Ground Broken on Broadstone Lofts in Denver

A groundbreaking ceremony was held this month for the Broadstone Lofts at 2101 Market St., across from Coors Field in Denver’s Ballpark District. The 315,718 sq-ft project is a 226-unit residential, for-rent complex combining a new, eight-story building with an existing historic building, the Piggly Wiggly MacMarr Building, a warehouse built in 1927. The Piggly Wiggly MacMarr Building’s basement will be renovated to feature three levels of below-grade parking. The first floor will consist of the main lobby, administrative offices, for-lease retail space, parking and access to lower-level parking. Levels two through eight will have residential units. The project will also include two outdoor athletic courts on the second floor for the residents. The developer for the Broadstone Lofts is Broadstone at Ballpark Lofts Alliance LLC of Denver. Ivins Design Group, also of Denver, is the architect. The contractor is GE Johnson Construction Co. of Colorado Springs. (Rendering courtesy of Ivins Design Group)

Participants in the May 1 groundbreaking for the Broadstone Lofts were (left to right) Judy Montero, Denver City Council; Mike Harms, vice president of GE Johnson Construction Co.; Katrina Plank, vice president of Alliance Residential; Collete English-Dixon, Prudential; and Robert Mueller, Washington Mutual. (Photo courtesy of GE Johnson Construction Co.)

ULI Colorado Seminar to Examine Land Assembly

Experts will discuss various challenges involved with TODs

The Urban Land Institute of Colorado will hold a seminar next Wednesday that will examine the land assembly puzzles involved in getting transit-oriented developments off the ground.

Passage of RTD’s FasTracks transit plan in 2004 ushered in a new era in mixed-use development in Denver, but putting together land for TODs remains a multifaceted challenge. Complicated property ownership, rising land costs and public opposition to the use of eminent domain by local governments are just a few of the issues that impact the creation of mixed-use, higher-density urban neighborhoods centered around mass transit.

Those issues will be discussed at “Land Assembly: Putting the Pieces Together,” which is set for 7:30 to 10 a.m. at the Atrium Grill Conference Center in Plaza Tower One, 6400 S. Fiddlers Green Circle, Greenwood Village. The location is from Arapahoe Station on RTD’s Southeast Light Rail.

Maureen McAvey, ULI’s executive vice president and a national expert on land assembly, will be the keynote speaker. She will be joined by a panel of the following experts:

• Adam Gates, vice president of acquisitions for Cypress Real Estate Advisors. Gates is overseeing one of Denver’s largest land assemblies near downtown–the Denargo Market project in River North.

• Tim Steinhaus, executive director of the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority. He will discuss public challenges of assembling land around TODs in metro Denver

• Gregory Moran, vice president of Miller Weingarten. Moran has 21 years of regional experience in selling and leasing retail space and serves as co-chair of the Colorado Alliance of the International Council of Shopping Centers. He has worked on developing retail space at such TODs as Englewood CityCenter.

• Jim Windholz, a Colorado attorney and expert on legal urban renewal issues.

• Aaron Miripol, the new executive director of the Denver Urban Land Conservancy, a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 2003 to acquire land for community uses such as affordable housing.

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