DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[Fritzdude]

Originally Posted by twister244

Looks like another RiNo mixed-use conversion project about to get underway:

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/n...velopment.html

Here is their website:

https://www.28thandblake.com/

Arrgh... need a subscription to read this. Cliff notes? When is the work starting? And for as much progress as RiNo has made over the last few years, there are still a lot of low hanging fruit to pick in that neighborhood. Lots of conversion opportunities. The top lots I keep my fingers crossed include the shuttered gas station on Larimer and 29th, as well as the entire 2900 block of Walnut and Blake. That stretch is a wasteland..

[CherryCreek]

Finally! The slow down arrives!

It's a buyer's market ! Woohoo!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...g-out-of-steam

[DenverPoke]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Finally! The slow down arrives!

It's a buyer's market ! Woohoo!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...g-out-of-steam

I think it is definitely slowing down in Denver unless you are selling in the urban core or a highly sought after sub-market. We listed our home in May and took it off the market after 60 days and 2 price drops. It's a 2-year-old home that was priced far less than what it would cost to purchase new from the same builder today.

[TakeFive]

THE YORK on City Park (25 apartments left to rent)

All images courtesy The York/Shea Properties









Ryan did a nice 'Final Update' at DenverInfill and 1) I recalled the property and 2) I thought it had been a long time since it was dicussed on these pages. Indeed Ryan reminds that construction started back in 2015 on this 212-unit apartment project and we would have posted well before ground breaking.

Things just do take time, don't they?

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Finally! The slow down arrives!

It's a buyer's market ! Woohoo!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...g-out-of-steam

Sell Now before the bottom drops out.

Obviously with affordability a growing issue it was only a matter of when, not if. This leads to a few things.

First, the value of rentals just bounced 5%... well not exactly but it is a positive sign for more apartment construction.

Second, it's incumbent on developers to recognize the need and demand for more affordable apartments which should mean moving out along the light rail lines and building TOD. Maybe, just maybe this will help start that trend. (There is some modest development going on)

With respect to affordability Denver could go bat-chit nuts and go Nanny State liberal like Seattle? I swear whether it's from the right or left, chit just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Sell Now before the bottom drops out.

Obviously with affordability a growing issue it was only a matter of when, not if. This leads to a few things.

First, the value of rentals just bounced 5%... well not exactly but it is a positive sign for more apartment construction.

Second, it's incumbent on developers to recognize the need and demand for more affordable apartments which should mean moving out along the light rail lines and building TOD. Maybe, just maybe this will help start that trend. (There is some modest development going on)

With respect to affordability Denver could go bat-chit nuts and go Nanny State liberal like Seattle? I swear whether it's from the right or left, chit just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

I hope Denver doesn't go that far. Of course most ridiculous is the idea that those type of restrictions will help people find "affordable" housing.

As the article noted, the restrictions are just as likely to cause landlords to raise prices as well as further discourage new construction resulting in a cycle of price escalation:

"Expanded source-of-income protections, a ban on using criminal records as a determining factor, restricting the size of security deposits, and the First-in-Time law, which forces landlords to take the first renter that applies and meets the criteria. "

I wonder what strategies landlords will use to get around the restrictions.

I can see a whole new business model developing - that of a "finder." Instead of listing property for rent, hiring a finder to go "find" highly qualified tenants.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Finally! The slow down arrives!

It's a buyer's market ! Woohoo!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...g-out-of-steam

I'm not sure I would call this a "buyer's market", lol. It was only a matter of time before things leveled off and slowed down. I can see why some people are going to wait now before making a purchase. With prices so high, and interest rates on their way up, one should expect things to slow down. Plus, it's not a bad thing for Denver's for-sale market to slow down a bit. We still have a huge imbalance of supply versus demand, so leveling off of prices for a year or two will allow some of that demand to erode away. I still don't see any bottom dropping out, unless something else on a macro level facilitates that.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by twister244

I'm not sure I would call this a "buyer's market", lol. It was only a matter of time before things leveled off and slowed down. I can see why some people are going to wait now before making a purchase. With prices so high, and interest rates on their way up, one should expect things to slow down. Plus, it's not a bad thing for Denver's for-sale market to slow down a bit. We still have a huge imbalance of supply versus demand, so leveling off of prices for a year or two will allow some of that demand to erode away. I still don't see any bottom dropping out, unless something else on a macro level facilitates that.

The amazing thing is how little new SFH and condos have been built during one of the longest booms in City history. There are those plans for 15,000 to 20,000 new homes in East metro, but how soon is that going to happen? The economic uncertainty, high prices, and prospects of slowdown may cause people to hold off on buying. Of course, if the Denver economy continues to be solid this will further fill rental properties and continue upward pressure on rents.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

The amazing thing is how little new SFH and condos have been built during one of the longest booms in City history. There are those plans for 15,000 to 20,000 new homes in East metro, but how soon is that going to happen?

What's so amazing to me is that I just did a quick scroll in the PBJ and just in July alone there are seven different articles about new residential developments in metro Phoenix from locals to new builders from California through Texas to Ohio and Pennsylvania. Obviously desert land and even existing lots are easier to find and less expensive but still... how can metro Denver not be building a lot more than what is currently going on?

[mhays]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

I hope Denver doesn't go that far. Of course most ridiculous is the idea that those type of restrictions will help people find "affordable" housing.

As the article noted, the restrictions are just as likely to cause landlords to raise prices as well as further discourage new construction resulting in a cycle of price escalation:

"Expanded source-of-income protections, a ban on using criminal records as a determining factor, restricting the size of security deposits, and the First-in-Time law, which forces landlords to take the first renter that applies and meets the criteria. "

I wonder what strategies landlords will use to get around the restrictions.

I can see a whole new business model developing - that of a "finder." Instead of listing property for rent, hiring a finder to go "find" highly qualified tenants.

Agreed. Whether it's condo liability or rental laws, the equation is build less > scarcity > higher prices > the finances now work again. That will be preceeded by some property owners choosing to raise rents even if the result is more vacancy for a while.

In our case the market is breaking ground on fewer rental units in-town which can be tied to both the laws and flat rents. More developers are choosing the condo route, after years of very little construction. The suburbs have picked up a greater share of rental construction.

[CherryCreek]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

THE YORK on City Park (25 apartments left to rent)

All images courtesy The York/Shea Properties







Ryan did a nice 'Final Update' at DenverInfill and 1) I recalled the property and 2) I thought it had been a long time since it was dicussed on these pages. Indeed Ryan reminds that construction started back in 2015 on this 212-unit apartment project and we would have posted well before ground breaking.

Things just do take time, don't they?

Hate the clock. With such a prime location, this should have been a trophy. If it's a trophy, it's a bowling trophy.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Hate the clock. With such a prime location, this should have been a trophy. If it's a trophy, it's a bowling trophy.

A bowling trophy?
Of course, what else would you put there?

For those curious about Amazon HQ2, I came across a piece about why Richardson TX is confident of becoming an HQ2 finalist. Quick summary:
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/...-will-finalist

"Amazon isn't looking just anywhere," Voelker said. "There's requirement for at least 100 acres of land, which we meet and exceed. Amazon also has a desired metro area of at least a million people." It wants an international airport less than 45 minutes away, which we have, and highway access within 2 miles, which we can bring to their front door. Amazon also wants mass transit in the forms of trains or a subway station on site. Which we will do by 2022," the mayor added.

UT-Dallas is offering Amazon more than 100 acres of vacant land that it owns ... That would put the college — boasting one of the country's best computer science departments, its students, faculty and research facilities — within walking distance of HQ2. Whether it's interns or the second-largest number of computer science master's degrees in the country, UTD, with an enrollment approaching 28,000 ... in Richardson and 92 percent of its students are in engineering, science, math or business.

[FunctionForm]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Hate the clock. With such a prime location, this should have been a trophy. If it's a trophy, it's a bowling trophy.

Either a Bowling Trophy, or the kind every kid gets for participating. Even when they really didn't contribute.

[comoneymaker]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

I wonder if AMC will close its Cherry Creek mall theatres once this opens. Very cool development, for sure.

Hell yea AMC DOLBY! Now I dont have to drive out to highlands ranch!

[TakeFive]

Photo by Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Historic preservation plus new density? According to Andrew Kenney/Denverite - not a problem.

[twister244]

Another potentially sizeable office project coming to RiNo:

https://businessden.com/2018/08/02/r...ice-developer/

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by twister244

Another potentially sizeable office project coming to RiNo:

https://businessden.com/2018/08/02/r...ice-developer/

So this is what they are planning? Cool


Image courtesy of Hines Properties

I happened to read about this project in Minneapolis as well as the T3 ( timber, technology and transit) mass timber T3 office concept when it was built.

[rds70]

It looks like 1800 Market is finally going to get underway:

Per the Denver Business Journal:

A surface parking lot on 18th and Market streets in Lower Downtown Denver has been purchased for an undisclosed amount by Greystar.

The Charleston, South Carolina-based company says it is planning an 11-story mixed-use high-rise with over 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail and 302 residential units. Those units will range in size from 500-square-foot studios to 2,600-square-foot penthouses.

"We are thrilled about the acquisition and in the final stages of development planning [on the high-rise]," said Bo Chapman, senior director of development at Greystar.

This purchase of 1800 Market St. is rare not only because it is one of LoDo's last infill spaces available, but because it is already "fully entitled" for the development, said Chris Cowan, ARA Newmark executive managing director.

"This sale carried a lot of cachet," he said.

He represented the seller in the transaction and said that ground would likely break on the 1.152 acres this fall.

Cowan said that this product would be "the best in class," and not only a dynamic building for LoDo but downtown, with brick, glass and street-front retail space.

"We are excited to offer this new, highly amenitized, modern living option to the Lodo neighborhood," Chapman said.

Plans for this site have already been filed with the city, for 302 residential units, 11 stories and 312 parking spaces.

According to the city, if Greystar plans to build the same project that is in the site development plan, then they may be able to break ground on that soon.

[semiurban]

That is great news!

Does anyone have webcam links for the newer projects? (Market Station, 162, etc)

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by rds70

It looks like 1800 Market is finally going to get underway:

Per the Denver Business Journal:

Very interesting. Greystar hasn't 'initiated' much development in Denver although they manage a ton of apartments including TCR's Alexan properties so they would know about and be a natural to take over the site. They also 'rescued' Alara Union Station when that project struggled to find funding. Just a guess that TCR had difficulty replacing their original investor due to the current popularity of investing in the Texas oil patches.

The only project Greystar built from scratch that comes to mind is their ongoing Speer Blvd Apartments where their equity partner is New York Life Real Estate Investors. Greystar has also acquired existing projects.

In any case this is great news since Greystar wouldn't have bought this ready-to-go project without already having the funding needed.