DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by tommyboy733

I found RiNo Art Park has unceremoniously opened! At 35th & Arkins, it includes the adaptive reuse of an industrial shell (distance center right) with lots of cool features.

[IMG]IMG_20200730_102911512_HDR[/IMG]

River North Park opening celebrated in RiNo
Aug 13, 2020 by: Keely Sugden/KVDR

DENVER (KDVR) – A new green space, the 3.5-acre River North Park, opened on Thursday in an area formerly home to warehouses, rail and manufacturing businesses.

The park, located along the South Platte River in River North on Arkins Court, is part of the Game Plan for a Healthy City to provide community gathering places.

But that's not all...

Thursday was also the groundbreaking for phase one of the River North Promenade, featuring flexible festival space, anticipated to be completed in 2021.

[Robert.hampton]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

The condo prices are astronomical. A 2 bed 3 bath unit in Lake House is going for $1.8 million. Not to mention probably a $600+ monthly HOA for all of the amenities.

Looks like your HOA is going to hit close to $600 with their entry level units -- which is nuts because that's like an extra 30% on your mortgage. Up around 1.8 mill the HOAs jump to over 1k per month....which I guess is a comparative steal. Luxury condos I think is a tough sledding, but luxury condos with these kind of fees are really reserved for a small audience. And that audience probably doesnt want to be a block from colfax.

[BG918]

Originally Posted by laniroj

Not surprising. I've heard Lakehouse is really struggling and Edge LoHi is only doing ok, granted both are trying to sell through a pandemic. Strangely enough, the SFH market in Denver metro is still red hot. Condos are just tough, you're talking $600/sf+ for a tiny amount of space. How many people are really interested in that AND can afford it?

There seems to be a disconnect between the SFH and condo market. SFH's are still selling fast, especially at lower price points. These are outdated 1000-2000 sf homes that may not even be in good neighborhoods. If you could sell condos for a similar price but instead of 1500 sf they are 1000 sf but are new and in better locations they would likely go fast. The problem has been land is so expensive in desirable locations in Denver it pushes costs up for new product so it has to be luxury to even pencil.

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by BG918

There seems to be a disconnect between the SFH and condo market. SFH's are still selling fast, especially at lower price points. These are outdated 1000-2000 sf homes that may not even be in good neighborhoods. If you could sell condos for a similar price but instead of 1500 sf they are 1000 sf but are new and in better locations they would likely go fast. The problem has been land is so expensive in desirable locations in Denver it pushes costs up for new product so it has to be luxury to even pencil.

Don't forget construction costs and the ever growing impact fee burdens. Land is a component but in many areas outside of CCD, impact fees can be two or three times the cost (per unit) of land. Ultimately, construction costs will need to come down if we want condo inventory and cities will need to offer incentives to developers for condo construction by waiving impact fees. The opportunity is really suburban condos which can still be built at an affordable level. The bigger problem is there is no zoning for that kind of density/product in the suburbs and nobody wants to take the rezone risk anymore because it's such a cluster everywhere, all the time, because...who knows.

[DenvertoLA]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

Not sure I agree with this. Designated wilderness is awfully hard to hunt. Carrying out hundreds of pounds of animal over long distances without the help of anything motorized ain't easy. Most hunters would prefer it be public, roadless is maybe fine too, but open to ATVs. At least, I don't think walking wilderness wins a lot of hunter votes.

Now, the REI crowd, most of whom have never shot a rifle, that's different... but they're probably not voting for Gardner either way.

that's very specific to big game hunting. small game, pheasant it shouldn't make a difference, in fact having no roads could create opportunities to access to these creatures because they won't be frightened by cars and such.

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by DenvertoLA

that's very specific to big game hunting. small game, pheasant it shouldn't make a difference, in fact having no roads could create opportunities to access to these creatures because they won't be frightened by cars and such.

A lot of pheasants in Colorado's wilderness areas?

[twister244]

I don't see this getting very far, and even if it did get on the ballot, I suspect it will go down in flames just like the camping ban ballot initiative during our last mayoral election.....

https://denverite.com/2020/08/14/cou...a-peace-force/

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by twister244

I don't see this getting very far, and even if it did get on the ballot, I suspect it will go down in flames just like the camping ban ballot initiative during our last mayoral election.....

https://denverite.com/2020/08/14/cou...a-peace-force/

Is Curtis Park in the lady's district?

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/08/...omeless-camps/

DENVER (CBS4) — On the north edge of Denver’s downtown, gunshots are becoming a regular song of the night. Even the daytime. Residents say violence and drug dealing are taking over encampments in an area where people experiencing homelessness have been seeking refuge for decades.

“Things have changed demonstrably in the last four months,” says Noah Geisel, who lives on Curtis St. near Park Avenue West. “A half dozen shootings in the past two weeks, brutal beat downs, multiple overdoses, and that’s just the serious stuff.”

Geisel said he watched a man brutally beaten on the street. Video was captured on a camera that keeps an eye on the street.

Neighbor Flor Saldias said she walks four blocks around the long way lately to reach her home. “They are under drug abuse all day long,” Saldias said. “So obviously something will go wrong in that environment.”

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...-violent-crime

DENVER -- Shootings, drug dealing, vandalism and intimidation.

Residents in the East Colfax neighborhood say they've had enough, and they want the city and its police department to do something about it. "It's got to the point where the kids are even scared. They can't take the trash out anymore," said Hidden Brook resident Brenda Wright.

Statistics show violent crime, like murder and aggravated assault, is on the upswing city-wide.

Sadly, David Sachs et al and Denverite carry the water for these miscreants as if they were the victims. What about ordinary people who have ordinary jobs just wanting to live their own life in peace.

Denver City Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca

[TakeFive]

Welcome to Denver's Urban Jungle

What's really sad is that Denver seems to be losing the war?

https://www.downtowndenver.com/wp-co...iative_300.pdf

• The City and County of Denver spends $50 million annually on services for the homeless.
• In addition to expenditures by the City, just the few organizations who’s budgets could be determined, metro area charitable organizations spend over an additional $90 million annually. For comparison, in 2017, CDOT spent $89.6 million statewide on roadway expansion projects.
• The combination of City and charitable expenditures equates to approximately $26,000 per homeless individual. For comparison the current spending per-pupil in Denver Public Schools is $17,365.

According to a recent article in the Denver Post, the Department of Safety now consumes $588 million. This does include ~30 non-department individuals like social workers and interpreters. Representing 40% of the total budget this is not bad. How much of that budget would you guess goes for addiction related crimes?

Any individual addicted to meth, Heroin or Fentanyl-laced whatever is a personal tragedy. But for all the services that the city provides it appears that the primary winners are the Mexican Cartels. One thing I'm certain of is that letting the inmates run the asylum is NOT a solution.

Recently, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless acquired the Quality Inn and Suites at 3737 N. Quebec St. with a 139 units to convert to serving the homeless. More of this type of approach would be good but where can you find these opportunities?

In summary

It makes no difference to me: urban living versus suburban sprawl. In the 1970's Denver experienced "white flight". Are they now setting themselves up for "homeless flight"? I do understand that homeless people exist in the suburbs but it seem to not be the same problem that exists downtown. So much for all those services, eh.

[twister244]

There are several issues with dealing with homeless, and unfortunately, some of the hard solutions face serious challenges. There are some homeless that really need to be forced into treatment to get help. However, that requires:
1) Funding for good facilities, good people, and public buy-in.
2.) Giving the authority to forcibly remove people off the streets and force them into treatment.

(1) would probably require additional funding from the public, and investment into facilities.
(2) Would immediately be challenged by ACLU in the courts and struck down via the SCOTUS decision from the 70s.

So.... Until those things change, you won't see homeless go away anytime soon.

[tommyboy733]

https://businessden.com/2020/08/17/c...-25-and-evans/

[twister244]

Some good news: I drove by the hotel site at 36th/Brighton yesterday and saw drilling equipment on site with ground broken!

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

It makes no difference to me: urban living versus suburban sprawl. In the 1970's Denver experienced "white flight". Are they now setting themselves up for "homeless flight"? I do understand that homeless people exist in the suburbs but it seem to not be the same problem that exists downtown. So much for all those services, eh.

When you end up homeless in say, Douglas County, do you stay in Douglas County or do you migrate to downtown? Homelessness is certainly a metro-wide problem but it's Denver that bears the brunt of the problem. It also gets the most funding and spends the most of it's finances on it as well but it's still an uneven solution. The proposed Denver specific tax would equitably be a metro-wide tax to provide homeless treatment solutions that could then be spread across the metro area. Screw another shelter in Five Points- put it in along South Potomac in Arapahoe County.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by twister244

Some good news: I drove by the hotel site at 36th/Brighton yesterday and saw drilling equipment on site with ground broken!

I call shenanigans. There's no way that project is actually underway.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by tommyboy733

https://businessden.com/2020/08/17/c...-25-and-evans/

Hah; when I was still Uber-ing I'd drive by their "vending machine" all the time as it's east of Sky Harbor along Loop 202 (Red Mtn Fwy) where it divides Scottsdale to the north and Tempe to the south.

When Carvana started I thought it was a crazy way to sell cars but they seem to be doing well. A 20-something acquaintance of my son who got a decent job working detox, jumped on a plane in NYC and moved to Phx, rented an apartment and used Uber for six months before buying an Xterra. They do well with first time buyers. They also take advantage of the SUV popular market to buy basic cars on the cheap for people just needing basic transportation.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

I call shenanigans. There's no way that project is actually underway.

There was a drilling rig, along with a couple other pieces of earth moving equipment. In addition, soil had been moved around. If it's not a ground breaking, or instead soil sampling, someone should confirm. I was driving, so didn't have time to park the car and confirm, but it certainly looked like ground was broken to me.

[rds70]

Interesting new concept plan submission to the City for the RTD park 'n ride at 38th and Wynkoop:

The Project is a redevelopment of an RTD Park-N-Ride anticipated to consist of 350 multi-family units in 7 story buildings with approximately 351 spaces for residential parking, approximately 10,000 GSF of retail, approximately 297,800 GSF of office space in a 16 story building, and approximately 592 spaces for office parking, along with 18,264 GSF for amenities. The site is zoned I-MX-8, with the following overlays: DO-7, UO-2, and IO-1. The displaced RTD parking of 186 spaces will be provided on-site.

[tommyboy733]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Hah; when I was still Uber-ing I'd drive by their "vending machine"

I think they're kinda cool, a modern twist.

[TakeFive]

^ I'd agree!

COVID Times


Image via Wright Runstad & Company / Spring District via GeekWire

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/rei-lo...k-remote-work/

REI was set to move more than 1,000 employees into a brand new headquarters complex this summer, built on an 8-acre site surrounded by parks and wilderness just east of Seattle in Bellevue, Wash. And then the pandemic hit.

Now the outdoor retailer is looking to sell its buildings and land in Bellevue’s new Spring District, a surprising decision that reflects the rapid shift to remote work.

REI said it will move to a less centralized headquarters approach that spans multiple locations across the Seattle region. The company enacted a nearly 100% work-from-home policy for HQ staff in early March.

Earlier this summer Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook said they would move to a work-from-home model for employees. Then recently they saw fit to lease 750,000 Sq Ft in a new NYC building under construction. I'll assume Zuckerberg, in the case of NYC, didn't want to pass on a prime opportunity they had been considering so it's a mixed picture out there.

After things calm down, I'll take a flier to suggest that ~10% of the office workforce will reflect work-from-home.

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/n..._news_headline

Amazon said it will expand its tech hubs in Dallas, Detroit, Denver, New York City, Phoenix and San Diego. In all, more than 900,000 square feet of new office space will be created at a cost $1.4 billion.

In Denver, the company plans to hire for 100 jobs and add 20,000 square feet of new office space. Out of the existing 10,500 Amazon employees working in the state, there are more than 700 working out of its downtown Denver Tech Hub. Amazon has invested more than $2.8 billion in Colorado since 2010, the company says.

Worth noting but not a big deal since Amazon had announced in April it would be adding another 400 in the Denver market area (including Boulder).

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/n..._news_headline

The largest new lease reported during the quarter was a nearly 166,000-square-foot office space at 10475 Park Meadows Drive in Lone Tree taken by Lennar Multifamily Communities and brokered by CBRE and JLL.

Apparently, Lone Tree has great appeal for constructions companies as Kiewit had previously announced their now under construction regional HQ in Lone Tree.

Trending on Twitter

Off-topic but starting out in black and white this is one of the better creative music videos I've seen.

[SirLucasTheGreat]

I was looking at projects on ePermits. I saw a recent right-of-way relinquishment for the Broadway Station project. Is that a bad sign?