plans for modernistic mixed-use tower structure in denver moving along with site purchase

A proposal by a Chicago-based development company to build a new and tall office and residential structure in Denver’s downtown Arapahoe Square has taken a significant step forward.

Akara Partners, which has built a similar structure in the Windy City, purchased for $5.5 million the 0.64-acre site where it wants to build what is being called Kenect Denver.

The project, designed by the architectural firms of Perkins + Will, and Shears Adkins Rockmore, both of Denver, will see the construction of a retro modernistic 22-story building with a glass exterior.

As planned, that building will house two levels of underground parking, and retail on its ground floor, with the second to fifth floors set aside for co-working space.

The remaining upper floors of the structure at 2136 Lawrence Street will be given over to residential space.

Documents earlier submitted to the City of Denver by Akara stated that Kenect Denver will be integrated into the surrounding community in terms of its “design and function.”

Those same documents say the structure’s design calls for a “gradually scaled and simple composition of integrated forms that respond to urban/environmental orientations and the public realm.”
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Akara’s Kenect structures, which are also planned for Cleveland, Nashville, and Phoenix, feature integrated smart technology allowing residents to communicate with each other, the building’s management, and even outside vendors.

By Garry Boulard

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