More details revealed on proposed high-rise project in downtown Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- In an update to a story KRDO NewsChannel 13 first reported last week, more information became available Tuesday about a plan to build the city's tallest building on the southwest corner of downtown.
The O'Neil Group, developer for the project, recently filed plans with the city's Urban Renewal Authority; the URA will officially see and discuss the plan during a Wednesday meeting.
The proposed project includes a 25-story apartment building that would contain 316 units ranging from studios to three-bedroom, along with ground floor office space and a variety of amenities for tenants.
Beside the apartments would be an 11-story office building that also includes retail space.
The project would be a block east of the new Olympic and Paralympic Museum, on land bordered by Cascade Avenue to the east, Costilla Street to the south, Sahwatch Street to the west and Vermijo Avenue to the north.
Construction could begin as soon as next fall and take two years to complete.
The project helps meet the need for housing and the demand for top-level office space that hasn't been built since the Plaza of the Rockies South Tower opened 20 years ago.
Jariah Walker, the URA's executive director, addressed several concerns about the project Tuesday.
"I know that some people will complain about losing their mountain views," he said. "But in this zone of downtown there's no height restriction as there is in other zones. I don't think this project will lead to a rush of similar high-rise projects. But I think we'll see more of them, eventually. With real estate being what it is, it makes more sense to build up instead of around."
While the project represents progress and the development of a skyline more fitting for the big city Colorado Springs has become, some residents in the nearby Mill Street neighborhood worry about changes brought by the development and other apartment construction downtown.
"We're already adjusting to the new soccer stadium and apartments being built around it," said Tylan Troyer, a resident. "There is a lot of space that's limited now, so it sounds like that could lead to more units and more higher buildings around here -- and that's something that would concern me for sure."
Nikko Manning, another resident, expressed mixed feelings.
"I don't think one high-rise project is going to be bad," he said. "I can see the need for it. Now, if it starts to become a habit... that's another thing. I've lived in cities with skyscrapers but I moved here because I like the smaller style."
The project also requires that two 1900-era homes be moved off the property. The developer is offering to give the homes away and avoid demolishing them if someone can pay the considerable cost of moving them.
The project's estimated cost is $270 million and could create more than 3,700 jobs.
At 25 stories, the apartment building would be taller that the 16-story Wells Fargo building downtown.
Cooper Tower, a proposed 22-story, mixed-use building project, was canceled when its developer filed for bankruptcy after the 2008 recession; it was to be at the corner of Nevada Avenue and Kiowa Street where a Hyatt hotel was recently built.
