Another restaurant plans to take up some of the vacant space left by Media Play in the Denver Dry Building. Jason’s Deli will move into a new space later this Fall. Their new location (a first for Downtown) will wrap around the existing Starbucks that is there on the corner. Their locations average 4,500 to 5,000 square feet but recently they have introduced a smaller prototype.

I am excited to see that the folks at the Denver Dry Building have finally parceled out all of the ground floor retail spaces into smaller ones. It appears that another new retailer is going to open in one of those new spaces soon. Hopefully we will see the entire ground floor of the building activated with retailers, which will give a much better impression to all of our convention goers. California Street is due for some really big changes between now and the Democratic National Convention in August 2008 which along with new retailers will make this much more attractive connection between the Convention Center and the 16th Street Mall.

On Saturday night we went to a great restaurant in the Highlands called La Loma. I am embarrassed to say that as a Downtown resident, I had not heard of it until earlier that day. Located at 2527 West 26th Avenue, La Loma is actually in an 120 year old house! There are three unique themed dining rooms and a cool bar area.

We were lucky enough to get seats on their patio, which was great. Also a first for me was trying one of their 46oz margaritas! I had the steak fajitas that were really good. We had such a great time spending the evening with friends. We will definitely be back!

A recent Rocky Mountain News article confirmed that Callahan Capital Partners, the owner of Tabor I, will go forward with plans for Tabor II. This is a very exciting and skyline-changing project. At 40 stories it will be 10 stories taller than the existing Tabor I and be clad in glass curtain walls.

Once they begin construction Tabor II’s visible progress will be almost immediate as the foundation and bases of the elevator cores were poured over 20 years ago. You can see in the photo that they just covered everything up with metal cladding and painted it to match.

Personally, I think the current design is stunning and will be a spectacular addition to our skyline. I hope that Callahan does pick Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF) as they are one of my favorite architectural firms. It will be so great to see this corner activated and how the entire “face” along Larimer will be filled in. Visitors to the 16th Street Mall in 2010 will definitely have something new to draw their eyes upward.

It’s official. The Holiday Inn City Center at 15th & Glenarm has been transformed into a Crowne Plaza Hotel. Signage is being installed and the interior work is nearing completion.

It has taken over a year for this transformation, which is most likely in response to the Convention Center expansion. All guest rooms, meeting space, lobby and pool area will have been refurbished with an official completion date of this month.

Crowne Plaza is another flag for their parent company InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) which also owned the Holiday Inn flag. With the recent openings of the Hilton Garden Inn around the corner and the Hyatt by the Convention Center I think it became clear to IHG that they needed to freshen up their property if they were going to compete on a higher level.

Their timing is perfect for the Democratic National Convention, which is just 12 months away. After looking at IHG’s corporate website I wonder if any other of their flags/brands will eventually call Downtown home. Average room rates and vacancy rates are holding up well and even with all of the hotels under development I think Denver can absorb them. Crowne Plazas are “the place to meet” according to their website and their target market is small and medium size business meetings.

In the end I think having another updated lodging option is great for visitors and business travelers. I also like that it signals investing in Downtown continues to be a smart move. I hope Hilton decides to build a full service property and with one recently open, (Hilton Garden Inn - 14th & Welton) and another in development, (Embassy Suites - 14th & Stout) it might be sooner than I think.

On Thursday August 16th Downtown Denver welcomed a new dining spot - The Original Soupman! Located on the lower level of the Denver Pavilions on Glenarm Street (on the NikeTown side and across from Hot Topic) they have a good-sized spot and they even installed a new entrance and signage to draw visitors from the 16th Street Mall.

You may remember the “No soup for you!” episode of Seinfeld in which he was parodied. While not exactly fine dining, word on the street is that their soup is great. I am looking forward to cooler weather and to trying some seasonal soup - butternut squash bisque? I think any new option for dining in Downtown is great - welcome!

They are definitetly making progress at the site of the new Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant across from the Convention Center. In my first post the only indication was from their liquor license application.

There is no question now as to what is going to be there and when it will open. I am still not sure about their signage but will wait until they are totally done and open later in September to decide.

Earlier this year it was reported that the owner of the Adam’s Mark, Downtown’s largest hotel, had been sold to Oxford Lodging. In that story there was only speculation on what it would be re-branded as.

Well we now know. In an August 10th Denver Business Journal article it was announced that it will eventually become a Sheraton Hotel. The brand is final but the timing of the conversion is not. The same thing is happening in Dallas where there is a 1,800 room Adam’s Mark.

This is really interesting because Sheraton’s parent company is Starwood Hotels & Resorts who recently announced they would build a W Hotel & Residences at 16th & Market. You can read my July 20th posting about the W Hotel here.

Between the two properties that will be over 1,400 rooms they will have in development in the Central Business District along the 16th Street Mall. I really hope Starwood plans to invest a significant amount of money in the Adam’s Mark to modernize it. I have spent time in the ballrooms and lobby and they are in real need of some freshening up. I have also heard that the rooms need attention too.

It looks as if early 2008 is when we would see the conversion start and given the size I know it will take a long time to finish it.

Last Thursday I attended the grand opening of TAXI 2 which is just outside of Downtown in an emerging area called RiNo or River North. It is a very unique building which has been dubbed a “landscraper” due to the fact that if you stood it up on end it would be a 55 story skyscraper. Will Bruder, David Baker, Harry Teague and Alan Eban Brown collaborated on the design of this project.

I had toured it when it was under construction last year so it was very cool to see it all finished. A number of their “crash pads” and “double wide” units were open for tours. All of the residential units sit on a podium of office space. All of the finishes, colors and spaces were very unique and very modern. The views of the Downtown skyline were amazing. I tried a watermelon margarita for the first time and all of the food I tried was very good.

This project is a pioneer in that it will be the first one to bring a critical mass of full time residents to the area. Future phases are planned and other projects on the drawing board could bring as many as 2,000 more residents to this part of the city. TAXI was the first phase which converted the old Metro Taxi headquarters into office space. I look forward to the evolution of RiNo and its eventual connection into Downtown.

Last week I attended an evening event that despite the cloudbursts and storm I had a great time. We started in Benedict Fountain Park just on the edge of Uptown as you leave the Central Business District. BBQ and cocktails were provided. After eating we took a Pedi cab over to the next part of the evening. I had never rode in a Pedi cab before and for my first time it was great.

This event was mainly for future residents of One Lincoln Park, which will be the first all residential condo tower built in Downtown in 20 years. I wish I was a homeowner, but I was just along for the ride. We queued up for a tour of the tower at the sales center for the project. As we waited the weather changed and I felt bad for those left back at the park. We then put on our protective gear and got a first hand personal tour of the tower.

I must preface this with the fact that I am deathly afraid of heights. After touring the ground floor we got into what amounted to orange metal boxes, which took us all the way up to the 15th floor. Suffice to say I had to do a lot of breathing! Our tour guide informed me that the 15th floor was about half cured and that they had started pouring the 19th floor that day. Well needless to say this did not put me at ease. Despite my abject terror it was cool to see what future residents views will be like.

It was back into our orange metal boxes, which we took down to the 8th floor. Unlike the 15th floor the 8th floor had a lot of framing up and even had some of the exterior windows installed. It turned out that the young couple who bought a unit we walked through was on the tour. It was a great experience - they even brought their mom. Our tour ended in what will be the resident’s lounge which will be two levels and even has an infinity pool.

One Lincoln Park sits on a very unique triangular site at 20th & Lincoln. Its unique design is going to completely change the feel and character on this edge of Downtown. This project is the first hint of the transformation this part of Downtown will experience over the next 20 years. I am so looking forward to seeing this area come to life when it’s 184 families are coming and going 24/7. The developer said they are adding a floor a week! At this rate the building should top out just before Thanksgiving. If you get a chance talk a walk or drive by and see for yourself how cool this project is.

A while back, I attended the grand opening event at the 24 Walnut project in the Ballpark neighborhood of Downtown. This event was produced by Colorado Homes & Lifestyles Magazine (CH&L) and future public tours of this project will benefit Denver’s Road Home. CH&L teamed up with the developer and numerous interior designers to design and decorate this town home. I really liked the architecture and the curb appeal.

The food was great and since all future ticket sales will be donated to help fight homelessness, the Mayor presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony. I have never seen the Mayor so excited about a topic, it was a great event overall. I have to be honest and say that while the interior design was not exactly my taste, it was cool to be in a space that was like a photo spread. The views from the rooftop deck were awesome!