A new proposal presented to the Downtown Commission this morning would bring an additional 234 residential units to the East Long Street corridor downtown.
The six-story building would take the place of a large surface parking lot at 230 E. Long St., between North Fifth and Neilston streets.
Jonathan Barnes, of Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design, told the commission that filling in such a large block with one building is “a challenge, and it’s the kind of project we’ll see more of downtown – how do you fill in these large blocks in a way that isn’t too overwhelming…how do you address the scale issue in a sincere way, and not by trying to look like six different buildings built by six different developers, in different decades?”
“We’ve tried to break up the block where appropriate,” he added, both by utilizing different shapes and materials and by making the southwest corner of the development shorter and distinct from the rest of the building. An outdoor amenity space, including a pool, would sit on the fourth floor of that corner.
A first-floor parking garage would hold 165 cars, although Barnes said that the garage would be designed so that a portion of it – specifically the Long Street frontage – could be converted into retail space if the demand is there for that use.
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“We feel comfortable that the demand for retail will increase, but that’s hard to force, it has to come naturally,” he said. “We want a place for it to show up when it’s ready…so our attempt is to design that parking so that it’s easily convertible to retail.”
Commissioner Robert Loversidge asked if public art could be incorporated into the design in the meantime, so that it doesn’t just look like empty storefronts. Barnes replied that his team is looking into a number of options “to activate the street in a subtle way.”
Because this was a conceptual review, no vote was taken, but overall the commissioners seemed supportive of the design. Barnes said he plans to return to the board in a month or two with further design revisions.
The developer of the project is Charles Street Investment Partners of Denver.
