Talus Development building in revived Curtis Park
By Michael Perrault, Denver Business Journal
Chris Hendrickson and partner Bryon Horvath are creating the latest
flurry of activity in the historic Curtis Park neighborhood in Five
Points. Their development firm, Denver-based Talus Development, is working
on five separate upscale townhome projects in a neighborhood long known
for its jazz clubs, black-owned businesses, rich history and culture.
Hendrickson grew up in the nearby Highlands neighborhood of Denver,
so he's heard stories of legendary jazz greats Charlie Parker, Duke
Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and others performing in swanky nightclubs
along Welton Street. Hendrickson believes Talus' new, high-end townhome
projects -- Urbans @ Stout, Urbans @ Glenarm, Urbans @ Curtis and Stout
Street Townhomes -- will add value and help revitalize the neighborhood.
Hendrickson and Horvath negotiate with home or property owners to buy
three or four run-down adjacent houses on a block. They often must pay
arguably inflated prices, but it's what the market dictates. "If
you want to build here, you have to pay the price," Horvath said.
Talus bulldozes homes to make room for groupings of about five contemporary
townhomes, each with about 2,300 to 3,000 square feet and featuring
three bedrooms, three baths,, rooftop decks, wet bars, two-car garages
-- and $450,000 to $650,000 price tags. "So far there's been a
good reception all the way around," Hendrickson said of community
response to the new high-end townhomes. Not that he and Horvath are
averse to renovations. Their SnoWhite Lofts project at 23rd Avenue and
Champa Street will turn a former bus stop into two-story, 1,600- to
3,200-squarefoot live-work units. "This is an easy one to clean
up," Hendrickson said of the old, but sturdy, white brick building.
"It's got good bones." Curtis Park is directly east of downtown
Denver, roughly bounded by Broadway, Downing, Blake and Welton streets,
close to downtown and light-rail stops. Its homes and land are more
increasingly sought after by investors, including big names such as
Dallas-based Centex Homes. Other developers have a variety of Curtis
Park projects in the works, such as Village Flats on Lawrence, Merchant's
Row Brownstones, Lombard Gate, Garden Factory Lofts and others. More
than two dozen condo, townhome and affordable-housing projects either
have been completed in the past few years or are in the works, according
to Denver planning officials. Horvath also has completed dozens of "fix
n' flips," sometimes purchasing homes built between the 1860s and
early 1900s that need repair, renovating them, adding new paint and
trim, and selling them for a profit. Horvath and Hendrickson now team
up on everything from 100-year-old restorations to multifamily residential,
commercial and retail projects. They turned an 1890s grocery store and
boarding house into the Highlands Avenue Lofts at 2744 and 2746 W. 26th
Ave., for instance. Buyers for the upscale townhomes and condos are
typically professionals in their 30s and 40s who can walk to work downtown
or hop onto light rail. They often appreciate the broad range of housing,
from single-story duplexes and renovated Victorian mansions to Denver
Square brick houses and Queen Anne-style homes. Other large-scale projects
and initiatives have helped, as well. Four blocks of two-story apartment
buildings built for public housing in the 1950s were demolished as part
of a $26 million federal HOPE VI grant. The area is being rebuilt to
accommodate market-rate apartments and condominiums alongside affordable
and low-income units. In December, the city began updating its Curtis
Park Neighborhood Plan, according to Curtis Park Neighbors, the neighborhood
group. Last month, the Downtown Denver Partnership recognized Denver-based,
minority owned Civil Technologies Inc. for its redevelopment in Five
Points. In an awards ceremony, officials noted how, in 1983, the 2400
block of Five Point's Washington Street was "the single most blighted
commercial block in the city." Civil Technology remodeled six properties,
including a commercial building that's home to the Five Points Business
Association, and it's now developing the Rossonian, once a music hot
spot.
