DenverInfill Blog

The Post story says that the lot is north of Union Station. Is that correct? It looks to me that it is west.
 

The Downtown grid runs at a diagonal, so this site is actually northwest of Union Station. However, the convention used for Downtown streets is that the numbered streets are said to run North-South, and the named streets East-West. Therefore, this development site would be "north" of Union Station. :)
 

Gold Leed, bravo!
 

^ i think you have the reversed....crazy downtown grid...
 

The team of ShearsAdkins Architects (Denver based design firm) and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (Portland, OR) have been chosen as the design team for the project.
 

According to Phil Goodstein's definitive book "Denver Streets: Names, Numbers, Locations, Logic", the numbered streets downtown are said to run N-S and the named streets E-W. That also explains why Highland and other NW neighborhoods have been historically referred to as North Denver.
 

Phil Goodstein rules, I have a couple of his books.
 

Ken, Which parcels of land does East-West own on the east side of the tracks? Besides the plot that will end up being City House.
 

I thought this might be interesting to many of the readers of this site:

It's Newsweek's report/critique of the largest infill project going on in the world right now: the redevelopment of Beijing to prepare it for the 2008 olympics. Here it is. They're replacing old industrial buildings with parks and greenbelts on a massive scale to modernize. But according to their article, they're missing some of the recent discoveries we've seen in the U.S. and Europe in recent decades: that mixed developments are more sustainable and welcoming than segregated residential/commercial/industrial zones.

It looks like the 16th and Wewatta project will have a good size and balance for the neighborhood. It's a little shorter than the highest of the surrounding buildings, which will help the neighborhood blend with the lower stature of LoDo.
 

While Goodstein is correct, I've always rebelled against the handed-down idea that the numbered streets should be considered north-south and the named ones east-west. In the rest of Denver, where the grid follows the compass, the numbered avenues run east-west and the named streets north-south. The very names of those numbered avenues derive from the numbered streets downtown--17th flows into 17th on purpose, not just because someone decided that the first avenue north of Ellsworth should be "First" (really, they should have made Colfax the first avenue, as it is a more logical dividing line for addresses than Ellsworth).

Also, because I am one of those odd types who always knows what is north, south, etc. (I don't need a compass, although if someone tells me to turn left or right I always have to translate that mentally into a compass direction), and who is also odd enough to care about this kind of arcane thing, it has always struck me as extremely counter-intuitive to use this flawed system handed down from earlier generations of Denverites. Why not simply say that this site is northwest of Union Station? Wouldn't that be crystal clear, and avoid all this worry about what is "north"?

I can't wait to see what the architects and developer come up with. This site is arguably the most important in the entire CPV. Having an entire block to work with will make it more difficult for the architects to design something wonderful; I always feel the best designs are found in compromised sites where conditions aren't blank-slate perfect. So they have a challenge in front of them.
 

It says they've lined up a firm to take up 400k' of office space already, plus 2 five star restaurants. That's pretty good lead-time considering the building won't even begin construction for another 2 years. What firm/company requires 400k sq feet..?! That's a LOT of space!
 

Denver is booming with buildings all over the place...Has Denver always been so crazy?
 

No we go through cycles like any other city. Unlike the last boom in the 80's I think this one will last longer. Plus this time the growth isn't dependent on one industry. We are much more diversified now. The next 5-10 years will be busy with growth I think. Then we will see a slow down for a bit. Of course that's just me.
 

Can you guys help clear some things up for me? This parcel is right behind Union Station and I thought EastWest-Continuum just won that big battle over who would get to develop this area along with the transit hub. Are they going to be overseeing design of this project, then? Or will this parcel and the others behind Union Station be designed independently of EWCont? I thought the point of the design proposals for Union Station was to create a unifying and memorable character for the entire parcel(s) behind Union Station. I guess I´m wondering what EastWest-Cont is doing? Ken, somebody?
 

Anon 10:09, You have to remember that the Union Station development is just that...it encompasses Union Station, the area behind union station where the existing Amtrack line and snow train depart/arrive. Plus, this area also encompasses the two parking lots on both sides of the station. It also includes the existing light rail station, the mall shuttle turnabout and the dirt and gravel lots that flow down Wewatta heading north.

The Commons subdivision sits in between the CML, wewatta, 20th and 16th. That land is owned by Trillium and over the years they have sold off parcels to developers. E/W does own some of the land here but it is entirely separate from the Union Station development.
 

All land between Union Station and Wewatta is part of the DUS master plan area, but it's only the transit/public right-of-way elements (underground bus facility, light rail station, 17th Street Plaza) northwest of Wewatta that is part of the DUS master plan area being implemented by EW-P and Continuum, not the development parcels along 17th Street.

Now, having said that, EWP does also own both blocks between 17th and 18th and Wewatta and the tracks that will be adjacent to the transit development. But they don't own either block between 16th and 17th and Wewatta and the tracks. But everyone involved (EWP/C, RTD, the City, etc.) would make sure this new 1601 Wewatta project (and all others) relates appropriately to the DUS project.

By the way, the entire block bounded by Wewatta, Chestnut, 16th and 17th is exactly 1.83 acres in size. The 1601 Wewatta project will cover the entire block.
 

Awesome, thanks for clearing that up.
 

I noticed on my way to work this morning (8/20) that the new parking lot built for the Gates employees is in use and the old lot, where 1900 16th Street will go, is empty. Construction beginning soon??
 

Yes construction should begin soon on 1900 Sixteenth.