition. Any area of the city along the Platte River with streets or industrial sites is a candidate for a park, and the city should buy the sites and/or acquire easements to keep miles of the banks of the river free of streets and industrial use.
I agree with your view of places like Burns Park. In this case, the small park will be right at the corner of Larimer and 14th, which is very pedestrian in nature and generally the traffic at this corner if fairly slow-going.
I believe the goal is to keep buildings on the downtown side of Cherry Creek to 5 stories in keeping with the historic LODO district. I agree with this limitation as a view of the mountains from Larimer St is preferred. I do wish we could see something other than an all glass skyscraper proposed, as we already have two new all glass hi-rise buildings across Cherry Creek built in the last few years, and we are getting too many all in one place. If this was at the other end of downtown great, but how about some other type of skin? That being said, I will be surprised if this thing ever happens, based on Mr. Gellers track record to date.
Limiting building height on the part of the site adjacent to 14th Street makes sense. It is directly across the street from historic buildings that are an extension of Larimer Square.
There have been some impressive designs for a Paradise Properties on this site and I don’t think one of them has been developed. What are the odds that Tabor Center 2 gets developed before any of Geller’s?.
I cant wait to see what actually ends up going in here. I would love to see some development boom around Speer to fill in the surface lots, but I do agree with Ryan, we have a transportation issue in this area that I feel will limit any long term growth, but maybe something will initiate a change
Why not for sale condos?
Protecting mountain views for certain subsections of downtown should not be a consideration in Denver’s urban planning. This city is going to be challenged to meet a number of commercial and residential needs over the next decade and all of them are going to require greater density. Plus, when you consider what’s slated to go up within the Revesco development, these sight lines are going away anyway. All the lots in the wide-angle photo at the bottom are going to be the bridge to this new stretch of the city and it’s absolutely reasonable that city planning maximizes whatever height developers are willing to build.
Completely agree.
Buzz Geller might be Denver’s greatest hypeman.
I’m not a wagering man and I’d wager this never progresses further than proposal stage, which is a shame because Kairoi is an accomplished developer with an extensive track record.
I prefer the previous design by a lot. Shorter, yes, but much better contextually and far more refined.
Assuming this proposal goes further than the previous versions, I have no doubt it’ll go through a couple rounds of redesign.
DVN, Thanks, it’s good to know I am good at something!! Seriously everyone, Kairoi, the developer, needs your support if the Tower is going to get built. Years ago when you supported the first concept your support helped get it through LDDRB. I am sorry that we had a recession. Anything is better than the parking lots. No one doubts that it is the best building site in Denver, and the market will welcome it. The Tower will go through many design changes and you will be seeing them as they are modified, and your comments will be welcome. Kairoi must build under the guidelines of the PUD which calls for its open space. By being positive, and giving thoughtful input together with Kairoi we can change that ugly edge of downtown to be spectacular. Let’s all pull in the same direction–that being to get the Speer edge at LoDo finished. By the way Kairoi has letters of endorsement from the LoDo neighborhood and the Downtown Denver partnership. I have sent them on to Ken. Thank you.
Can’t wait to see more refined designs. I’ll think they’ll improve on detail and it will look better. I am relieved it is a tall design again. At what point is it ready to go through LDDRB and does it consist of a new guard in board members since the last go round?
I’m not much of an architectural critic normally, but I think this design is super underwhelming. Loved how the Hines deal engaged with the river and created a unique and meaningful transition from Speer into downtown. I don’t have a problem with the return of the tall tower, but I’m hoping things get better from a design standpoint here.
I like it!! Build please!!!
This is super exciting and a welcome addition to downtown! Let’s continue to push forward and eradicate all these ugly surface parking lots!
I’m surprised to see so many complaints about the design. Personally, I love it. If the final design ends up looking like this concept, and actually gets built, I’ll be thrilled.
this is a terrible design, but also an exact copy of a building every other city is getting now. As is being built in Charlotte right now seen here. http://www.wbtv.com/2018/12/26/construction-begins-story-uptown-bank-tower-it-will-have-more-than-offices/
We can do much better, and above all, let’s not fall into the trap of building the trendy design today that will be extremely dated in no time flat.
If there is so much reliance and bluster about this site being a gateway, why is the design so intent on sticking out so very much from it’s contextual surroundings? Case in point, it’s a smooth all glass tower in an area with lots of red brick, some stone/glass, and some all-glass with well done fenestration and vertical conveyance. The current design, while very ok and probably on the right path, might consider smoothing out the angular edges to compliment the more traditional Larimer Square surroundings and could look at adding some vertical fenestration to convey that “gateway” with a more complimentary base that feeds off the area. The random vertical block pattern doesn’t go well….check out Hubbard Place in Chicao, it’s a modern tower (to Buzz’s point, of today), has verticality, and also includes the squares and blocking that modern architects so love today. It’s what Bell Tower could be, however the stone is a premium and likely why we’ll never see it happen in Denver where we develop on the margins…
https://www.hubbardplacechicago.com/photogallery.aspx
For me the “New Vision” idea was the best of the three plans overall for multiple reasons. https://denverinfill.com/tag/bell-park-mixed-use
This tower would blend in much better in the Uptown area, where there are other interesting tall buildings. Sherman and 16th or Colfax and Lincoln would be great. Add in the area between 18th and 20th/Lincoln and California as there is a lot of potential over there.