Adams site of Carma's first urban-style project in U.S.

By John Rebchook

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Illustration by Carma

Carma unveiled plans Tuesday for its Midtown development along Pecos Street, south of West 68th Avenue.

Developer Carma unveiled plans Tuesday for a $225 million, "green" urban-style residential community in Adams County.

It's on the site of the former 500,000-square-foot Hamilton Sundstrand airplane parts manufacturing plant that closed after almost a half-century of operation.

The 180-acre development along Pecos Street, south of West 68th Avenue, is called Midtown. It will include about 1,200 residential units priced below nearby homes in downtown Denver and the Highland neighborhood.

Midtown calls for single-family homes on small lots, townhomes, condominiums and apartments.

The development, with a 43-acre park and numerous trails leading to Clear Creek on its eastern border, also will include retail and marks Carma's first urban-style, mixed-use community in the U.S. The company's parent is Brookfield Properties, the Canadian company that owns the 56-story Republic Plaza.

"Midtown will be a young, hip urban neighborhood and will kick off a Renaissance in that area," said Mike Partheymuller, a vice president of Carma, which has its U.S. headquarters along the southeast Denver corridor.

Partheymuller compares with Carma's McKenzie Towne, an urban village by Carma in Calgary, Alberta, which was named by the Urban Land Institute as one of the world's top 26 master-planned communities.

Condo prices at Midtown will start about $140,000, and the single-family homes likely will be in the $350,000 to $375,000 range, Partheymuller said.

All the builders will be required, at a minimum, to meet the Home Builders of Metro Denver's "Built Green" program. And a company called Brownfield LLC-Westminster will recycle about 45 percent of the materials from the old factory, Partheymuller said. Industrial-style art will be sprinkled through the development, he said, "to remind people of its heritage, in a fun way."

He said its location near the northern border of Denver will be a big plus.

"I've made it from here to downtown in 10 minutes," Partheymuller said.

John Skrabec, owner of Live Urban Real Estate in West Highland, agreed it will provide an alternative to people priced out of Highland and other nearby neighborhoods. It also will benefit from two nearby light-rail stations along FasTracks, he said.

But the problem it faces is it's an unknown, heavily industrial area, he said.

"I think they're going to have to overcome a location obstacle," Skrabec said. "That part of town would not be a first choice for most people looking for a home. I think that its advantage is long term."