Punch Bowl Stapleton

This isn't new, but I didn't know it before.  The base of the old Stapleton Control Tower is being developed into an entertainment venue with a capacity of 600.



--http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_27677163/former-stapleton-airport-control-tower-become-punch-bowl

The A-Line is open

This is a very cool video. It would be nicer if the streets were marked.  It passes under Peoria at 17:30, under I-225 at 18:30, intersects with Sable at 19:00, Chambers at 19:30, and passes over Airport Blvd at 21:00.

Brent's Place Park

Brent's Place Park, which is my unofficial name for the plot of land in red above, is being developed.  Brent's Place, a home for kids with cancer, is to the north.  

The land has apparently never been developed before and there are a number of beautiful trees on the property.  It is now fenced off and earth-movers are tearing up the grass, and the trees will probably come down as well.  No word yet on what is being built.

The Mon Chalet, to the west of the property, is an adult motel.  Right across Colfax from that, which shows up as a brown patch in the bottom right of the above satellite image, is a vacant lot which used to be the Bolleana Motel.

Colfax: the wickedest street in America

This was filmed in 2010.  The infamous Manor House Motel shows up for a second at the 8:56 mark.

Manor House Motel

The Manor House Motel is now a vacant lot, but within the last year it was still standing.  See this on Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7397929,-104.8410197,175m/data=!3m1!1e3  It's a long white-roof building along with a short red-roof building next to the Diamond Shamrock.  The address was either 12700 E Colfax or 12590 E Colfax, since at some point it was renumbered.  It used to also be known as Comb's Manor House.  I'm trying but can't find a postcard from the '50s.

Anyhow, now it is world famous as a motel where the manager spied on thousands of people having sex.  See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3529030/Colorado-motel-owner-secretly-watched-hundreds-guests-sex-29-YEARS-wives-supported-him.html  and  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/11/gay-talese-the-voyeurs-motel

This is not something to be proud of, but it's a lot more interesting that the vacant lot that is there now.

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Update:  The vacant lot at 12700 E Colfax Ave was sold on 11/17/14 for $775,000.  Since the area is only about 0.64 acres, the price per acre is about $1.2 million.  All for a vacant lot.

I would argue that this is a very bad investment.  The owner has to pay property taxes, so this has negative cash flow.  The owner obviously doesn't have a development plan or the cash to do it.  So he is just holding it until someone else wants it.  He could be waiting a very long time.  This is a small piece of land and right next to a gas station, so options are limited.  The only thing that would justify the land price would be a high-rise office building.

And there isn't enough demand to justify building an office building just a few blocks away at Fitzsimons 200, which even has a parking garage already built.

Fitzsimons Gateway

The newest idea for the southeast corner of Colfax and Peoria is to put a 10 story medical office building there.  See http://www.bmcinv.com/new-bmc/downloads/Anschutz-MOB.pdf and

http://www.denverrealestatewatch.com/2013/10/31/prime-land-near-fitzsimons-in-play/

"Although the property is currently zoned for the contemplated retail use, the city has indicated it will work with the partnership from a zoning standpoint if there is an opportunity to do a larger vertical project that supports the continued evolution of the Fitzsimons area."

The latest news on this was more than 2 years ago, so this is on hold.