CREJ - Journal

MARCH 2015 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \

WORDS:

Stephanie Darling

oming off an aggressive 16-month construction schedule, Cherry Creek’s newest

luxury rental community will welcome its first residents in mid-April.

Steele Creek, a stunning eight- and 12-story mixed-use enclave, anchors the south-

east corner of the First Avenue and Steele Street intersection with a dramatic glass

façade that ensures spectacular views of the Rockies and the city from its west-fac-

ing units and rooftop infinity pool. The building commands a gateway location,

just east of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, and is the area’s first rental property to bring

five-star living to the already tony neighborhood, according to developer BMC Investments.

The $108 million complex features 218 luxury apartment homes, which have preleased

at a brisk rate. Leases are bringing a Denver high of more than $3 a square foot. West-fac-

ing penthouses are commanding even more, according to Matt Joblon, BMC president.

Over 17,000 square feet of retail wraps around the building’s base. Premier tenants will

be announced soon, with occupancy expected between June and October, Joblon said.

BMC bought the property, which already was zoned CMX-12 and CMX-8, for $15.75

million in 2012. Five existing buildings were demolished in summer 2013 to make way

for excavation, which began in October 2013.

Steele Creek comes on line as seven other major urban infill projects in Cherry

Creek are underway or slated, adding hundreds of thousands of square feet in new

retail and office space. New residential is in high demand, especially for rental prod-

uct. Steele Creek is one of four high-end apartment or condo projects expected to

draw 1,000 new residents to the area in the next two years.

Clearly, an urban redevelopment gold rush is on in Cherry Creek, which gener-

ates 5 percent of Denver’s sales tax revenue on just 0.14 percent of its land.

That Steele Creek rose steadily and gracefully through the area’s current build-

ing boom is a story in itself. Heavy equipment, materials delivery, the project

office and staging operations were wedged into a one-acre site surrounded by

high-density retail and residential, with a daily traffic count of 75,000. The proj-

ect also had to cope with the massive University/Josephine storm drain and

paving work that began in January 2014 and clogged area streets for 10 months.

General contractor Haselden Construction proved up to the feat. “They nailed

it,” Joblon said.

CJ Harvey, LEED AP, Haselden project manager, admitted Steele Creek pre-

sented “the toughest site logistics I’ve ever been a part of. It was a constant

juggling act to schedule 60 to 70 trucks a day – even some of them got stuck

in traffic.”

The tight urban site also was severely short on storage, with space for only

a two-day supply of materials. There was a near constant flow of trucks de-

livering steel, cement and tons of dirt for the rooftop garden, not tomention

quartz, hardwood and other high-quality finishing materials. Additionally,