Denver Real Estate Blog

I’ve been thinking for a while now about writing a post about some neighborhoods near Downtown Denver that have SO much potential  - and what do you know, Westword has gone and done it for me, complete with corresponding Google street view links!

Everybody knows I love Northwest Denver, and I believe in its future development and potential with all my heart.  I just have a soft spot for the place where I had the MOST fun bartending (at Three Dogs Tavern when it first opened) and the office that I now call my second home (at LIVE Urban Real Estate) - I have seen this area grow and evolve in the coolest, most organic and honest way, and I just can’t wait to see what happens next.  Of course, the closer to Highland Square you get, the pricier the properties get, as well - but there are some areas that have yet to cross that jumbo-loan barrier, and I think that there are some great investments to be had - in Sunnyside, in South Highlands, and even in LoHi. 

There are also some areas that have yet to be tapped out as far as development on the other side of the city - in Park Hill, Montclair, and even Globeville.  I think this is a super interesting wrap-up by the Westwood, and a good little guide to use if you are looking for either residential or commercial properties that would be affordable to either first-time buyers or entrepreneurs, before they get too hot to handle.  Check out Westword’s Top Ten Under-Utilized Neighborhoods!

I should be on my way to a closing right now.  Instead, I am blogging because the closing isn’t going to happen - not today, anyway.

Why?  Because my client, a first-time homebuyer,  is purchasing a recently renovated home in a transitional neighborhood - and, according to the underwriter on his loan, the home is worth too much for them to loan on.

The whole story?  Although the property easily appraised for purchase price, the underwriter is saying that the home can only be valued at the seller’s original purchase price plus the sum total of any receipts for material improvements that the seller can provide.  So much for sweat equity. 

So, what does this mean for investors, or any seller for that matter?  Keep Your Receipts.  Be able to prove, in writing, how much time and money you invested in the property.  And take tons of Before and After photos - the underwriter requested those this morning, but unfortunately the seller only had the After photos that had been taken for the listing. 

Hopefully this underwriter is an exception to the general rule, and this sort or requirement will not become commonplace, but, with the crazy way things are going right now, who knows what will happen.  Any documentation that you can provide will help your case - and hopefully help you keep your profits on the property.

Denver used to be a commuter-only town - dead on the weekends and evenings, with traffic flowing in and out with business-hours.  Now that Denver has a thriving Urban Core, and is truly vibrant from neighborhood to neighborhood, it’s time to focus on the little things that would make it easier to live a bit greener, and transportation is one of them. 

I love to ride bikes with my kids, and we also love going for long walks - but the kiddos also like having a destination along the route - a break at the neighborhood book store, a stop at the local ice cream shop, a quick bounce in the castle at the farmer’s market…the thing is, it’s sometimes a bit too scary to ride with the littles along to places like these, so we end up driving. 

Which is why I was really happy to read this article in today’s Denver Post…

Increasing business to merchants along Denver’s busiest roadways is one of the goals of a city initiative focused on designing streets to accommodate pedestrians and bikes, as well as cars and public transit.

Eight city departments are collaborating on the Living Streets initiative, which will support the vision of Blueprint Denver, a framework for guiding development in the city.

“We’re changing the conversation from talking about roads for vehicles or cars to making streets for living,” said Peter Park, manager of the city’s community, planning and development department.

The city isn’t looking to spend a lot of money on the project. Rather, over time, it will implement changes as other necessary improvements to the roads are made.

Cities that have adopted similar policies have seen significant economic impact on both commercial and residential real estate.

For example, after San Francisco narrowed traffic lanes to slow cars and accommodate other users on Valencia Street, nearly 40 percent of Mission District merchants reported in increase in sales and 60 percent said more area residents were shopping locally, according to a study prepared by Denver-based Progressive Urban Management Associates.

Living Streets also can help occupancy rates in commercial buildings. In a walkable area, the vacancy rate for retail and office properties averages 7.5 percent, compared with 11.5 percent on streets that are not pedestrian friendly.

“It’s a different way of looking at the economics of these corridors,” said Brad Segal, president of Progressive Urban Management. “We’re really suggesting that there’s value through neighbors and walking and biking, and there are relatively inexpensive ways of marketing to adjacent neighborhoods that haven’t been used.”

In addition to benefiting the commercial district, the Living Streets concept also has a positive impact on residential property. Homes in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods command a price premium of $4,000 to $34,000, according to a study by CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders for sustainable cities.

The initiative is geared toward enhancing Denver’s most congested roadways without the expense of widening them.

“We hear the community saying it wants walkable and bikable, but there are tradeoffs,” said Crissy Fanganello, director of policy and planning for the city’s Department of Public Works. “If you want a bike lane, you might have to be willing to give up off-street parking or a lane of traffic.”

Of the 1,100 residents responding to a survey regarding the Leetsdale Drive corridor, 69 percent said they wanted pedestrian amenities and 52 percent want bike access. Seventy-five percent said they would be willing to invest in the improvements through property assessments.

“We have to look at the corridor in terms of how it relates to the neighborhood as opposed to how it relates to the traffic,” Segal said.

A couple of great articles in the past day or so that have me smiling…I heart Denver, and it continues to evolve in this cool, organic way that we have come to be spoiled by…

Arapahoe Square will be Redeveloped, Finally!  From yesterday’s Denver Post…

Image courtesy of www.arapahoesquare.com (great blog - check it out!)

A long-forgotten swath of parking lots and low-rise buildings between Coors Field and Uptown, Arapahoe Square hasn’t seen the redevelopment other downtown areas have seen over the past two decades.

That could soon change.

With new residential developments going up and business-interest groups rekindling intrigue in the area - which spans from Lawrence Street to Welton Street and 20th Street to Park Avenue West - Arapahoe Square stands to get a face-lift in the coming years, say urban planners, developers and downtown advocates.

“Arapahoe Square isn’t broken,” said Tami Door, president and chief executive of the Downtown Denver Partnership. “It’s a clean slate.”

In the next few weeks, city planners will select consultants who will advise them on best uses for land in the Arapahoe Square area, said Steve Gordon, development program manager, for the Denver Department of Community Planning and Development.

“That’s when we’ll get it done more rapidly,” said Gordon.

Planners have long targeted Arapahoe Square as a place for urban renewal.

According to a 2007 plan developed by the Downtown Denver Partnership, “the remaining buildings are both economically and architecturally diverse, combining urban lofts and low-rise neighborhood commercial with warehouses, transportation facilities and light industry.”

Among the goals for the area are restoring landscaped tree lawns; converting selected streets to two-way; improving pedestrian walkways; finding redevelopment opportunities along the Welton Street light-rail line; and redeveloping some of the many surface parking lots in the area.

“It’s a blank canvas,” said Brian Higgins, a Denver-based architect and developer. Higgins has started pre-construction selling of his residential complex in Arapahoe Square called Carbon Flats.

The development targets younger, lower-income buyers who cannot afford pricier residences in nearby LoDo or downtown. Read the rest here.

 Denver is Super Popular, It’s Official From the Denver Business Journal

Denver is tied for second place after New York among America’s most popular cities to live in, and Colorado is No. 5 among the nation’s favorite states, a Harris Poll released Monday says.

The survey asked where people would want to live if they didn’t live where they are now.

This is the first time in the 13 years of the Harris survey that Denver has ranked higher than No. 4 on the list of most-popular cities. The Mile High City was No. 9 in last year’s survey, but since then it has spent time in the national spotlight as the host city for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

New York City ranks No. 1, as it has every year since 1999, followed by Denver and San Francisco in a tie for second. Read the rest here.

Last Friday I went along with my son’s kindergarten class on a Field Trip to Miller Farm - which is located in Platteville, CO - not too far East of I-25.  What a great day - just chilly enough to feel like fall, but warm enough for the kiddos to leave their jackets in the car so that we didn’t end up carrying them - and a blue sky that made for great pictures!

We go to a Pumpkin farm every year as a family to let the kids choose their carving pumpkins off the vine, but Miller Farm was a whole new experience - they piled the kids onto a huge hay wagon pulled by a tractor and then stopped in the middle of a huge field - indian corn, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, beans, zucchini, butternut squash….it was really amazing.  Each kid took a big burlap bag and were set free to wander the fields and harvest whatever they wanted.  It was so cool to watch them digging in the dirt for a hard-earned potato, yanking the carrots out by their green leafy stems, jumping to reach a good-looking ear of corn high up on the stalk…they were so into it, and it made me realize that most of these kids had probably never even seen how vegetables grow - and what an important lesson this is.

We often go to Farmer’s Markets to get local produce, but I think that even then the kids don’t realize how important each vegetable is - and how it needed so much work and tending to create it. 

After the kids had filled their bags, and chosen a special pumpkin out of the field, we loaded the produce into the car and took a break for lunch before playing on the bicycle-tractors, the huge dirt mound with sliding carpets, and the huge bouncy pad that seemed to grow right out of the ground - they also got to ride in a little train and climb on a big old fire truck - no ride coupons required! 

Most of the kids in my car fell asleep on the ride back to school, they were so worn out.  We went home that night and made 2 big pans of roasted veggies.  Hudson and Elliot chopped the vegetables (only one minor little owie) and spread them on baking sheets with olive oil, rock salt and black pepper - and we enjoyed them for a few days in several different dishes - really yummy!

We will definitely go back to Miller Farms, what a great experience!