Developer Completes Route 40, Plans Adjacent Mixed-Use

DENVER-Slipstream Properties has completed a renovation of the former Smiley's Laundromat and Cleaners which includes 28 completely refurbished one-bedroom and studio apartments above 7,000 square feet of ground floor retail.

The Glendale CO-based developer has renamed the building Route 40. Located at 1080 E. Colfax Ave. the building is in the Denver Capitol Hill neighborhood is enjoying a resurgence with the number of people who are moving back to the city core. Walkscore.com states that Capitol Hill is the 3rd most walkable neighborhood in Denver with a neighborhood Walk Score of 90 and offers good transit and is great for biking, too.

Slipstream purchased the three-story building for $2.725 million in October 2012. Built in 1932, Route 40 is located between Corona Avenue and Ogden Avenue. The units, which range in size from 400 to 500 square feet for the studios, and 500 to 600 square feet for the one-bedrooms, will include new, high-end kitchens and bathrooms, larger windows, and refinished original hardwood floors. The apartment homes will be available for occupancy later this month.

Adjacent to this project on the site of an existing parking lot at the corner of Corona Avenue and Colfax, Slipstream Properties is developing a new five-story mixed-use building on .68 acres to include 74 apartments above 8,300 square feet of ground floor retail, and a parking garage. The new building, designed by national firm KTGY Group, Inc., will feature a second-floor courtyard/deck, laundry, fitness center, business center, extra storage, and a rentable guest suite, a hotel-type room for visiting family and friends. The apartment units will range in size from 470 to 658 square feet. A property management office will also be located in the new building. Groundbreaking for the $12 million project is slated for March 2014, with delivery of the first units in fall 2015.

According to Michael Ohara, principal in the Denver office of KTGY Group, Inc., the Capitol Hill location is ideal.

"Although the vacant Smiley's Laundromat and Cleaners building was in disrepair and was a gathering place for some of the less desirable citizens of Denver, Slipstream Properties saw the potential in the location as well as an opportunity to help clean up a section of the Avenue. KTGY is very excited to be a part of this revitalization project," said Ohara.

Denver's Colfax Avenue was the road to the Rockies back when Denver was first founded in the 1850s, noted Ohara. "It was originally called the Golden Road and Grand Avenue for this reason. It was also the main business route through town until the opening of Interstate 70 in the 1960s.”
While that interstate drew traffic away from the area and caused a decline in activity, today, Colfax Avenue is enjoying a resurgence, Ohara says Ohara.

"The architecture provides an updated look to the existing 80-year-old Smiley's building, with larger windows and large storefront openings for the retail. There will also be a continuation of the street-level retail/commercial spaces in the existing building. The exterior materials used on the new building will be a combination of brick, stucco, and cementitious panel siding."

Anthony Loeffler, a principal with Slipstream Properties added:

“The combination of a giving an 80-year-old building a new life next door to a brand new, modern, five-story mixed-use structure makes this project unique. KTGY Group, with their experience in adaptive re-use of existing buildings and multifamily housing has been instrumental in this process of designing both buildings to create a cohesive, yet timeless look.”

Celebrating 21 years, KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, is a national award-winning firm providing comprehensive planning and award-winning architectural design services for residential communities, retail, hospitality, mixed-use and related specialty developments. KTGY maintains offices in Irvine, Oakland and Santa Monica, Calif., Denver, Colo., and Tysons, Va.