"It was such a large project for the neighborhood that it first met a lot of resistance from neighbors and neighborhood groups because of its size and density," MacKenzie tells GlobeSt.com.
But in what could be a blueprint for developers facing opposition, MacKenzie gained the support of neighborhood groups such as Capitol Hill United Neighborhood and Historic Denver Inc.
The first thing he did was hire Denver architect David Tryba, who has experience on a number of high-profile historic projects in Denver.
"We took a clue from the neighborhood and asked what they wanted," says Dean Foreman, an associate principal with David Owen Tryba Architects.
The neighborhood wanted a project that fit in with existing structures, including size, setbacks and building materials. At first, MacKenzie had envisioned a "Victorian knock-off," but instead he went with a brick and masonry structure.
"Rather than take these directives from the neighborhood as negatives, we took them as positives," Foreman says. "The bar has been raised as to what product is offered in the neighborhood.'"
United are priced from $185,000 to $700,000. Units range in size from 750 sf to 2,300 sf, with an average of about 1,200 sf. The two-building complex includes a four-story building with 45 units and a seven-story building with 71 units.
The average price per sf is $275, which is less than the $325 average in Lower Downtown and $300 per sf in the nearby Golden Triangle neighborhood, MacKenzie says. The Uptown neighborhood has about as many nearby restaurants and stores as LoDo, and more than the Golden Triangle, he says.
However, the project is coming on line at a time when the market is showing signs of slowing, primarily because of the weakness and volatility of the stock market, he says.
"But a project like this takes two years to build, so you can't be too concerned about what the Nasdaq is doing today," MacKenzie says.
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