CREJ

Page 18

April 5-18, 2017

www.crej.com

olorado

eal

state

ournal

This the first in the series on

Denver’s “Whale Sites,” defined as

extremely prominent underdevel-

oped land parcels whose size and

location will influence Denver’s

future growth and development.

Examples include the Bell Tower

site, Aquarium Parking Lots, Burn-

ham Yard, the former Denver Post

Printing Site and Peña Station

Next.

Introduction

The “Bell Tower” property

straddles Cherry Creek and is

surrounded by Speer Boulevard,

Market, Larimer and 14th streets.

It takes its name as the historic

site of Denver’s first City Hall,

which contained a bell tower, the

bell from which is mounted on a

pedestal on the southeast corner

of the site. The easternmost por-

tion of about 24,700 square feet

is oriented to Lower Downtown

and is often termed Bell Park,

but it is not a park. The western

portion, sitting across the creek

along Speer, is about 40,700 sf.

(Note: Square footages are based

on the current site zoning docu-

ments.)

Making development difficult

is the fact that the site defines

downtown Denver and its rela-

tionship to the Auraria campus;

moreover, it is physically bifur-

cated into the two described tri-

angles by Cherry Creek, which

in turn serves as a public park-

way, flood-control feature, bike

path and waterway. Any cross-

ing or access to it requires close

scrutiny.

Development on the site

must also observe a west-facing

mountain view corridor blocked

by a five-story building only 600

feet across Speer. It is also sub-

ject to three LoDo design review

subareas and limited by an out-

dated 2006 PUD zoning scheme.

In sum, the site’s constraining

physical features are exacer-

bated by awkward regulatory

obstacles.

Some Insight and History

The Bell Tower site is sig-

nificant in part because it is the

last large undeveloped parcel

in Lower Downtown, in part

because of its close proximity

to the Cherry Creek trail and

Larimer Square, and in part

because it serves as a connection

between the Auraria Campus/

Pepsi Center and downtown.

As Auraria Campus evolves,

the Pepsi Center parking lots

become garages and the Elitch

Gardens amusement park is

redeveloped, these areas will

need to make strong connec-

tions to downtown. Develop-

ment along Speer is an obvious

connection point.

Development plans for the

65,000-sf site have a brief if

challenging history. They date

back to the 2006 PUD zoning

approved for about 94 percent

of the site, which enabled a

needle-tower apartment on the

northwest triangle and a five-

story building on the southeast,

both of which were close to

LoDo design review approval

when they were felled by the

2008 crash. The existing zoning

does grant two development

plan options, but otherwise

exhibits a regulatory scheme

that requires patience. The

PUD was intended to capture

aspects of the historic site and

respect the low-scale develop-

ment pattern

of LoDo, but

primarily on

the Bell Park

portion. The

r ema i nd e r

of the site

is granted

s i gni f i cant

density, but

is regretta-

bly subject

to a 7,500-

sf building

footprint.

B u z z

Geller, who

owns the land as part of the

Paradise Land Co. (https:// paradiseland.com) has seen

numerous development plans,

from Carmel apartments to

most recently a W Hotel via

the Hines Corp. Geller noted

that the site is “the best in all

of downtown, but unique and

must be considered potentially

iconic.” Overcoming the chal-

lenge, or riddle, to the site’s

limitations requires a bet on the

elite level of pricing that comes

from its prominence, guaran-

teed views and proximity to

Larimer Square.

Regulatory Specifics

The PUD offers two design

options: One requires a needle

tower with a 7,500-sf-maximum

floor plate and the alternative

seeks five- to eight-story build-

ing height limits across both

sites. The crux of the regulatory

challenges is that the higher-

density option within the PUD

zoning calls for a building that

can no longer be built. As most

building code experts know,

stairwell separation and eleva-

tor shaft code requirements

adopted since 2006 essentially

reduce a typical 7,500-sf-rent-

able floor plate close to 20 per-

cent. In addition, the east and

west triangles must be devel-

oped either simultaneously or

sequentially.

The zoning further enshrines

a southwest-facing mountain

view corridor, starting at grade

at the corner of 14th and Lar-

imer. Rising slowly from this

unusual origin point, it signifi-

cantly impedes development on

about one-fourth of both devel-

opment sites. Not only is this

view corridor impractical, but it

is already blocked by CU Den-

ver’s Auraria campus build-

ing, which came about because

the state of Colorado elected

to ignore the view corridor

under its public code exemp-

tion authority.

Complicating matters is that

any rezone process would

have to engage neighborhood

representatives, city planning

staff and the Lower Downtown

Design Review Board prior

to reaching the city’s plan-

ning board or City Council.

The view corridor change also

would require a separate City

Council legislative act. Most

estimates suggest processing

rezoning would require a mini-

mum of 24 months.

Possible Solutions

With time and resources,

one might come up with sev-

eral creative solutions. The

two sites could be separated

for development timing pur-

poses, or the city may be able

to reduce the regulatory bur-

den by unilaterally amending

the site’s regulatory scheme

(a project that would need to

have its own public purpose).

Or, a buyer might be able to

justify the holding costs by

capturing a premier offering,

say for office space and park-

ing complementing Larimer

Square.

But, the blunt reality may lie

in two options rendered below.

Option 1 is to dig deep and

pursue a two-year-plus entitle-

ment process, with some assur-

ances that the view corridor

can be lifted and a belief that

the solution that makes the

development numbers work

will be acceptable to the regula-

tors and ultimately City Coun-

cil. This option could pursue

two projects, the first would

be a five-story building at 14th

and Larimer that fits the LoDo

context, and the second would

be a tower at Market and Speer

that accommodates a transi-

tion between the west and east

sides of Speer.

Option 2 is to pursue a design

under alternative 2 of the 2006

PUD, which would create

roughly two five- to eight-story

buildings. Economic assump-

tions regarding the value of

the site as a marquis pricing

option, and perhaps physical

relationships to the established

success of Larimer Square,

would have to be embedded in

such a proposal.

Ferris’s firm, the Real Estate

Garage

(http://realestategarage.net),

focuses on maximizing the produc-

tion of real estate plans, projects and

approvals, including entitlement

processing coordination and rezon-

ing. Ferris previously served as an

appointee of Denver Mayor Michael

B. Hancock, running Development

Services for the city of Denver. He

also has engaged in $1 billion-plus

of feasibility and development man-

agement work in the private sector,

and served as director of planning

and town manager for the town

of Telluride. He holds degrees in

civil engineering from Marquette

University, urban planning from

Cornell University and a Master of

Business Administration from the

University of Denver.

The Bell Tower: A Denver 'whale' site & design riddle

Steve Ferris

Founder and

principal

Real Estate Garage

Denver

Land & Development

Aerial view, Bell Tower site looking northwest creating two projects of different styles; this plan preserves the

view corridor

Aerial view, Bell Tower site looking northwest linked design with a lower scale

Steve Ferris

r and

princ pal, Real

Estate Garage,

Denver