Developer plans $160M mixed-used project near Anschutz Medical Campus

 

A development company announced plans Wednesday for a $160 million mixed-use project near Aurora's

Anschutz Medical Campus on East Colfax Avenue.

The complex, dubbed Block 21 and proposed by Waveland Ventures LLC, would include a six-story hotel and conference center as well as a four-story, 100-unit apartment complex; stores; restaurants; and an “urban park.”

Waveland — with offices in the Denver Tech Center; Austin, Texas; and Milwaukee — says the name is a tribute to the old Army Hospital 21 that stood at the nearby Fitzsimons Army Medical Center.

The site is on East Colfax between Potomac and Xanadu streets.
“This project will be extremely catalytic for future development on Colfax Avenue,” Rick Hayes, CEO of Waveland Ventures, said in a statement.

Block 21 will be developed through a partnership with Jackson Street Holdings LLC and Arrival Partners LLC, Waveland said.

It hopes to begin construction by late this year.

Plans call for a 200-room hotel with 30,000 square feet of meeting space and a 500-space covered parking structure. Developers said they expect to announce a franchise deal with a hotel chain next month.

The proposed project is near the site where Corporex Colorado LLC — a unit of Corporex Cos. Inc. of Covington, Ky. — is developing the 32-acre Fitzsimons Village. A 153-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel opened there in 2011, and Fitzsimons Village also features an office complex used by Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Corporex has filed plans with the city of Aurora for another hotel at Colfax and Xanadu.

Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan, noting that the city is in negotiations with Corporex on those plans, declined comment on either proposal late Wednesday.

“I will say it is encouraging to see two companies interested in this part of the city,” Hogan said. “ It is a strong indicator of the changes occurring in Aurora, and is evidence of the urbanization of our community.”

Waveland, funded in 2002, specializes in venture capital and community development finance. It says it manages $800 million in assets.

Its community development arm has received $312 million in credits under the federal New Markets Tax Credit Program since 2007. The program aims to promote spur redevelopment in economically distressed communities.

Mark Harden directs print and digital news content for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Broadway & 17th" blog. Email: mharden@bizjournals.com. Phone: 303-803-9227.

Construction starts on Denver Trader Joe's

Workers this week broke ground on the Trader Joe's store at East Eighth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, six months after the grocery chain confirmed its plans to open its first Denver store.

Heavy equipment has been preparing the site, and a spokeswoman for the Monrovia, Calif.-based specialty grocer confirmed Thursday that construction is underway.

“Currently, the tentative Denver store opening is fourth quarter 2013,” Alison Mochizuki said via email.

Plans call for a new 18,000-square-foot building with a separate liquor store. Under Colorado law, it will be the only store in the company’s chain allowed to have a liquor license.

Jimmy Balafas, principal of Kentro Group, a Denver development company specializing in retail that is building the store, declined comment.

Trader Joe’s is also opening a store in Boulder, at 1906 28th St. on the west end of the Twenty Ninth Street mall. Construction on that store has not begun, Mochizuki said.

A company statement said the Denver store “will feature a festive décor that mixes traditional Trader Joe’s elements such as cedar covered walls and Hawaiian motifs, combined with a local flair that includes art celebrating the neighborhood.”

Trader Joe’s is known for stocking its own brands of trendy and affordable foods such as Thai lime-chili cashews, sea salt brownies and Belgium butter waffle cookies.

It’s also known for the inexpensive Charles Shaw brand wine — or Two- or Three-Buck Chuck, as loyalists call it.

Dennis Huspeni covers real estate and retail for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Real Deals" blog. Phone: 303-803-9232.