Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Alexan Park Avenue Rendering
About a month ago I blogged about Alexan Park Avenue, the project planned for both sides of E. 19th Avenue between Ogden and Emerson along Park Avenue in Downtown Denver's Uptown district. The proposed development by Trammell Crow Residential is the first to occur at the former Children's Hospital site.
The design by Denver-based JG Johnson Architects has been evolving over the past several months, but here's the latest rendering for part of the project: the E. 19th Avenue (north side) elevation:
Many thanks to the folks at JG Johnson for sending me the above image. As we get closer to the start of construction, I hope to be able to share with you additional images of the project.
The design by Denver-based JG Johnson Architects has been evolving over the past several months, but here's the latest rendering for part of the project: the E. 19th Avenue (north side) elevation:
Many thanks to the folks at JG Johnson for sending me the above image. As we get closer to the start of construction, I hope to be able to share with you additional images of the project.
State Restores Auraria Project Funding
Good news! If you haven't already heard, the state announced yesterday that they had found a way to restore funding for the Auraria Science Building project. I'm glad the drama lasted only a few days. For all of the details, here are articles about the new funding plan from the News and the Post.
Also, here are some images from John Rebchook's blog from last week:
Auraria Science Building site:
Speer Boulevard rendering:
South elevation rendering:
Northwest elevation rendering:
Also, here are some images from John Rebchook's blog from last week:
Auraria Science Building site:
Speer Boulevard rendering:
South elevation rendering:
Northwest elevation rendering:
Monday, March 24, 2008
CPV King Soopers Project Update
Here's an interesting article from the Denver Post's Margaret Jackson about the Nichols Partnership's proposed mixed-use project in the Central Platte Valley that is planned to include a King Soopers grocery store: Soopers Stalemate
On one hand, I'd love to see the King Soopers project move forward as quickly as possible. On the other hand, I certainly don't blame East West Partners for wanting to enforce their exclusive development rights.
Perhaps some kind of joint venture between East West and Nichols is in order?
On one hand, I'd love to see the King Soopers project move forward as quickly as possible. On the other hand, I certainly don't blame East West Partners for wanting to enforce their exclusive development rights.
Perhaps some kind of joint venture between East West and Nichols is in order?
Saturday, March 22, 2008
State Yanks Auraria Project Funding
This is depressing (from today's Rocky Mountain News): State stuns Auraria, pulls $37.5 million for new science building
On a happier note, this past week DenverInfill world headquarters moved into new digs and the 'puter is now back up and running, ending the weeklong blog drought! I just wish I had something happier to report.
On a happier note, this past week DenverInfill world headquarters moved into new digs and the 'puter is now back up and running, ending the weeklong blog drought! I just wish I had something happier to report.
Friday, March 14, 2008
New Auraria Project: Campus Village - Phase 2
The first phase of Campus Village Apartments, completed in late 2006, provides 685 beds in 230 dorm-like apartments in a 5-story building located adjacent to the I-25/Auraria Parkway interchange just west of the Auraria campus. The project was developed by Urban Ventures, LLC (Highland Bridge Lofts, Monarch Mills, Fire Clay Lofts). For a fact-packed PDF summary of the project, click here. Also, here is the site plan and a photo of the completed Phase 1:
Big plans are in the works for Phase 2!
The second phase will be located south of Phase 1 and will cover all of the land west of 5th Street and south of Larimer Street extended. Phase 2 will include nine buildings ranging from 4 to 14 stories in height.
As part of the West Corridor light rail line construction, the Auraria West Campus station will be relocated slightly north of its current location and a section of the Central Platte Valley light rail line will also be realigned. Campus Village Phase 2 will be located on the west side of the new Auraria West Campus station. It is also possible that future development could span over the light rail tracks! Here's the Phase 2 site plan and an annotated aerial photo I created to help you get oriented:
Now for some renderings. Here's a view of the whole project looking northeast along the Larimer Street axis. The existing Campus Village Apartments Phase 1 is in the lower left corner:
Note that this image shows not only the light rail trains coming from underneath the buildings, but it also shows a street car running down Larimer, a recommendation from the recently completed Downtown Area Plan. In the background are some other improvements included in the recently completed Auraria Campus Master Plan, such as the relocated athletic fields and the extension of Larimer across the campus. Here's an image from the Auraria Campus Master Plan (credit: Sasaki and StudioINSITE), also looking northeast down the Larimer Street axis, that shows the Campus Village development in the foreground and how it relates to the rest of the campus. The building configurations for the Campus Village Phase 2 shown in the Auraria plan are a little different than the actual Campus Village site plan, but conceptually they are consistent with each other:
Here's an artist's view looking southwest along Larimer at the plaza where the street car line and light rail interface:
and here's a view looking down Lawrence:
Campus Village Phase 2 is still in the early planning stages and a specific construction timeline has not yet been finalized. However, RTD plans to have the West Corridor light rail line (and the new Auraria West Campus station) completed by 2012, so the plan is to have the buildings that span over the tracks, as well as the buildings located west of the tracks, completed by then. Some of the other buildings shown in the site plan are conceptual at this stage and the land where they are shown is not owned by the development team.
Credit for the plans and renderings shown above go to: Mithun, AR7 Architects, and Dennis Allain Architecture Design Illustration LLC.
Along with the new Auraria Science Building currently under construction and some other projects in the works, the future for the Auraria campus as a true urban campus and an integrated downtown district is looking great!
Big plans are in the works for Phase 2!
The second phase will be located south of Phase 1 and will cover all of the land west of 5th Street and south of Larimer Street extended. Phase 2 will include nine buildings ranging from 4 to 14 stories in height.
As part of the West Corridor light rail line construction, the Auraria West Campus station will be relocated slightly north of its current location and a section of the Central Platte Valley light rail line will also be realigned. Campus Village Phase 2 will be located on the west side of the new Auraria West Campus station. It is also possible that future development could span over the light rail tracks! Here's the Phase 2 site plan and an annotated aerial photo I created to help you get oriented:
Now for some renderings. Here's a view of the whole project looking northeast along the Larimer Street axis. The existing Campus Village Apartments Phase 1 is in the lower left corner:
Note that this image shows not only the light rail trains coming from underneath the buildings, but it also shows a street car running down Larimer, a recommendation from the recently completed Downtown Area Plan. In the background are some other improvements included in the recently completed Auraria Campus Master Plan, such as the relocated athletic fields and the extension of Larimer across the campus. Here's an image from the Auraria Campus Master Plan (credit: Sasaki and StudioINSITE), also looking northeast down the Larimer Street axis, that shows the Campus Village development in the foreground and how it relates to the rest of the campus. The building configurations for the Campus Village Phase 2 shown in the Auraria plan are a little different than the actual Campus Village site plan, but conceptually they are consistent with each other:
Here's an artist's view looking southwest along Larimer at the plaza where the street car line and light rail interface:
and here's a view looking down Lawrence:
Campus Village Phase 2 is still in the early planning stages and a specific construction timeline has not yet been finalized. However, RTD plans to have the West Corridor light rail line (and the new Auraria West Campus station) completed by 2012, so the plan is to have the buildings that span over the tracks, as well as the buildings located west of the tracks, completed by then. Some of the other buildings shown in the site plan are conceptual at this stage and the land where they are shown is not owned by the development team.
Credit for the plans and renderings shown above go to: Mithun, AR7 Architects, and Dennis Allain Architecture Design Illustration LLC.
Along with the new Auraria Science Building currently under construction and some other projects in the works, the future for the Auraria campus as a true urban campus and an integrated downtown district is looking great!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Alexan Prospect: Updated Design Images
Here is a site plan and the latest design renderings for the Alexan Prospect project, the 400-unit apartment community planned by Trammell Crow Residential for the area around the Ajax Lofts in Downtown Denver's Prospect District. Design credits go to Shears Adkins Architects and Kephart. Studio INSITE is the landscape architect. First, the site plan:
The project does include a small amount of retail at the corner of 29th and Inca. Next, here are two images that each contain several different perspectives and elevations of the new development:
Thank you to Aldo at Shears Adkins for the images!
Construction is planned to begin in June or July of this year.
The project does include a small amount of retail at the corner of 29th and Inca. Next, here are two images that each contain several different perspectives and elevations of the new development:
Thank you to Aldo at Shears Adkins for the images!
Construction is planned to begin in June or July of this year.
Monday, March 10, 2008
18th & Sherman Project News
Back in November 2006, I blogged about a new hotel proposed by Barrons Development for the corner of 18th and Sherman on Block 034-B. The project, now being developed by Sherman Properties, is slated to be residential. The developers are seeking a variance from the City Park view plane to allow the project to penetrate the view plane height restriction by approximately 90 feet. For the whole story, here's an article, 18th & Sherman Developers Seek View-Plane Variance, by Vanessa Martin of Life on Capitol Hill (which is now available online!). Here's a slightly larger version of the image from the article (courtesy of Cahen Architectural Group) showing the conceptual view plane variance:
Personally, I am in favor of the requested view plane variance. I certainly would be if I lived in the Portofino! Anyway, while I am generally in favor of view planes, I think this one from City Park need to be rethought. If a new building that would violate the City Park view plane height limit, such as the proposed 18th & Sherman project, does not block any view of the mountains but blocks, instead, only the view of taller buildings behind it, then I think it should not be considered to be a violation of the view plane.
The argument used in support of enforcing the City Park mountain view plane for a building that would block only a taller building behind it is that if, someday, those taller buildings to the west, like Republic Plaza or the Qwest tower, were removed, then the shorter buildings that were exempted from the view plane would then block the views of the mountains. While that may be true, I think we've got bigger things to worry about than mountain views if our Downtown skyline's tallest buildings are going away and not being replaced. Besides, if you extend that logic, we should ultimately eliminate the entire Downtown skyline so that none of the view of the mountains is blocked from City Park.
To me, it is the view of the skyline (with a mountain backdrop) that makes the City Park view so special. The growth and evolution of our Downtown skyline should not be held hostage to a mountain view restriction from one particular site, when there are dozens of places all around the city where one can get an unobstructed view of the mountains. We must allow our Downtown skyline (and the view of it from City Park) to evolve over time, including every so often the construction of a "new tallest" that would perhaps block a bit more of the view of the mountains from City Park, but make our Downtown more dense, engaging, and dynamic as the premier urban center in the Rocky Mountain West.
Personally, I am in favor of the requested view plane variance. I certainly would be if I lived in the Portofino! Anyway, while I am generally in favor of view planes, I think this one from City Park need to be rethought. If a new building that would violate the City Park view plane height limit, such as the proposed 18th & Sherman project, does not block any view of the mountains but blocks, instead, only the view of taller buildings behind it, then I think it should not be considered to be a violation of the view plane.
The argument used in support of enforcing the City Park mountain view plane for a building that would block only a taller building behind it is that if, someday, those taller buildings to the west, like Republic Plaza or the Qwest tower, were removed, then the shorter buildings that were exempted from the view plane would then block the views of the mountains. While that may be true, I think we've got bigger things to worry about than mountain views if our Downtown skyline's tallest buildings are going away and not being replaced. Besides, if you extend that logic, we should ultimately eliminate the entire Downtown skyline so that none of the view of the mountains is blocked from City Park.
To me, it is the view of the skyline (with a mountain backdrop) that makes the City Park view so special. The growth and evolution of our Downtown skyline should not be held hostage to a mountain view restriction from one particular site, when there are dozens of places all around the city where one can get an unobstructed view of the mountains. We must allow our Downtown skyline (and the view of it from City Park) to evolve over time, including every so often the construction of a "new tallest" that would perhaps block a bit more of the view of the mountains from City Park, but make our Downtown more dense, engaging, and dynamic as the premier urban center in the Rocky Mountain West.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Clyfford Still Museum Design Revealed
The design of the new Clyfford Still Museum, planned for near the corner of 13th and Bannock on Block 044-E, was revealed today. The architect, Brad Cloepfil, has designed a building that seems to appear as a tribute to both neo-brutalism and Frank Lloyd Wright. Any building on that site must deal with Libeskind's Denver Art Museum Hamilton Building as a neighbor, so given that, I think this design is an appropriate response. The project is slated to break ground in 2009 and be completed in 2010. Here's the rendering, courtesy of Rocky Mountain News/Brad Cloepfil:
For more on the project and its design, here's Mary Voelz Chandler's article about it from the Rocky: Natural Light Key to Design of Clyfford Still Museum
For more on the project and its design, here's Mary Voelz Chandler's article about it from the Rocky: Natural Light Key to Design of Clyfford Still Museum
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Your Favorite Block
What is your favorite block in Downtown Denver... and why?
Please use the block numbers from DenverInfill and have fun!
Please use the block numbers from DenverInfill and have fun!
