A new and large apartment complex, which will include around 14,000 square feet of commercial space, is slated to go up in downtown Denver.
The project, called Society Denver, will see the construction of a 12-story building housing some 600 apartments.
Plans for the project at 123 Speer Boulevard have not been without some controversy. The site is the long-time home to the ABC network affiliate KMGH, operating its studios and offices in a 5-story building.
That structure, according to local preservationists, is one of the few examples in Denver of the Brutalist architectural style so popular in the 1950s and 60s.
Brutalist buildings are known for their massive, block-like appearances and have been either praised for expanding the boundaries of mostly government office architecture or condemned as visually forbidding.
In May members of the Denver City Council turned down a move to designate the structure as a local landmark.
That decision has now cleared the way for the New York-based Property Markets Group, in a joint venture with Greybrook Realty Partners, to announce plans for the new apartment complex, which will require the demolition of the KMGH building.
Greybrook is based in Toronto.
The partnership, after purchasing the building and site for $35 million, anticipate a two-phase construction project. Plans additionally call for the building of fitness studios, communal kitchens, and coworking spaces.
Despite the dispute over preserving the KMGH building, the Property Markets Group has announced that it will work with a local neighborhood group called Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods as the project takes form.
In a news release, Property Markets said it wanted to “ensure the development suits the surrounding neighborhood and community needs.”
By Garry Boulard
