The board decided not to vote on the massing for the entire envelope of the project, which is bordered by the 16th Street Mall, 15th, Wewatta and Wynkoop streets. Only three of the five members of the powerful board attended and Hines needed to receive all three votes in order to move forward on the project. Several more approvals will be required before construction can start.

But one member, Joanne Salzman, a long-time resident of LoDo, made it clear she would vote against the project. Salzman says one elliptical-shaped, contemporary tower is out of character with the neighborhood of renovated old warehouses. The 106,400-sf annex sits across from the Denver Union Station on one side and buildings such as the Tattered Cover Bookstore on the other.

Another board member, John Anderson, told Hines that some of the future buildings planned along 15th street were too tall at the proposed height of about 130 feet.