CREJ - page 102

Page 22B — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — June 15-July 5, 2016
T he Auraria Higher Education
Center (AHEC), home to
the University of Colorado
Denver, Metropolitan State University
of Denver and the Community
College of Denver, had been
historically disconnected from
the rest of Downtown Denver.
The 2007 Downtown Area Plan
called for fully integrating the
campus and Downtown Denver
core through improvements to
physical, social, economic and
programmatic connections. In
2013, the Connecting Auraria study
kicked off its examination of how
to improve the existing connections
between Auraria and the campus’s
surrounding neighborhoods, such as
the Commercial Core, LoDo, Golden
Triangle and La Alma/Lincoln Park.
Incremental improvements have
already been implemented, such as
the addition of a campus bike lane
on Curtis Street and planters and
banners along Larimer Street which
have already improved the pedestrian
environment along one of Auraria’s
most traveled pedestrian corridors.
Over $320,000,000 has been
in invested in new buildings at the
Auraria Campus since 2013 with
another 5 projects that were recently
completed, under construction or
planned. Metro State University of
Denver’s Regency Athletic Complex,
a $23.6 million, 13 acre facility
featuring new playing fields and
locker rooms recently finished
construction. The transformation
of former athletic fields adjacent to
the Tivoli Student Union is currently
underway and will become the Tivoli
Quad featuring a new park, water
feature as well as a beer garden
outside of the Tivoli Brewery when
it is completed later this fall. The
University of Colorado’s Wellness
Center will begin construction this
fall on a $42 million facility that will
feature a pool, climbing wall, gym
and other amenities and is scheduled
for completion in 2018. Metropolitan
State University of Denver recently
began construction of the $70
million Aerospace and Engineering
Sciences Building located at 7th
& Auraria Parkway and will add
new classrooms and specialized
laboratories when it opens in 2017.
Outside of the Auraria Campus,
the newest public project to be
announced was that the Kirkland
Museum of Fine & Decorative Arts
plans to leave its current facility
in the Capitol Hill neighborhood
and move into a new 19,000
square foot facility adjacent to
the Clyfford Still Museum that is
currently under construction in the
Golden Triangle neighborhood.
Another project that will commence
construction in 2016 is the $14
million redevelopment of the Civic
Center Transit Station into a more
efficient and modern facility that will
serve as the local transportation
hub for Downtown Denver and its
city center neighborhoods. Two new
dedicated bike lanes recently opened
in Downtown Denver along Arapahoe
and Lawrence Street that provide
improved access within the Central
Business District and strengthen the
overall bike network for Downtown.
Image courtesy of Olson Kundig Architects
Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Arts’ new 19,000 square foot facility under construction in the Golden neighborhood.
Kirkland Museum
PUBLIC PROJECTS
Images courtesy of AHEC
The MSU of Denver Regency Athletic Complex, a 13 acre sports facility featuring new playing fields and
a 20,000 square foot athletic training building that was recently completed.
Images courtesy of AHEC
The Auraria Library’s $32 million, third phase of renovations is under construction and scheduled for
completion in 2017.
Athletic Complex Auraria Library