Traditional single-family home subdivisions are still being built in metro Denver, but the pace slowed dramatically during the first 11 months of 2006. Construction of detached homes declined 29.4 percent from the same period a year earlier.
While they wait for the market to improve, developers have shifted their attention to building on existing urban property rather than pushing city boundaries outward. This so-called “infill” development is partly responsible for a 14.7 percent increase in condo and townhome permits in the seven-county area through November, according to data compiled by Littleton-based Development Research Partners.
Many of the condos will be built in new concrete downtown towers.
Edgier, unique units will spring from within old warehouses and schoolhouses, and will emerge on vacant lots throughout the city and suburbs.
“It is the opposite of sprawl, that’s one way to characterize it,” said Ken Schroeppel, an urban designer who keeps track of core-city projects on his website, denverinfill.com. “You’re taking advantage of existing infrastructure, so you don’t have to extend roads and utilities to undeveloped areas.”
Infill also helps to revitalize neighborhoods, which is one reason Denver’s Comprehensive Plan 2000 calls for quality development consistent with the character of surrounding neighborhoods.
In Washington Park, the 2.8-acre site of a former linguistics school will soon hold 10 new luxury lofts, eight attached brownstone townhomes and nine detached single-family homes. The high-end homes of Myrtle Hill at Washington Park Place will be available in stages beginning late this year, priced from just below $500,000 to $1.6 million.
Beginning in 1906, the Denver International School building was expanded gradually to 62,000 square feet in several phases. Colorado Land & Home Co. acquired the property last year and worked with neighbors to preserve its historic character.
The southeast portion of the building – about 32 percent of the original structure – will remain standing at East Mississippi Avenue and South Race Street. The rest will be razed. Inside will be uniquely configured loft-style units ranging from 1,350 to 2,600 square feet.
The century-old building housed schools of various kinds and at one point included a nursery, which will be incorporated into one of the lofts. Also preserved will be parts of the building’s ornate interior wall murals and 13-foot ceilings.
“It’s an opportunity to own a piece of history,” said Jonathan Miller, founder and manager of the company.
Aesthetics aside, infill is propelled by practical needs such as shopping and transportation. Light-rail trains traveling between Union Station and the Mineral station stop at South Nevada Street and West Powers Avenue in quaint downtown Littleton. Colorado Land & Home has won city approval to put a three-story, 68-unit condo building at the prominent site now occupied by St. Mary’s School, which will be demolished.
Yet another former school property is under development at South University Boulevard and East Hampden Avenue. Kent Place is named after the Denver Kent School that once occupied the 11.5-acre site.
Continuum Partners LLC will build 100 new luxury condos in two mid-rise towers in the first phase, plus 14 townhomes priced up to $2.5 million. Eventually the area will include 350 residential units, plus office and retail space.
In the Santa Fe Drive arts district, a vacant lot at West Sixth Avenue and Inca Street will be home to eight new “live-work” units suitable for use as studios and street-level galleries. It’s part of a promise made by the developer, Sprocket Design Build, to the Baker Historical Neighborhood Association, which in turn endorsed the project’s new zoning designation.
“We want to support the arts community by offering spaces that are small enough to be affordable,” said architect Bill Moore.
When completed in October, the units will be approximately 1,200 square feet apiece, and they are now priced from $219,000 to $309,000. They cover two stories, creating a natural separation between workspace and living quarters.
Northwest Denver’s blossoming Berkeley neighborhood includes the Tennyson Street commercial district, which hosts a monthly Friday night Art Walk that rivals the Santa Fe Arts District’s. Tennyson is the address of two new residential buildings, one standing and one planned.
The Lofts at Berkeley Park building at West 44th Avenue includes several street-level units designated as “live-work.”
A commitment by the developer, Byers Street Properties, prevents their use as walk-in retail businesses, so artists can’t use them as galleries, even during the Art Walk.
That may change, according to architect Melissa Kyer, president of the Berkeley Regis United Neighbors Association. The city may extend its Main Street zoning to Tennyson Street, which would allow some new retail.
Two blocks to the north – at a site that truly is “at Berkeley Park” – the same developer recently razed an aging office building.
The Berkeley Row Homes will include approximately 22 residential units, some overlooking the park and some not.
“A better design would include some retail, to engage the street,” Kyer said, but the neighborhood association has no leverage to require it.
Berkeley neighbors do endorse the King Lofts, a 19-unit project proposed for what is now a parking lot at West 38th Avenue and King Street. Architect Andy Olree and builder Jim Hesterly envision a mixed-use facility with walkout balconies, a rooftop courtyard and space for an outdoor cafe.
Kyer says it would interact well with the Gold Line, an extension of light rail or streetcar service being considered for West 38th Avenue. The developer has successfully petitioned the city for a change from B2 to MS1 zoning, in part to allow for the height of the building’s 38-foot roof.
Condo picture
In 2005, condos accounted for nearly half of all multifamily starts. Who lives in all those condos? A national survey conducted for the National Association of Home Builders resulted in these findings:
