UPward projection: land-limited Englewood plans residential towers on former seminary grounds

ColoradoBiz, Jan, 2007 by David Lewis

Englewood, the city of 32,000 people and about 2,000 businesses just south of Denver, faces the same problem encountered by thousands of suburbs: It has nowhere to grow but up.

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Englewood is a landlocked community. "There really isn't a whole lot of developable or vacant ground," notes community development manager Harold Stitt.

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Englewood also is not a big city geographically. "We're a fairly small community, roughly 6.5 square miles," Stitt says. "There are a few unincorporated parcels surrounding Englewood that technically could be annexed, but for one reason or another that is not likely to happen anytime soon."

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That's why the city planners know what's happening with pretty much every square inch of Englewood, and why a few major projects can have a big impact on the community.

None is bigger than the $400 million Kent Place project, begun by Denver-based Continuum Partners in 2005 with the $12.4 million purchase of the 11.4-acre property on the corner of East Hampden Avenue and South University Boulevard, formerly the Denver Seminary (and long before that Kent Denver School, hence the project's name).

Kent Place will act as a dramatic eastern gateway to the city, in part through a "Welcome to Englewood" gate, in part because of its 11--and nine-story residential towers and 72,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space, and in part because of the sheer affluence it means to add to the predominantly blue-collar city.

With penthouses, condos and town homes slated to range in price between $400,000 and $2.5 million, "it's an appropriate product in a terrific location at the right time," says Continuum principal Eliza Prall. "Our experience tells us that we've got the right product, not just because of the residences and retail space, but because the amenities will be a rival to any in the Denver area."

Kent Place undoubtedly is the biggest piece of Englewood's rehabilitation now under development. But Englewood's recovery began with the CityCenter Englewood project, which converted the derelict Cinderella City shopping mall into a thriving mixed-use development that now--with a steady 93 percent residential occupancy rate and a 3 percent retail/commercial vacancy rate--is a categorical success. "It's done very, very well," says city community development director Bob Simpson.

CityCenter Englewood also opened up a development corridor between it and Swedish Medical Center. One project there is Mason Square, which is planned to transform the present Masonic lodge into a two-acre complex combining a new Masonic building with underground parking, medical offices and 40,000 square feet of residential lofts.

"It's the cornerstone project for that area," says Ed Peterson of Lakewood-based EMC Development, project construction manager and developer. "It just fits exactly what the city is looking for in that corridor between CityCenter and the hospital. We look to be a trendsetter."

Englewood already has one gateway, at South Broadway and Yale Avenue: Denver-based sculptor Lawrence Argent's "Virere," a 20-foot-high depiction of a grassy plain in green aluminum. Argent also is well-known hereabouts for "I See What You Mean," the giant blue bear sculpture that distinguishes the Colorado Convention Center. "Lawrence's vision was that Englewood is fresh, green and growing," Simpson says. "It's big, it's fun and it produces a variety of comments. Some people really love it; some people really hate it, which public art will do."

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Englewood's southern end will become a gateway, too, thanks to the extensive expansion and renovation of the Burt Automotive complex on South Broadway, which will include an as-yet undesigned city gateway. In all, Burt is devoting more than $20 million to the expansion and renovation of its Chevrolet, Subaru and Toyota dealerships.

"Obviously with the money we're putting into it, we are recommitting to the community--a pretty heavy commitment," says John Held, senior vice president and corporate legal counsel for Burt Automotive Group.

A gateway on the city's west side is less of a sure thing. There, the former General Iron Works' remaining 10 acres someday could be a $5 million RTD light rail station with mixed residential and retail-use development. The plan's success depends on factors including environmental remediation and the presentation of plans by the prospective developers, Barton Brothers construction and Winslow Crane Services Co.

Meanwhile, back on Broadway, retailers between Yale and U.S. Highway 285 voted in November to form the South Broadway Englewood Business Improvement District, which plans to build on strides the city already has made to upgrade that portion of its retail corridor. (Much of Englewood's retail on Broadway south of 285 remains mired by "undesirable land uses," as Stitt puts it, namely tattoo parlors and the like.)

Bob Laughlin, owner of the Acoustic Music Revival store at 3445 S. Broadway, envisions it all coming together someday: "I see us being one of the more desirable destination stops for people in the metro area, where they want to come and have a day of shopping or window shopping, having lunch in a unique restaurant and browsing and meeting people."