Moderately Priced Apartments On Tap

A separate buildng will include 53 senior independent living units, where monthly rents will range from $800 to $2,500, depending on what kind of plan the seniors choose. That building will include 11,500 sf of retail, such as a restaurant, a bank and perhaps a hair stylist, to serve the residents.

Biehl, principal of General Management Services, says he believes this is the first new apartment complex in the area in about two decades.

''There's quite a number of apartments in the area along Hampden, but almost all of those were built in the '70s and the '80s,'' Biehl says. ''It's really rare to have such a new, large infill project like this.''

A dozen apartment projects in the area have an overall vacancy rate of 2.5%, according to a study by THK Consultants that was commissioned by Biehl.

It's also unusual to develop an apartment complex that isn't luxurious in the Denver area, he says.

''This isn't an ultra luxury apartment community like you usually find,'' says Biehl, who also is completing a $19-million, Whole Foods-anchored neighborhood shopping center in Highlands Ranch that will open this fall.

''We worked with the neighborhood for a couple of years and we wanted to build a more affordable product that fit in better with the neighborhood,'' he says. ''We're not going after that really high-end market.''

Biehl's investors include a group from Chicago.

The units are moderately priced, Biehl says, not low-priced. It won't have an affordable component.

''Neither the neighborhood nor (city council) member Ted Hackworth were interested in that,'' Biehl says.

There's no reason to require affordable housing because Biehl isn't using any city funds, Hackworth says.

''It's a little bit of a misnomer that there isn't any affordable housing,'' Hackworth told GlobeSt.com. ''His $800 a month for a one-bedroom apartment is affordable. Affordable is defined as 80 percent of the area median income, which is $44,000 per year. So for somone making $32,000 per year, $800 per month is affordable.''Biehl's plans cut the density in more than half.''It was zoned for more than 750 units,'' Biehl told GlobeSt.com. ''The original plans called for a high-rise, which would have been totally out of character for the neighborhood.''The project also includes 5.5 acres of landscaping.The council recently unanimously approved his planned unit development zoning for the project, despite some last-minute, unexpected protests from some neighbors, he said. The Bear Valley and Harvey Park Neighborhood endorsed it, he says. Some opponents voiced concerns about added traffic, bring more crime to the area and change the character of the neighborhood. Some rumors even contended that Biehl had a ''secret agenda'' to build high-rises on the land, even though his PUD only allows buildings no more than three-stories tall.Biehl went as far to devote a section responding to ''myths'' about his project in a summary of his development that he presented to the city council.Hackworth said it is always tough to put multi-family housing next to single family homes.''From that standpoint, the (protests) were understandable,'' Hackworth said. But cutting the density by more than half was a ''god-send,'' he said and Biehl is providing such a large buffer between the homes and apartment that existing neighbors actually will be better off than if Biehl were building single-family homes.Hackworth also said that the land has been a long-time eyesore. Biehl hauled off all of the prairie dogs on the land about a year ago, and he'll be taking care of the noxious weeds. ''Most of the protests didn't make any sense,'' Biehl says. ''This land has been used as a dumping ground for years. It's full of broken concrete, construction debris, old shingles. And some homeless people have been homesteading the land. A nice, affordable apartment complex is a perfect fit for the property.''