The Downtown Denver Partnership has recognized six projects completed in 2018 for significant contributions to the economic growth and vitality of the city’s core downtown neighborhoods.
The 2018 Downtown Denver Awards were announced Thursday. The six winners were chosen by a jury of business leaders.
The partnership, an advocacy and economic development organization dedicated to creating and supporting “an economically healthy, growing and economically powerful” downtown Denver,” worked with Comcast and Denver-based film production firm WestWorks Studios to produce short videos on each project.
The 2018 winners were:
1144 Fifteenth Street
Finally completed last spring, this 40-story office tower stands as the most striking addition to Denver’s skyline since the 1980s. Built by Houston-based developer, Hines, this speculative 603-foot-tall building is now 84 percent leased up, according to the Downtown Denver Partnership.
Riverview at 1700 Platte
One of the many new buildings that have risen on historic Platte Street in the Lower Highland part of town the last few years, this sleek office building in headlined by BP, which moved its Lower 48 U.S. headquarters from Houston to Denver last year.
Civic Center Station
Spurred in part by concerns about the original design’s safety, RTD poured $31 million into renovating the Civic Center Station bus terminal that sits at the far southeastern end of the 16th Street Mall before it reopened in December 2017. The partnership called it a “safer, more welcoming bookend to the heart of Downtown Denver” in a news release.
Dairy Block
A self-styled “micro-district” within Lower Downtown, Dairy Block has brought a boutique hotel, the Milk Market food hall, a co-working space and more to the city block bounded by Wazee, Blake, 18th and 19th streets. The gem of the project may be the block’s “activated alley” designed specifically to bring in pedestrians.
16th Street Mall Target
The Downtown Denver Partnership and others had been pining for a downtown Target for years before the department store chain finally opened its 16th Street Mall location last summer. The partnership emphasized the groceries and home goods for sale there, claiming the store “is a resounding confirmation of downtown’s booming reputation.”
Not just another new apartment building with built-in retail space, the awards jury recognized the Lydian for its economic inclusivity in the fast-changing Five Points neighborhood. The building is home to 22 units of affordable housing as well as a bar and restaurant and yoga studio.
