CREJ

June 2021 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \ 77 WORDS: Kevin Criss Five Points, July 1947 The jazz is jumpin’ at the Casino Dance Hall and next door at the Ex-Servicemen’s Club, both owned by local legend and “The Mayor of Five Points,” Benny Hooper. Welton Street pulses with energy as “Boo- gie Bop Blues” wafts into the night, where it dances with the sounds of laughter and car horns. A shiny Ford Super Deluxe squeals its tires gassing the turn at The Rossonian. Duke, Satchmo, Count, Billie … all the cats play Benny’s clubs. The night is young and you’re in “Harlem of the West,” the hottest jazz stop between Chicago and San Francis- co. Five Points, June 2021 After decades of neglect, the neighborhood is starting to swing again thanks to a band of developers and architects committed to moving the area forward while respecting the neighborhood’s rich cultural past. And Benny’s name now adorns The Hoop- er at Five Points, a nine-story riff on mixed- use that features 27,548 square feet of Class A office space, 103 apartment homes – 80% of which will be micro units – and 6,016 sf of ground-floor retail. Located at 26th and Welton streets, The Hooper at Five Points is the latest Welton Corridor hit from the team of Palisade Part- ners and Craine Architecture 1 . Making the Move to Five Points Paul Books, president of Palisade Partners, met Dan Craine, AIA, NCARB, principal of Craine Architecture, in 2010 and a budding business relationship took off. The two worked together on B-Street LoHi, which rolled into a series of projects includ- ing Books’ private residence and Summit Sky Ranch in Silverthorne. According to Books, it was Craine who broached the idea of doing work in Five Points. “Given it fit our contrarian approach, we decided to spend some time to see what may make sense,” says Books. “After significant neighborhood feedback, we designed The Wheatley.” “It’s an area with deep cultural identity, and Paul dove right in and began communi- The Hooper at Five Points Palisade Partners and Craine Architecture have the Welton Corridor playing a new tune 1 Hyder Construction joined The Hooper team early for preconstruction services and eventually was retained for the build-out.