FROM THE LinkedIn GROUP – REAL ESTATE AND MOBILITY
Our Driverless Future: Heaven or Hell?
“Our Driverless Future: Heaven or Hell? is a tale of two tomorrows. In the ‘hell’ scenario, driverless mobility becomes so cheap that most commuters continue to ride solo and even dedicated transit riders swap their monthly passes for less expensive mobility. Public transit withers away while traffic grows increasingly unbearable. In the ‘heaven’ scenario, driverless technology makes it possible to conquer congestion once and for all by recreating public transit using shared electric autonomous vehicles. With the right incentives, driverless transit can pull enough of today’s solo commuters out of their 4,000-pound ‘full metal jackets’ and into shared rides to ensure our roads once again flow freely. Think UberPool or Lyft Lines, but at a fraction of the cost since they’ll be electric and driverless. The result? Faster commutes with convenient on-demand door-to-door service. In about 75 easy-reading pages, you’ll discover the simple strategy to achieve this vision. The following appendices will provide you with the supporting details, including how America can save over a trillion dollars a year—much of which will be your savings. Read on, and you’ll learn that driverless is coming sooner than you thought and how it will change your life—even if you never set foot in a driverless car.”
https://www.amazon.com/Our-Driverless-Future-Heaven-Disruption-ebook/dp/B07DN94W2G/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
Detroit train station is city’s biggest comeback moment yet
“There’s no other way to say it: This Ford deal for the train station is the Big One. The one event in the city’s comeback story that outranks all that has gone before…Other cities have revived their aging train stations as retail centers or tourist draws — Washington, D.C.’s Union Station comes to mind, as well as depots in Cincinnati and Leipzig, Germany. But I know of no city that took its most prominent eyesore, its international symbol of Rust Belt decline — the ruin porn of all ruin porn — and turned it into the preeminent symbol of their city’s future progress.”
https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/john-gallagher/2018/06/15/ford-detroit-train-station-impact/697756002/
Is traffic congestion a good thing?
“Businesses may be more likely to leave areas that have a great deal of regional congestion but stay (and prosper) in cities with local congestion. This study confirms that traffic congestion can promote economic growth but also suggests that there might be a point where it does indeed become a drag on the economy.”
https://www.ssti.us/2018/06/is-traffic-congestion-a-good-thing/
As scooters, bikes, and transit startups flood the streets, cities need to control the curb
“With more options that ever for getting around cities, and finite space, the question of how we use this infrastructure, and who controls it, is more important than ever. By regulating how these new transportation options evolve, cities can potentially bring about a more sustainable, multimodal, and less car-centric transit future. “The curb is an increasingly contested piece of urban real estate,” according to “The Shared-Use City: Managing the Curb,” a new report by the International Transport Forum. It’s where companies, citizens, and the government are jockeying for space for transportation, commerce, and delivery. Cities built and maintain the curb, and need to reassert ownership.”
https://www.curbed.com/2018/6/13/17456664/uber-lyft-curb-scooters-bikeshare
Transitioning Toward the Autonomous Vehicle
“Experts predict that when these futuristic cars finally do arrive, they won’t just revolutionize how people get around. They’ll also upend entire industries, including commercial real estate. Parking infrastructure will be particularly impacted…Dekker says planning for fewer private cars in the future, repurposing parking for AV drop-off points and adapting the resulting unused space for more productive commercial use presents a huge and as yet largely untapped opportunity for property owners and developers. ”
https://www.naiop.org/Magazine/2018/Summer-2018/Business-Trends/Transitioning-Toward-the-Autonomous-Vehicle
Automated Parking Comes to the US
“The recently built Hive Parking Structure is the first and only fully automated parking system in the San Francisco Bay area. CityLift took 1,600 square feet of space, room for seven standard parking spaces, built a structure 55 feet (seven stories) high, and turned those seven spaces into 39.”
https://www.naiop.org/en/Magazine/2018/Summer-2018/Business-Trends/Automated-Parking-Comes-to-the-US
The Future Of The Shopping Mall Is Not About Shopping
While A-grade malls are being reinvented, we will definitely see a major culling of B and C grade properties. Part of the reason is changing customer needs and expectations, but there are also just too many malls. The number of American shopping centers quadrupled from 1970-2017, in the days when it was useful to have cookie-cutter chain stores close to home. Today, we don’t need ready physical access to goods via malls; the smartphone in our pocket is the gateway to a world of brands. The reckoning is coming – as retail investment adviser Daniel Hurwitz once wryly observed: “I don’t think we’re overbuilt, I think we’re under-demolished”.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonbird1/2018/06/17/the-future-of-the-shopping-mall-is-not-about-shopping/#670930d55cf2
More Evidence of the Economic Upsides to Traffic
“How can wasted time be good? The authors of this study based on 89 US regions over 30 years say traffic pushes builders to create infill development, motivates efficient mobility like walking, biking and transit and gets people to live closer to where they want to work and entertain themselves. Whatever the reasons, they find congestion is positively connected to increases in jobs and per capita GDP.”
https://www.planetizen.com/node/99056?
Denver wants to infuse its downtown with dense housing and public spaces
“The River Mile neighborhood wants to maximize its connections to already existing light rail stations, and the plan proposes parking maximums rather than parking minimums to encourage residents to use public transportation, biking, and walking…After this week’s 11-0 vote in favor of the plan, the next step for the River Mile neighborhood is to get a rezoning approval which will take at least six months. The entire development will also be at the mercy of market forces over the coming two decades.”
https://www.curbed.com/2018/6/14/17448138/denver-downtown-plan-river-mile
How Autonomous Vehicles Will Shape Cities
“You may have expected that a drone would be delivering your takeout burritos, but it turns out robots on sidewalks will probably be doing it first. Autonomous robots will likely be a boon to local restaurants and shops, allowing them to more easily compete with megaliths like Amazon and provide customers with almost instant deliveries.”
https://citiesspeak.org/2018/06/01/how-autonomous-vehicles-will-shape-cities/
Reimagine the Colfax-Federal Cloverleaf Interchange as a Place for People, Not Cars
“All this hulking car infrastructure is overbuilt and unwarranted. Fewer vehicles pass through the interchange on an average weekday — 18,715 — than the at-grade intersection of Colfax Avenue and Colorado Boulevard — 27,018 — according to traffic counts from Denver Public Works.”
https://denver.streetsblog.org/2018/05/31/sunday-reimagine-the-colfax-federal-cloverleaf-interchange-as-a-place-for-people-not-cars/
The Free Ride brings 6-person shuttles to Denver
“The Free Ride makes its revenue from companies that use the vehicles as their advertisement canvas. In Denver, Vita Coco, a coconut water company, is paying for the vehicles and also giving away coconut water samples. Brown said most of The Free Ride’s revenue comes from advertisers, and sometimes from city governments.”
https://businessden.com/2018/06/08/the-free-ride-brings-6-person-shuttles-to-denver/
Momentum building at Broadway Park TOD
“This is the first phase of transformation of this area from an auto-dominant, big-box retail center and sort of early ‘90s land planning into a transit-oriented development with mixed use and higher density,” said Dan Cohen, development manager with D4 Urban.”
https://crej.com/news/momentum-building-at-broadway-park-tod/
MOBILITY
RTD is hosting informational meetings to inform the communities we serve about the completed Pass Program Study and current fare review. We conduct a scheduled fare review every three years to identify potential fare changes. This fare review is being performed in part by recommendations from a yearlong Pass Program Study. Members of the 25-member Pass Program Working Group were asked to evaluate and recommend changes to RTD’s pass programs and existing fare policy.
At these open house, RTD staff will present updates concerning fares, the Pass Program Study and working groups fare recommendations, the agency and its budget, and more. Staff will be available to answer questions from the public.
http://www.rtd-denver.com/fare-review.shtml
http://www.rtd-denver.com/PassProgramStudy.shtml
ATTAINABLE HOUSING
Why Affordable Housing Is So Important for Development Near Transit
“Without equitable planning and policies in place, major transit investment can generate new demand for development in areas that quickly transition from economic afterthoughts to high-end enclaves of housing, retail, and offices catering to higher-income earners while leaving behind low-income households who could most benefit from improved transit access. Transit agencies may then find themselves the victims of their own expansion, setting in motion a speculative real estate market that delivers high-rent land uses but few new transit riders.”
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/06/20/why-affordable-housing-is-so-important-for-development-near-transit/
To Make the Most of Transit Oriented Development, Include Affordable Housing
“Without equitable planning and policies in place, major transit investment can generate new demand for development in areas that quickly transition from economic afterthoughts to high-end enclaves of housing, retail, and offices catering to higher-income earners while leaving behind low-income households who could most benefit from improved transit access. Transit agencies may then find themselves the victims of their own expansion, setting in motion a speculative real estate market that delivers high-rent land uses but few new transit riders.”
https://www.planetizen.com/node/99313
When Gentrification Follows Transit Oriented Development
“At issue is something called transit-induced gentrification, a socioeconomic by-product of transit-oriented development that would have been largely unthinkable 25 years ago, when the idea of living above a busy train station and not owning a car held less appeal among the upwardly mobile than it does today.”
https://www.planetizen.com/node/99296
Denver council sets stage for density on “Fox Island,” but some question affordable housing strategy
“Anyone who builds on the land will pay a higher-than-normal amount toward affordable housing — about $2 per square foot, 25 percent higher than the normal fee for residential development. But that money could end up funding housing anywhere in Denver. Councilwoman At-large Robin Kniech said that the city should have forced developers to build the lower-cost housing on the site, especially since it’s near a rail station.”
https://denverite.com/2018/06/19/denver-council-sets-stage-for-density-on-fox-island-but-some-question-affordable-housing-strategy/
REAL ESTATE
Denver City Council Member Mary Beth Susman reports that a Senior Living Community coming to Virginia Vale. A 200-unit senior living community will break ground in Denver’s Hilltop neighborhood in early 2019. The unnamed project will be delivered by Focus Property Group, a Denver-based property investor and developer, and Ascent Living Communities, a Centennial-based owner and operator of senior living communities. The 4.4-acre site is on the corner of Holly Street and Leetsdale Drive. The three-story community will feature independent living apartments, assisted living suites, and memory care suites. Amenities will include courtyards, fitness centers, and pools. Locally-based Hord Coplan Macht will be designing the project. Austin-based studioSIX5 will do the interior design. Catamount Constructors, Inc. will be the general contractor.
Denver City Council Member Paul Kashmann reports the next of an ongoing series of public meetings regarding the Kentro Group proposals for redevelopment of two former Colorado Department of Transportation sites, at 4201 E. Arkansas Ave. and 2000 S. Holly St. The next meeting to discuss the S. Holly St. site had not been scheduled.
Meeting for 4201 E. Arkansas Ave. – Thursday July 12th from 6 P.M. – 8 P.M.
Event Center at Infinity Park – 4400 E. Kentucky Ave. in Glendale
Parking at the Northeast corner of Kentucky Ave. and Cherry. St. Meeting Room will be labeled CDOT Headquarters – Community Meeting # 6. Food and Beverage provided.
http://kentrogroup.com/arkansas/
Bicycle lanes have been proposed for both sides of Florida Ave. from Monaco St. to University Blvd. Join representatives from Denver Public works and Denver’s Safe Routes to Schools Program to discuss the potential benefits and impacts this will have on the community.
Bicycle Lane Public Meeting
July 25th, 5:30 P.M.
Virginia Village Library – 1500 S. Dahlia St.
The Denver Urban Waterways Restoration Study is a study to identify restorative improvements to three major urban waterways — Harvard Gulch, Weir Gulch, and the South Platte River from 6th to 58th Avenues — in the City and County of Denver. Based on the availability of newer predictive computer models that can now more accurately determine flood risk and a heightened awareness of ecosystem health, sponsors are conducting a series of studies to reassess the condition of these waterways considering flood risk assessment, ecosystem health, and recreational opportunities. Open Houses are scheduled:
Weir Gulch -Tuesday, July 31 – 5:30 – 7:30pm
Barnum Rec Center, 360 Hooker St.
South Platte River
Wednesday, August 1 – 5:30 – 7:30pm
REI, 1416 Platte St.
Harvard Gulch
Thursday, August 2 – 5:30 – 7:30pm
Porter Hospital, 2525 S Downing St.
http://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-waterways.html
The University of Denver (DU) recently launched its Campus Master Plan process—a planning effort that will create a blueprint to guide the evolution of the physical and built environment on and around the campus. This is a unique planning effort in that it will not only examine the campus, but also its edges. The goal is to promote greater interactions with neighboring communities, commercial areas and parks, as well as to improve transportation, pedestrian, and bicycling systems for the entire area. You may have come to one of the kick-off open forums hosted at DU last month, which were attended by community members, students, faculty and staff. Throughout the planning process, DU will continue to work with the community to gather your ideas and vision for the future of the area. After last month’s forums, DU released a survey to gather feedback on priorities for the kinds of spaces and places the community would like on and around campus, as well as ideas to support mobility and sustainability.
http://impact.du.edu/our-progress/campus-master-plan/
Denver City Council Member Kendra Black reports that with a blank CDOT sound barrier wall and no landscaping, the current entrance to southeast Denver is too bland and boring for Cherry Creek 3 President Don Ireland. This summer, working with neighbors, Ascend Cannabis Company and our office, a more welcoming look is planned to greet visitors and residents. Denver artist and muralist Delton Demarest has volunteered to paint a new, colorful “Welcome to Denver” mural. Cherry Creek 3 is raising funds to help pay for his paints and for plants for a proposed native/xeric garden that will accompany the mural.
https://www.gofundme.com/i225-wall-mural-fund
Led by President Don Ireland, Cherry Creek 3 HOA has received several awards and national attention for their ongoing efforts to re-landscape the neighborhood to conserve water, create habitat-friendly plants and use sustainable landscaping practices. For the first time ever, the Plant Select organization (a non-profit collaboration of the Denver Botanic Gardens, Colorado State University, nurseries, garden centers and gardening professionals) awarded Cherry Creek 3 with an HOA Partnership Award for excellence in design, vision and educational outreach. Plant Select hopes the newly created category will challenge, guide and inspire other HOAs to implement more beautiful and sustainable landscapes. Cherry Creek 3’s gardening and water-conservation efforts have resulted in the HOA receiving several statewide awards since 2013.
http://www.cherrycreek3.com/
The High Line Canal Conservancy has begun a comprehensive tree care plan to extend the life of the tree canopy and ensure a safe and vibrant trail corridor. Many trees, especially Cottonwood, are completing their lifespan as the Canal reaches 150 years. Changing times have demanded new, creative ways of thinking in order to preserve the natural qualities of the Canal, while also being responsible water stewards- Objectives:
- Maintain a safe environment for trail users
- Preserve and enhance the health and beauty of the tree canopy
- Support a healthy ecosystem for plants and wildlife
Work has already started in Aurora and the crew is moving upstream as well as taking care of emergency tree care along the 71 miles.
http://www.highlinecanal.org/tree-care
Major changes and renovations have started at Denver International Airport. The projects are responses to years of increased passenger growth, making DIA the 5th busiest airport in the U.S.
Crews broke ground on the gate expansion project, adding 39 gates and passenger amenities like food and shopping, charging stations and outdoor space. Work is expected to last through 2020.
Starting in July, major renovations in the Jeppessen Terminal will begin. Great Hall Partners will consolidate ticketing areas, move security screening to the upper level and construct a new main-floor concession space. Other changes coming up next month will include some concession closures, temporary relocation of ground transportation booths and installation of construction walls and barriers.
http://www.flydenver.com
Come to the plaza at DIA and make your travels a walk in the park! Enjoy lawn games, lunchtime fitness classes and lounge seating. The pop-up park is held outside on the Plaza between Jeppesen Terminal and the Westin Hotel and is open July 4 – Sept. 3.
