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Neighborhood Life
Neighborhood Life• MARCH 2015
City Park West • Whittier • San Rafael • Uptown • Curtis Park • Five Points
MARCH 2015
New Enterprise at Enterprise Center 30th & Arapahoe eyesore getting facelift, new tenants By J. Patrick O’Leary
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emolition and asbestos abatement have begun inside the long-vacant Enterprise Center at 30th & Arapahoe, as developer Focus Property Group renovates the three-story building to create an entrepreneurial and creative office community, said Josh Fine of Focus. “We’re really excited about it,” he said. “It’s been an eyesore for the neighborhood, and this really ties things together ... it will genuinely enliven the block. We hope by the end of the year it will bring new life and vibrancy to Curtis Park.” Fine acknowledged that when Focus bought the property there were issues with vagrants and drug dealers on the property, so the openings are currently boarded over with plywood. He mentioned that he was honored to get approval of the Curtis Park Neighborhood (CPN), which gave its support for a parking variance for the project in October, following community outreach. CPN reported in its newsletter that 74 off-street parking spaces would be provided, and Fine said that space will be created by tearing down the “commissary” structure on the north side of the building, used for culinary and kitchen start-up businesses in the past. The rest of the structure will remain, although it will undergo a complete facelift. “In the next week we’ll be removing the paint, taking it down to the brick (CMU block) and original material,” said Fine. New skinning, new windows, and a panel system to control the light entering the windows will be installed. “It will look very different on the outside, like a new building.” The new interior will have office options ranging from large spaces for co-working up to a 14,000 sf office suite, for businesses with as little as one or two people up to a large company, said Fine. “We’re
RENDERING COURTESY OF FOCUS PROPERTY GROUP
RENDERINGS FOR THE FUTURE ENTREPRENEURIAL and creative office community space at 30th & Arapahoe.
Rossonian Revitalization Brings Nostalgia, Inspiration to Five Points
See ENTERPRISE on page 15
By Keith Lewis
A Pause to Improve W Better process is goal of new office of special events By J. Patrick O’Leary
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hen the city passed a year-long moratorium on new special events and runs, races, rides and walks this year, it also set up a new Office of Special Events (OSE) to create a coordinated system for permitting those activities and better serve residents, event organizers and city departments. Katy Strascina is the Executive Director of the new OSE. With a staff of four, the new agency is tasked with bringing together 17 city agencies that deal with events to discuss and develop solutions and policies necessary to resolve problems with neighborhood and park usage, noise, trash, traffic and other issues arising out special events held on city property, which grew profoundly from 350 to 650 last year. Problems arise when new event organizers do not know which departments have a say in event staging, and departments do not know what new events are being planned. Strascina’s goal is to have a one-stop office, where event organizers can fill out an application, and then her staff will generate a checklist of steps to take and who in the city to contact. Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN) must deal with 10 city agencies in setting up its annual People’s Fair, she pointed out as an example. Also to be developed is a master calendar for special events, and a system for channeling special event information and complaints, via the 3-1-1 system, to the city and event organizers. Strascina said the OSE initially will be a coordinating agency, with no power to issue or deny permits, other than film permits. (Denver is the venue for 350 film projects each year, mostly commercials, she said.) “There will be a vetting process,” said Strascina, “but we have no authority to tell anyone they can’t do anything. This will be the first time that all this information from 17 departments will all be coming into one department, one staff,” she said. “We will be able to look at big pictures, and make recommendations for changes…with input from residents, businesses [and event organizers]…” See SPECIAL EVENTS on page 15
alk along Welton on a given morning, you will notice many happy people enjoying a morning coffee on a patio, or the barber opening his shop for the day. Five Points is a vibrant neighborhood whose future shines bright as residents work together to revitalize the once blighted street that followed the 1980s and 90s urban decline. Five Points is also a neighborhood with a rich history and culture, in particular an intrigu-
ing African American heritage. However, this area has also been home to significant populations of Japanese, Jewish, and other ethnic communities at various times since the pioneer days of our city, reminds Wil Alston, Marketing Director for Civil Technologies. The neighborhood remains diverse, too, he notes. The neighborhood’s fast growing Welton Street corridor serves as the primary commercial district not only for Five Points, but also the surrounding adjacent residential enclaves of San Rafael, Whittier, and Cole.
Many area residents increasingly live, work, and shop in this part of Denver. The rich histories of its landmarks are re-emerging as the city reinvests in our historical gems, such as the Rossonian Hotel, 2642 Welton. The 1912 original Baxter Hotel, of Romanesque Revival Style, was commissioned by Baxter Cigar Co. executive Robert Baxter. The Denver business leader entrusted his vision of the architecture to the famous architect, George Bettcher. By the See ROSSONIAN on page 16
PHOTO BY JEFF HERSCH
A PILLAR IN THE FIVE POINTS COMMUNITY, the Rossonian Hotel, 2642 Welton, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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