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December 2020 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \ 51 N ext spring and summer promises to be an excit- ing one for downtown Denver. After what will have been over a year of hibernation, our resi- dents, business travelers and visitors will have a wholenewcity todelight them. Formost of 2020, COVID-19 cut off the lifelines of our center city. Conventions were canceled, business travelers were grounded, and most offices were under stay-at-home protocols. While people re- discovered their back yards and turned spare bedrooms into makeshift offices, those involved in constructionkeptmaking the trek downtown every day to complete several large new projects, whichwerewell underwaywhen the pandemic took hold. Some large surprises will greet people when restrictions are finally lifted. Market Station is one of the most significant changes that awaits people’s return. It will open to the public in January andwill transformtheheart of LoDo. ContinuumPartnerspur- chased the property fromthe city of Denver in late 2015 as the final parcel in theUnionStationMasterDeveloper Agreement, which was awarded to Continuum and East West in 2006. Bounded by 16th, 17th, Market and Blake streets, the property is nearly a full city block, affording us a unique opportunity to connect 17th Street and the Ballpark Neighborhood to 16th Street. One of our principal goals with Market Station is to boost the sidewalk vitality of this part of LoDo and 16th Street in much the same way that our Union Station Neighborhood development has transformed the Wynkoop corridor. The 370,000-square-foot project combines 82,000 sf of retail, 95,000 sf of office and 225 residences, aswell as a level of below-grade parking that features an innovative mechanical parking pro- gram. Given the sheer size of the property – 2 acres – and its prime location, Market Stationprovided us the opportunity to create a retail programof a size and scope not seen elsewhere in LoDo. The project is perfectly situated to launch a carefully curated retail destination indowntownright at the crossroads of the 16th Street Mall and the one way pairing of Market and Blake streets. These cornersmark the convergence of thehigh- est foot traffic and vehicular counts downtown. These busy streets made for some challenging construction complexities. It required a high level of coordination between the material deliveries, demo and excavation and expanded infrastructures needed to serve a project of this scope in the midst of this busy crossroads. Adding to the complexity was the fact that we were building a vertical mixed-use develop- ment in the middle of a historic district. Close coordination between our contractor, Kiewit, BOKA Powell, our architect of record, and our lead design architect, El Dorado, was needed through the very end of the project. Mar- ket Station will become its own destina- tion within downtown Denver much the way Larimer Street and Union Station are now. The property had been home to the RTD downtown bus terminal until 2014 when the newfacility at Union Stationopened. The bus stationhad 12 undergroundbus bays that we were able to repurpose into the new un- derground parking garage for the project. We used an innovative mechanical stacking system to take full advantage of the height, whichprovides the ability to park two cars in each individual space for a total capacity of 320 cars. Careful thought also was given to bike parking through both grade-level racks and secure below-grade stor- age. Many of the residential apartments are equipped with state-of-the-art gear storage systems to further cater to bike commuters and recreational cyclists. The retail component of Market Station is the heart of the project. There are distinct retail zones – traditional areas that front each of the streets as well as an interior Paseo and Ar- cade. The streetside retail has a more formal aesthetic that blendswith the surrounding LoDo historic district design. The Paseo and Arcade key off of the historic warehouse and train logistics that defined this neighborhood for its first 100 years. The city has been encouraging developers to activate alleys throughout downtown toaddadditional indoor/outdoor spac- es throughout thecentral businessdistrict. TheMarket Station Market Station: Creating a Community, Not Just a Place Mark Falcone Founder and CEO of Continuum Partners Streetside retail has a more formal aesthetic that blends with the surrounding LoDo historic district design.