(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
DENVER-Local developer's Don MacKenzie's company, MacKenzie House LLC, will start construction on a $16-million, 29-unit townhome development in the Ballpark neighborhood, only two blocks from Coors Field. The development at 2400 Walnut St, called 24 Walnut, will open in 2007.
Units will range form 1,600 sf to 2,400 sf and will be priced from $425,000 to $725,000. That is about $70 to $150 per sf less expensive than comparable projects in other locations in Downtown, MacKenzie House partner Mike Lotte tells GlobeSt.com.
Each townhome will have three stories, with parking on the ground floor; the kitchen and dining areas on the second level; and the master suite area on the third. Garages are extremely rare in Downtown, Lotte says. In addition to the two-car garages, each unit also will have rooftop decks. Typically, these are only found for buyers of penthouse units at other projects, he says.
Because the project has fewer than 30 units, MacKenzie House will not have to make 10% of the units affordable under a Denver City inclusionary zoning ordinance. "It wasn't by design; it just happened that way," says MacKenzie, who has built a similar product in Kansas City, MO. "It's a pretty tight fit on that site. We maximized the site and that's just how it fell."
MacKenzie House bought the site from Legacy Partners, a group whom MacKenzie has had a long-term relationship with. Legacy Partners initially planned to build its second high-end apartment project on the site.
"This site probably could have handled 40 to 60 units, maybe more, if we developed a mid-rise building on it," MacKenzie tells GlobeSt.com. "But what we found is that what people really want is a lower-rise building. We feel there is a lot of pent-up demand for this product."
MacKenzie tells GlobeSt.com that he expects most buyers will be moving up from other condos or lofts in Downtown and will be looking for more amenities, such as the garages and the rooftop decks. The contemporary design by JG Architects has been extremely well received, Lotte tells GlobeSt.com. "You always worry about that," Lotte says. "Planners and neighbors were really happy that we didn't try to make it look like a historic building. Instead, we gave it its own identity that is still compatible with the neighborhood."
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