A massive development plan for Cherry Creek’s four-block former Bed, Bath and Beyond site made its way through Denver City Council last week.
The nearly 13-acre plot of land currently has three commercial buildings and an ocean of parking lots. The new project, developed by East West Partners, will add seven new buildings, some as high as 13 stories, with a mix of office space and more than 800 residences — a major change for the Cherry Creek neighborhood.
The project will be called Cherry Creek West, and the site is bordered by the Denver Country Club to the west, Cherry Creek North to the north, the Cherry Creek Mall to the east, and the Cherry Creek Trail to the south.
While the residential buildings could be up to 13 stories tall, commercial and office space would be no more than eight stories. The project will include 99 units of affordable housing.
Just more than a third of the land is set to be open space. The developer also wants to create better connectivity between the neighborhood and the Cherry Creek Trail — billing the new neighborhood as a “Gateway to Cherry Creek.”
There would even be room for a farmer’s market.
What did the community say about Cherry Creek West?
Before city council unanimously passed several policies that allowed development to begin, Cherry Creek West largely received community support. Of the letters council received, 90 were in favor of the development, 17 in opposition and three included neutral comments.
The Cherry Creek Steering Committee, a coalition of registered neighborhood organizations and business groups, signed a community benefit agreement with the developers and endorsed the project.
Only the Alamo-Placita Neighborhood Association opposed the development.
Opponents expressed concerns over the height of the development interrupting views, more traffic and parking concerns.
Proponents touted the project for bringing more and diverse kinds of housing, green space and growth to the neighborhood that some said has been functioning as a second downtown.
Community Planning and Development argued the project would increase the neighborhood’s stock of affordable housing that would make it a place where people working at local restaurants and shops could actually afford to live.
Here’s what the developer says.
“Cherry Creek West was designed from the beginning to be a place that prioritizes people first, whether they live or work here or they're just passing through,” Amy Cara, managing partner at East West Partners, told city council. “We designed this community to reconnect the creek and surrounding neighborhoods.”
Of the housing built on the site, 12 percent will be designated as affordable for 99 years and target people making 60 percent of the area median income, or $54,780 a year for an individual and $70,440 for a family of three.
The developer wants to create housing for local retail and restaurant workers who can’t currently afford to work in the neighborhood.
The company will also incorporate affordable housing throughout its buildings and double the linkage fee — the amount a developer pays toward the city’s affordable housing funds — on commercial spaces. Cara estimates that the move will bring in $12 million for financing affordable housing within the project.
As a result, the development will not need to be financed through competitive low-income housing tax credits.
The developer plans to reduce traffic demand a project like this would normally bring by more than 17 percent, in part by building safe and enjoyable spaces for pedestrians and bikers.
“We next designed a network of meaningful, open spaces oriented to be shared by all and much more than is typically provided,” Cara said, “which is important because of this unique location along the creek.”
East West also pledges to make it easier to cross from the neighborhood to the Cherry Creek trail and improve pedestrian infrastructure at First Avenue and University Boulevard, at First Avenue and Clayton Street, and on University Boulevard and Cherry Creek Drive. The company also will widen the Cherry Creek path in one of its narrower areas.
East West Partners has 15 years to finish the project, based on its development agreement with the city.
“We want this to be a model for a 15-minute community where you don’t have to rely on a car for every trip,” Cara said.
