DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[TakeFive]

Just down the street from downtown

I thought this looked pretty cool. It just broke ground today. Beautiful part of Colorado




Images courtesy USAFA

Air Force Academy breaks ground on new $40 million visitor center
April 25, 2022 By Dan Boyce - CPR News

The United States Air Force Academy broke ground Monday on a new, $40 million visitor center. It’s part of a much larger development in northern Colorado Springs that will also include a 375-room hotel and conference center.

When the new jet-wing inspired glass and steel venue opens just beside Interstate 25, it will be located outside of that security checkpoint.

“As travelers crest that hill from Monument on their way [south] into Colorado Springs, this is going to be a physical, multi-story front door drawing people in and highlighting the country’s premier institution for developing leaders of character,” said Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark.

USAFA Visitor Center rendering courtesy of the USAFA.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Just down the street from downtown

I thought this looked pretty cool. It just broke ground today. Beautiful part of Colorado




Images courtesy USAFA

Air Force Academy breaks ground on new $40 million visitor center
April 25, 2022 By Dan Boyce - CPR News



USAFA Visitor Center rendering courtesy of the USAFA.

Why in God’s name is a service academy wasting $40M on a visitor center? Do the future drone boys need that much recruiting?

[mishko27]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Why in God’s name is a service academy wasting $40M on a visitor center? Do the future drone boys need that much recruiting?

Not only this, but it's a MASSIVE parking lot with like 4 structures in it.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Walked it all in 96+ degree heat. If that’s not dedication I don’t know what is..

Long, long time ago I attempted to put together a photo catalogue of apartment buildings. A little older tech but all I needed was one good shot of the front. It's helps when you enjoy it but I do have a feel for how much time and effort is needed.

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I'm guessing you're familiar with Peter Thiel?

Originally Posted by Brainpathology

I'm just fine working in my office without a newborn who needs constant attention that I WOULD have permission to leave to my husband but wouldn't, in practice, be able to do.

Since you're not that far from Tampa did you hustle down there to take in Turning Point USA's Trump appearance? Our friends on the far right are promoting some real scary stuff - Like "Christian Nationalism."

Two day's prior, Trump was in Prescott Valley AZ in support of candidates for Governor and John McCain's old Senate seat. Peter Thiel who incidentally moved his company's HQ to Denver lives in Florida. A guy name of Blake Masters is Peter's handpicked choice for the Senate and he's bank-rolling him. From a blip on the radar, he's now leading in the polls.

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Originally Posted by wong21fr

Why in God’s name is a service academy wasting $40M on a visitor center? Do the future drone boys need that much recruiting?

Congress just passed an $837B defense budget and you want to quibble over $40 million?

I had a cousin who won an appointment to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He majored in nuclear physics; so I used to cheer for Navy in the annual Army-Navy game and developed an affinity for all the academies.

[coolmandan03]

Originally Posted by mishko27

Not only this, but it's a MASSIVE parking lot with like 4 structures in it.

You want a walkable neighborhood to the Air Force Base? Have fun living near those incredibly noisy runways!

[Curtis Park]

Originally Posted by coolmandan03

You want a walkable neighborhood to the Air Force Base? Have fun living near those incredibly noisy runways!

This is an Academy, not a base. It's on the tip-top NW corner of the Springs and the base is on the way bottom SE corner. The only flights come from the flight training center.

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

-----------------------------

I'm guessing you're familiar with Peter Thiel?

Since you're not that far from Tampa did you hustle down there to take in Turning Point USA's Trump appearance? Our friends on the far right are promoting some real scary stuff - Like "Christian Nationalism."

Two day's prior, Trump was in Prescott Valley AZ in support of candidates for Governor and John McCain's old Senate seat. Peter Thiel who incidentally moved his company's HQ to Denver lives in Florida. A guy name of Blake Masters is Peter's handpicked choice for the Senate and he's bank-rolling him. From a blip on the radar, he's now leading in the polls.

No I'm busy interviewing and looking for another state or country to move to. Florida has passed a red line in my opinion now that we can be sued if our kids make some conservative kid "uncomfortable" on the playground by mentioning he has two dads. Also the recent suggestion that the department of Children and Families by our dear leader should investigate parents who take their children to drag shows is just lovely.

Next interview is in Tacoma area.. so these Seattle comparisons are interesting.

And yes I'm familiar with Peter Theil.. basically the gay version of Clarence Thomas. No need to waste much thought on him since he clearly wastes very little energy thinking himself.

[TakeFive]

Denver real estate firm moving from downtown to Cherry Creek
Jul 26, 2022 By Kate Tracy – Reporter , Denver Business Journal

270 N. Saint Paul St

Real estate firm L.C. Fulenwider, Inc. has purchased a building in Cherry Creek and plans to move its office from downtown Denver to its new Cherry Creek digs.

Fulenwider purchased 270 N. Saint Paul St., a three-story building in the heart of Cherry Creek, for $18.1 million on July 22, according to Denver property records. The seller was Cherry Creek-based real estate firm PaulsCorp, and the building is currently home to menswear boutique Andrisen Morton and law firm Campbell Killin Brittan & Ray.

With the law firm consolidating its lease down to the second floor, Fulenwider will be moving from its downtown office at 1125 17th St. to the building’s third floor.

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Denver office space vacancies continue to increase, commercial real estate report shows
Jul 26, 2022 By: Bayan Wang - Denver7 News

A JLL quarter two analysis of Denver's current economic and office real estate market conditions shows that absorption of office spaces ran negative again, as larger tenants continue to downsize and give back space. Overall, the report shows that nearly 20% of office spaces in Denver are vacant. In large part, companies are reevaluating their post-pandemic office culture and model.

"We're kind of in a strange period where COVID has resided a little bit and companies are deciding how they're going to come back," Shirazi said. A large portion of companies in that group are in the tech industry, as remote work became prevalent during the pandemic.

"I think it's really a case of what their employees want," Shirazi said. "Companies have been in a war for talent for quite some time now, and so employees seem to be kind of in the driver's seat as to whether they want to come back or not. So I think executives are reacting to employee demand."

[TakeFive]

Double Doubles coming to Central Park
July 26, 2022

Double doubles and animal style fries are coming to the Mile High City for the first time. Located at 4597 North Central Park Boulevard, the new restaurant is a block north of Interstate 70 in Denver's Central Park neighborhood.

Burgers on wong at the Grand Opening


Credit: 9NEWS
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This is pretty cool; an old fashioned theater with a sign in front of it
July 20, 2022 By Eden Lane/Denverite


Courtesy The Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre Foundation

Right in my wheelhouse: Historic Preservation

This has been a good month for The Historic Elitch Theatre. The preservation foundation received two meaningful grants. One grant from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation means that after 44 years since being added to the National Register of Historic Places, they now have the historic registry sign to go with it.

“Oh, it’s so exciting. We have been working on the restoration for 20 years and I still almost daily have someone saying, ‘I didn’t even know that theater was there. I didn’t even know that building was there,'” said Board President Greg Rowley. “And so this is one more way that we can kind of call people’s attention to it.”

I didn't get to see Grace Kelly but I have attended this classic theater.

[COtoOC]

Originally Posted by Brainpathology

No I'm busy interviewing and looking for another state or country to move to. Florida has passed a red line in my opinion now that we can be sued if our kids make some conservative kid "uncomfortable" on the playground by mentioning he has two dads. Also the recent suggestion that the department of Children and Families by our dear leader should investigate parents who take their children to drag shows is just lovely.

Next interview is in Tacoma area.. so these Seattle comparisons are interesting.

And yes I'm familiar with Peter Theil.. basically the gay version of Clarence Thomas. No need to waste much thought on him since he clearly wastes very little energy thinking himself.

Sorry you've had to go through all that. We're 2 dads w/teenagers here in Denver and it's been a good place to raise our kids. We've never had any problems with schools, neighbors, etc.

[Agent Orange]

Originally Posted by mojiferous

Housing construction is a good example of this too - everyone has been freaking out over the number of housing units built in Denver, but when you look at the entire metro area we're still building less than we were in the 80s, with a much larger population. "

Do you have a source for this? I don't doubt that it's true, and feel like I've read similar claims in the past, but hoping to find some stats to back it up. Best I can do is Census data on housing starts by year and geographic region (ie West, Northeast, South, Midwest). Hoping for metro, county or state level data.

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by COtoOC

Sorry you've had to go through all that. We're 2 dads w/teenagers here in Denver and it's been a good place to raise our kids. We've never had any problems with schools, neighbors, etc.

Id be thrilled to return to Denver too but no prospects there as of yet.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by COtoOC

Sorry you've had to go through all that. We're 2 dads w/teenagers here in Denver and it's been a good place to raise our kids. We've never had any problems with schools, neighbors, etc.

The craziness comes from primarily two states at this point: Florida and Texas. Enabling private citizens to sue for this or that is questionable constitutionally but if they're state laws... and who knows with this SCOTUS.

Just out of curiosity, I checked AZ yesterday which is trending purple but is narrowly controlled by Republicans. They passed a 'trans' law about no surgery before 18 years old and sports participation but nothing otherwise except they specifically enabled doctors to treat gender issues. They did pass the most aggressive education law allowing vouchers to anybody that wants them. Not sure that changes much at the end of the day.

Phoenix, itself, is gay-friendly and with the continued population growth and growth in diversity I don't sense any appetite to 'discriminate' in the metro area.

Originally Posted by Agent Orange

Do you have a source for this? I don't doubt that it's true, and feel like I've read similar claims in the past, but hoping to find some stats to back it up. Best I can do is Census data on housing starts by year and geographic region (ie West, Northeast, South, Midwest). Hoping for metro, county or state level data.

I suspect this is misleading. From what I recall this info is 'industry' generated (NAR) data that reflects single family homes (or maybe 4 units or less) built "For Sale." Afaik this data does NOT include multifamily rental units and since we have become more of a 'rental nation' it's not all that surprising.

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

...Not only in Seattle and Denver but new multifamily permits are strong across the country, easily being the category leader over all other types of construction. How long this holds is hard to project but Blackstone's latest global RE fund is raising $1 billion every three days and has raised $30B since March...

What's in your peace pipe? The data does not suggest that at all. Authorized but not started units are incredibly high and the annual production rate when compared to 2021 (covid slow catchup year) looks ok but when compared to longer term trends, is very discouraging. Multifamily starts are potentially in real trouble just like single family starts. We'll see which way the pendulum swings, but my guess is construction cost and rate increases have many projects on hold until 1) rates go down or 2) rents jump significantly. Option 2 is more than possible if the interest rate rise locks a plethora of households out of the ownership market...

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by coolmandan03

You want a walkable neighborhood to the Air Force Base? Have fun living near those incredibly noisy runways!

Ummmm, gliders don't have engines!

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by Agent Orange

Do you have a source for this? I don't doubt that it's true, and feel like I've read similar claims in the past, but hoping to find some stats to back it up. Best I can do is Census data on housing starts by year and geographic region (ie West, Northeast, South, Midwest). Hoping for metro, county or state level data.

Census is the best data available. Go to these two links (one for current years the other for pre-2004):

https://www.census.gov/construction/...ateannual.html
https://www.census.gov/construction/...ata/index.html

65,664 housing units in 1972 with 2.2 million people
56,524 housing units in 2021 with 5.7 million people

The math for why housing is so expensive is REALLY EASY to understand for anyone who's not a boomer.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by laniroj

What's in your peace pipe? The data does not suggest that at all. Authorized but not started units are incredibly high and the annual production rate when compared to 2021 (covid slow catchup year) looks ok but when compared to longer term trends, is very discouraging. Multifamily starts are potentially in real trouble just like single family starts. We'll see which way the pendulum swings, but my guess is construction cost and rate increases have many projects on hold until 1) rates go down or 2) rents jump significantly. Option 2 is more than possible if the interest rate rise locks a plethora of households out of the ownership market...

Multifamily Construction Stays Strong As Activity Slows For Other Asset Classes
July 22, 2022 - Biznow

Economic conditions are taking a toll on new building starts, though multifamily construction in the U.S. remained strong.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, multifamily construction rose by 15% in June over the month before, and it was up 16.4% compared to a year prior.

High demand for apartments across the country means multifamily construction is expected to stay strong, although it could slow as the year goes on according to Fannie Mae, one of the biggest mortgage lenders in the country.

Outside of multifamily, however, most construction activity has slowed.

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Originally Posted by laniroj

Census is the best data available. Go to these two links (one for current years the other for pre-2004):

https://www.census.gov/construction/...ateannual.html
https://www.census.gov/construction/...ata/index.html

65,664 housing units in 1972 with 2.2 million people
56,524 housing units in 2021 with 5.7 million people

The math for why housing is so expensive is REALLY EASY to understand for anyone who's not a boomer.

Dude, you're way too young to use 1972 for comparison. Check this out:

• 1975 - 16,543 housing units
• 1980 - 30,129 housing units
• 1985 - 32,824 housing units
• 1990 - 11,897 housing units
• 1995 - 38,622 housing units
• 2000 - 54,596 housing units
• 2005 - 45,891 housing units
• 2010 - 11,591 housing units
• 2015 - 31,871 housing units

Source

You should be embarrassed for trying to deceive us.

Even with a population of 5.7 million people, 56,524 housing units in 2021 is a respectable amount.

[Sam Hill]

Originally Posted by laniroj

The math for why housing is so expensive is REALLY EASY to understand for anyone who's not a boomer.

I’m not a boomer, but I have to call you out on this one. I know you only intended to insult one person and not an entire generation, but still… uncalled for.

[rds70]

RINO/Brighton corridor from yesterday:

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by Sam Hill

I’m not a boomer, but I have to call you out on this one. I know you only intended to insult one person and not an entire generation, but still… uncalled for.

I'lll have to disagree with you. I attend many public meetings, community meetings, conferences, community interactions, etc etc. My comment is pointed at nobody specific, it is pointed at an entire generation of Americans who have royally screwed up housing markets. This is an artificial problem born of the preferences of America's most successful generation.