CREJ

68 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / March 2020 / Milo / I t’s a sunny, midwinter Saturday morning and Javon Brame is in the lobby of Milo Luxury Residences chat- ting it up with a leasing agent before he tours the resi- dential community. Brame, dean of students for Arapahoe Community Col- lege, knows this neighborhoodwell. He grewup in near- by Park Hill and currently lives a few blocks away at Broad- stone On 9th. But, something about Milo has caught his eye. “I was interested in the Milo because of the walkability of the neighborhood and how they’re tying everything togeth- er,” says Brame. “I really like that and just wanted to check it out and see what they’re offering.” What Milo offers is luxury living with top-shelf finishes, amenities and a connected community. And, so far, the mar- ket is grabbing. From Aging Hospital to Connected Community Milo Luxury Residences is the latest addition to the $500 million, 26-acre urban infill redevelopment of the former University of Colorado Health Sciences Center at Ninth and Colorado ( 9 +CO). The transformation frommedical campus to a vibrant com- mercial district began in 2014when the university and city of Denver tabbed Con- tinuum Partners to direct the project. Continuum, having proved its mettle for years with high-profile redevelopments like Union Station and Belmar, and capital partner CIM closed on the land in January 2015. Frank Cannon, Continuum’s director of development, was tabbed to helm the 9 +CO project. Given his successful direc- tion of the Union Station redevelopment, among other nota- ble projects, Cannon’s selectionwas not unexpected. Nor was Cannon’s choice to team up with Shears Adkins Rockmore Architects (SA+R), longtime Continuum partners. Their vision was to reintegrate the 26-acre parcel back into the surround- ing communities and restore the long forgotten pre-World War II patchwork of streets and sidewalks. “We started by going on a community outreach tour and talking with each of the surrounding neighborhoods to real- ly listen to what it was that they wanted to see happen with the property,” says Cannon. “We took it from there to develop the plans tomove forwardwith themixed-use neighborhood that we are creating now.” Cannon explained that the feedback from the neighbors was a desire for parks, restaurants and reconnecting the land to their neighborhoods. So Cannon and his team established a roadway and pedestrian network that seamlessly inte- “We are realizing that if you have people walk and bicycle more, you have a more lively, more liveable, more attractive, more safe, more sustainable and more healthy city.” Jan Gehl Hon. FAIA