new denver project set for city's growing southmoor park

In a part of Denver that has seen a significant amount of new office and business construction in recent years, plans have been announced for the construction of a new 20-story mixed-use hotel project.

To be developed by the Denver-based Stonebridge Companies, the project will go up in the 4800 block of S. Quebec Street, and will include both office and retail space.

A request on the part of Stonebridge to change the zoning for the site to “urban center, mixed use,” has now been approved by members of the Denver City Council.

A hotel built in 1995 and branded as an Extended Stay America will be demolished to make way for the new project.

That location, in what is a special tax district, has caused some controversy among other businesses in the area who say that they have paid more than $33 million for such infrastructure essentials as sewers, storm drainage, and roads.

Those opponents have charged that it is unfair for the Stonebridge project to come in and enjoy the benefits of such improvements in what the city officially calls a “rapidly changing transit-oriented development area.”

Because the council has already approved the project, based on the recommendations of city’s planning department, it is not certain what steps its detractors can take at this point to stop it. 
Stonebridge has developed a number of similar projects across the country, with a focus on the West.

By Garry Boulard

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