MORE APARTMENTS COMING TO DENVER
Residences at RiNo breaks ground on Brighton Blvd.
The Residences at RiNo, a new project from Houston- based developer Hines, broke ground along Denver’s once- industrial, now- trendy Brighton Boulevard last week.
It’s a demonstration the lightingfast growth that the area has experienced over the past decade may not slow soon, the COVID- 19 pandemic notwithstanding.
Residences at RiNo will bring 397 apartments and 14,500 square feet of retail space to the southeast corner of 43rd and Wynkoop streets, Hines representatives said last week. It is the major residential piece of North Wynkoop, the mixed- used project from Denverbased developer Westfield Co., that is anchored by state- oftheart concert venue the Mission Ballroom.
The 11- story tower will be laden with amenities. There will be a washer and dryer in every unit ( even the 542- square- foot studios), a heated pool with terrace, a “pet spa” and a gym offering ondemand streaming fitness classes and even ski training equipment, according to Hines.
It’s designed to compete with other high- end apartment buildings that have recently risen along Brighton and attract young professionals with rent money to spare who want to live close to the urban core. It will be the first such building built north of 38th Street since the neighborhood was dubbed part of the River North Art District and began its rapid transition.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” Chris Rector, a managing director with Hines, said last week. “We think, especially with what’s going on at National Western and even north of the site, it helps set a new edge for the city.”
Rector was referring to the National Western Center redevelopment project, a billion- dollar overhaul of the campus off of Brighton and Interstate 70 that hosts the National Western Stock Show each year in January ( though the pandemic has forced the cancellation of the event for 2021). The city has frozen bidding for a major part of that project because of the financial impacts of COVID- 19. But the pandemic has not impacted the way Hines views Denver, Rector said.
“People are moving to Denver and we don’t see that stopping anytime soon,” Rector said. “Equally important is employers are moving to Denver and view it as a great place to locate and attract talent.”
Hines developed the 1144 Fifteenth building, a 40- story office
tower that opened in 2018. It’s also been in the news for its involvement with the Carmen Court condominiums, a building it is under contract to buy and demolish to make way for a senior housing development unless the deal is undone by a hostile landmark designation headed to the City Council next month.
But Rector is focused on multi- family work and he says leasing has been strong for Hines’ most recent apartment project in Denver, the Raleigh at Sloan’s Lake. He sees no reason to doubt the RiNo project won’t also be in demand when the first batch of tenants can move in the second half of 2022, even if average rents have fallen over the last year.
The project falls into an opportunity zone that provides Hines and its investment partner Cresset- Diversified QOZ Fund with tax incentives to hold onto it for at least 10 years. The project has also earned a density bonus that allows Hines to build it to 11 stories, a system put in place by a City Council vote two years ago. To trigger the bonus, Hines has agreed to rent out 17 apartments in the building at below- market prices.