The development, as now proposed, would have about 600,000 sf of office, hotel, retail and residential space on the 9.5-acre site in the tony Cherry Creek North area, across from the Taubman Co.'s upscale Cherry Creek shopping center.
On Jan. 16, the Denver City Council will vote on a zoning change request to allow construction of a 130-foot high hotel and 120-foot office building. Current zoning limits buildings to heights of 55-feet.
Nearby residents, including those who live in the nearby County Club area where $1 million-plus homes abound, oppose the development. They contend the plans are out of character in the predominately boutique and low-rise district.
Nichols says there are at least three other buildings in the neighborhood that are as tall or almost as tall as the ones he is proposing. And even if he kept the current zoning, the density would not change much, he says.
"These things are usually characterized by neighbors who are anti-development," Jerry Freeman, a Cherry Creek resident opposed to the project, told GlobeSt.com. "In this case, we are not anti-development. We are for appropriate development. It seems to me, Sears, and its local development partner, just want to maximize the value of its land and maximize the density, with no thought to what is best for the neighborhood. This is a very attractive, traditional, residential and retail low-rise neighborhood that is very comparable to Canyon Road in Santa Fe or the Back Bay in Boston." He slams the Sears plan as being "out of kilter," one that will create traffic gridlocks that will filter into surrounding neighborhoods.
City council already has tentatively approved the new zoning. City councilman Ed Thomas, who represents the Cherry Creek area, told GlobeSt.com that he is avoiding prejudgment. "I will listen to both sides and then make my decision," he says.
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