As plans take shape to redevelop 30 acres surrounding the historic Denargo Market, the Texas company working on the $1 billion project is lobbying for a transit stop at the site north of Coors Field.
Cypress Real Estate Advisors plans for up to 2,500 residential units and 200,000 square feet of retail space as demand for downtown housing marches north from the Central Platte Valley. If the stop is approved, the community could become one of the region’s largest transit-oriented developments.
When the Denargo Market opened in 1939, it also was transit-oriented. It was built alongside Union Pacific Railroad tracks, with more than 300 stalls leased to area growers who sold their produce to grocers, wholesalers and peddlers.
In recent years, the dilapidated market has been leased to a variety of small businesses, including produce and food-service companies.
Within the next year, Cypress will have closed on all of the properties it needs to move forward with the development. Officials say they expect to break ground in the first quarter of 2008.
Plans to bring development to an area that recently has become home to practicing artists is sad news for Randy Brown and Sean Guerrero. Both live and work in the market.
“I’m looking at small towns next,” said Brown, a painter and photographer who has moved four times as development pushed artists out of their spaces. “My community is here, and I’m really connected, but I want cheap space. It’s difficult to find in Denver.”
Guerrero, a sculptor, said he’ll probably move by fall rather than wait for the development to force him out. He’s considering buying a place on Flathead Lake in Montana.
“Everything is getting kind of tight in Denver,” he said. “I pay $1,800 a month for this place.”
The industrial River North neighborhood that surrounds Denargo Market has long been identified as a prime location for future urban-residential growth as part of the citywide planning process known as Blueprint Denver.
When the resulting River North Plan was completed in 2004, only 200 people lived in the area. By 2022, the area could house 5,000 people in as many as 900 single-family attached units and 675 multifamily units, according to market studies done for Blueprint Denver.
The Cypress project will be the second and largest residential project to date. The 241-unit Jefferson at CityGate was the first to open and is 94 percent leased.
In addition to the housing component, Cypress’ plans call for up to 200,000 square feet of retail space that could include everything from coffee shops, bakeries and dry cleaners to a grocery store. It’s also considering developing office space.
“We really like big, prolific projects where we can change the face of a transitioning area and create a really special project,” Gates said.
Denver planning director Peter Park said the general development plan approved for the Cypress project fits in well with the city’s vision for the surrounding area. For example, Denver has been looking at ways to connect the site with downtown via Wewatta Street.
“Having a good plan that has been discussed with property owners, developers and residents helps you broadcast what you want,” Park said. “The River North plan does that.”
Under the general development plan, three towers ranging from 180 feet to 220 feet tall will be permitted at the development. Other buildings would be 75 feet and lower as they get closer to the South Platte River.
The project also includes about four acres of open space throughout the site, with an emphasis on improving the South Platte riverfront.
“The relationship to the river is a critical aspect,” said Steve Gordon, development program manager for the city and county of Denver.
The requested transit stop also is important enough that Cypress would assist with costs associated with providing the infrastructure for the stop, including the right of way.
“We are in active discussions with RTD (the Regional Transportation District) to get, at a bare minimum, a rubber-tired street-car-type stop similar to the 16th Street Mall,” said Adam Gates, vice president of acquisitions for Cypress. “We would hope for something every five minutes that would have direct access to downtown.”
The company would prefer to have a light-rail stop or even commuter rail over a street car. But the area is about halfway between Union Station and the planned station at 40th Street and 40th Avenue. Both stations are less than a mile from Denargo Market, which is bordered by rail.
The standard distance between stations is 2 miles, said Dave Shelley, RTD’s project manager for the North Metro Corridor. “But if it makes sense to add a stop, we’ll consider it. Potential ridership would be a big driver.”
Shelley is working on the transit line’s environmental-impact statement, which will determine whether the service will be provided by light rail or commuter rail, as well as its precise route.
Cypress has talked with property owners outside of the market area, Gates said, but has decided against buying more property.
“We’ve bitten off as much as we want to chew right now,” he said. “We feel 30 acres is enough to change the landscape over there.”
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
