A local developer has visions of high-density development on a block that's currently lined with low-rise warehouses.
In a new rezoning application, LCP Development requested permission to build up to eight floors at 2065 S. Cherokee Street, in the Overland neighborhood.
The 0.7-acre site is just northeast of Evans Station, a rail site that has seen several apartment buildings sprout up. The land sold for $1.4 million in 2014 to Uhrig Holdings. The company LCP Development is representing Uhrig in the rezoning, per city records.
City plans mark the area for "transit oriented development," which is the same kind of higher-density areas that are rising up around stations like 38th and Blake.
The developer wants the city to designate the land as residential mixed-use. That typically would include apartments or condos with some commercial space. The requested zoning could allow for a project similar to Encore Evans Station, a 224-unit apartment just to the north that was set to open this quarter.
The developer wants to pursue "greater density and permitted uses that are more appropriate" for a rail station area, according to public records. However, the plans remained "very conceptual" as of December. The property is currently vacant. Previously, it was home to DSM Manufacturing, a sheet-metal company.
Development could benefit from a planned pedestrian bridge that will run from Jewell Avenue and across the railway, landing near the southeast edge of Overland Golf Course. The $13 million bridge project is funded by the recent GO bonds.
The bridge will allow eastern neighborhoods like Overland and Platt Park access to the South Platte River Trail and other recreational facilities. It should also make it a little less painful to reach Evans Station from the west.
The proposed rezoning will have to go through the planning board and Denver City Council, a process that could take six months. The application was filed Jan. 16, 2018. The property is currently zoned for light industrial uses.
The developer was not immediately available for comment.
