On December 20, 2011 the board of RTD voted in favor of a proposed hotel redevelopment at Denver Union Station. The transit agency board voted 14-0, with one abstention, in support of a $48 million proposal by a consortium called Union Station Alliance. The USA plan calls for redeveloping the upper levels of the historic train depot as a 130-room hotel, with retail and restaurants on the ground floor. RTD staff and an evaluation committee earlier had recommended the USA plan over a competing proposal by Union Station Neighborhood Co., which called for a fresh food marketplace on the station’s ground floor with restaurants and retail, and office space on the second and third floors.
Previously, Historic Denver had participated in the Stakeholders Group meetings convened by RTD to help construct recommendations to the RTD Board on the future of the historic station. After months of meetings with representatives from the residents and businesses of the LoDo neighborhood, the City of Denver, DUSPA, Union Station Advocates, Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP), and RTD, Historic Denver felt that the recommendations will help guide the preservation of this icon, activate its interior and plaza spaces, and connect the station more efficiently with the neighborhood, city, and region.
In July 2011 Historic Denver completed a full Historic Structures Assessment of Denver Union Station. The project, funded by the Colorado State Historical Fund, provided in-depth analysis of the historic station's key characteristics and systems. The assessment was completed by Slater Paul Architects, with grant management services provided by Historic Denver. The HSA provides a road map for anyone who wants to redevelop the station in a manner that will honor the historic integrity of the building while providing space and services for new uses.
Download the final HSA here for all the details. (Please note, the document is more than 700 pages, so it may take several minutes to load onto your screen).
Union Station Alliance - Selected to develop the historic Union Station building.
Denver Union Station Project Authority - The Denver City Council created the Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA) which is responsible for the financing, acquiring, owning, equipping, designing, constructing, renovating, operating and maintaining the Denver Union Station redevelopment project.
Union Station Neighborhood Company - Master Developer of the 19.5-acre site around Union Station.
Slideshow presented at Downtown Denver Partnership's Member Forum: “Denver Union Station: Downtown Denver's Emerging District"
Denver Infill
On February 11, 2009 the Union Station Neighborhood Company and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) released draft #5 of the Urban Design Standards and Guidelines for Denver’s Union Station.
A meeting was held on February 18, 2009 in which SOM summarized the make-up of the document and outlined its desired intent. An invitation to comment on the document was made concurrently to the members of the Union Station Advisory Committeeand other consulting parties to the process. A deadline was set for March 5th for the public and advisory members to comment, while a deadline of March 16th was set for consulting parties’ comments based on an earlier agreement. Those comments are now in and are being analyzed. A summary of comments from the public and consulting parties have been compiled and grouped according to popular categories:
The General Development Plan for Denver Union Station was presented to the Land Use and Urban Design break-out group (BOG) and has now been sent to the City for review. Much of the content of the General Development Plan has been crafted over the seven year run of the Union Station Advisory Committee which momentously ended its existence as of Wednesday, March 18, 2009.
Historic Denver has had a representation on the advisory committee and participated actively in visioning efforts. The new authority taking the place of the Advisory Committee is named Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA) and was created by Denver City Council. It has a Board of Directors with membership incorporating representatives of all the partner agencies. DUSPA will be the primary financing entity for the project and will be the contracting entity for the construction contracts. It is likely also to be a key component of any governance structure that is developed for the project. The DUSPA Board meets twice monthly.
For more information about the Denver Union Station’s Urban Design Standards and Guidelines, visit www.denverunionstation.org.
