The River North Art District/neighborhood of Denver is undergoing a significant transformation from an industrial corridor to a thriving artistic, eclectic, mixed-use destination. In a new rendering, OZ Architecture collaborated with more than a dozen fellow design firms and developers to assemble the first all-encompassing view of what the neighborhood’s redevelopment is shaping up to be.
The Brighton Boulevard corridor is quickly becoming one of the most unique areas in the entire city and a hot spot for both urban infill and adaptive re-use opportunities. The rendering evokes the vision of what RiNo will look like in 2020, just four years from now.
In addition to the many notable developments in RiNo that have been recently completed, such as Industry, a number of craft breweries, restaurants and offices, there are at least 15 significant projects underway by OZ, and other architecture and design firms. As OZ’s compiled RiNo development heat-map illustrates, the firm, located within the neighborhood, has several major place-making and building design efforts in progress in the heart of RiNo including:
o World Trade Center (along 38th between Walnut and Blake)
o 4120 Brighton Blvd. (the 13-acre site between 40th and 44th and east of Brighton Boulevard)
o DriveTrain (3 acres between Brighton and Arkins Court)
o The 38th and Blake Light-Rail stop district (the three block site between 35th and 38th on the east side of Brighton Boulevard)
o Gold Star Sausage (2800 Walnut St.)
o 32nd and Walnut
Additionally many more projects are in various early planning stages.
“The enormous investments into RiNo will continue the redefinition the neighborhood into a sought-after location to create, live, visit, explore and work,” said Rebecca Stone, managing principal of OZ Architecture.
“RiNo is much more than the sum of its parts because each new project, and every carefully renovated existing building, is helping create this very distinctive and compelling sense of place, unique unto itself,” continued Stone. “This neighborhood gives Denver an artistic, walkable, creative, diverse and innovative nerve center rivaling and at the same time, unique from, every world-class city. Since we office in RiNo ourselves, we have a boots-on-the-ground perspective on the area. We are Colorado born, RiNo loyalists and proud to be part of the transformation occurring right now in River North.”
