A new high-density neighborhood would remake the Mile High City With an evolving urban core, plans for a proposed 90-story skyscraper, and speculations that the city could be an Amazon HQ2 frontrunner and a potential future Olympics host site, Denver, Colorado, is a mid-size U.S. city with New York-sized ambitions. But despite increasing density and rapid population growth, there are still sections of the Mile High City where 1980s-style surface parking lots?not trendy mixed-use developments?reign supreme.
A revamped downtown neighborhood plan aims to change that. City leaders this week supported a plan for a new Denver neighborhood?tentatively called the River Mile?that would drastically transform both the city?s urban center and its redeveloping riverfront. It?s a trend seen throughout the country as both large and mid-size cities aim to reclaim waterfronts from industrial use and increase density in an effort to combat rising housing costs. In Denver, it would take about 20 years to redevelop an area on the west side of the city currently occupied by the 62-acre Elitch Gardens amusement park and event parking lots that serve the Pepsi Center, the Downtown Aquarium, and the Children?s Museum. The owners of the amusement park, Revesco Properties, first announced their interest in redeveloping the sites last spring. This week?s approval from Denver city leaders paves the way for the proposed redevelopment to move forward.
Although still in draft form, the new pla...