About a year ago, East West bought 25 acres from Trillium Corp. and has been selling off some of the land for apartments while it continues to build condominiums and lofts on the site. All told, more than 2,500 housing units are under construction or planned, Heise says.

“The Trillium project could be the poster child for how a master-planned redevelopment should be done,” says Jerry Kendall, an apartment broker with Cushman & Wakefield. He says the project's “a winner in the high-density game due to its strategic planning from the onset. Recognizing the site's historical significance was an important first step. Then, an effort was made to understand the neighborhood's characteristics followed by early cooperation with planning authorities to resolve any critical issues and finally, coordinating transportation with parking, bus and light-rail components. “This site is the gateway and/or front door to Denver and the place people want to be in the metro area,” says Kendall.

Bobby Smith, a vice president of development based in Archstone's Austin office, says he is bullish on Denver. Archstone has a market cap of more than $6 billion and owns 75,000 apartment units across the country, making it the nation's second largest apartment REIT after Sam Zell's Equity Apartments.

“We think the LoDo area and the Central Platte Valley are just fantastic development opportunities,” says Smith. “We like being up against LoDo and our proximity to the central business district. When you look at Coors Fields as a bookend, the other being the Pepsi Center, Colorado's Ocean Journey, the new Bronco's Stadium, light rail coming and our proximity to the 16th Street Mall, we just think it is where people will want to live.