Fox Park developer José Carredano, left, discusses a map of the project with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Thursday. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Denver’s Fox Park project wants to come out of the gate with a little bit of everything.
The 41-acre project where Interstates 70 and 25 met is planned to eventually include a mix of uses from hotels to office space, residences to a concert venue.
And while building out the site fully will likely take at least seven years, according to José Carredano, work on at least some portion of each of those components should begin early next year.
“Our main focus is to start all the uses that Fox Park is going to have. We want people to understand it’s not just residential, it’s not just office,” said Carredano, who is leading the development team.
A giant structure that was once a Denver Post printing facility will be repurposed. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Carredano spoke to BusinessDen shortly before Denver Mayor Michael Johnston, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) and other officials arrived to speak at a ceremony marking the end of environmental remediation work on the property.
Carredano’s group purchased the property, home to a massive building that once served as a Denver Post printing facility, in 2019 for $56.6 million. At the time, a portion of the land was a Superfund site. Boston and Colorado Smelting Co.’s Argo Smelter operated there for more than a century.
Carredano’s group began environmental remediation work in 2022. More than 470,000 cubic yards, or nearly 32,000 truckloads, of contaminated dirt were removed.
In addition to remediation, Carredano’s group has also been completing infrastructure work, including extending Fox Street into the property. Pointing to a fire hydrant, he said that a lot had gone into allowing it to be there.
“We’ve spent almost $30 million this year in infrastructure,” Carredano said. “So it’s a big deal.”
The view of downtown Denver from Fox Park, with the extended Fox Street in the foreground. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Fox Park sits in a portion of Globeville known as Fox Island, which features a development restriction found nowhere else in Denver. Because the area has limited access points by car, and city officials don’t want it to become overwhelmed by traffic, developers can build something only if they are allotted a certain number of “trips.” The number is meant to correspond to how much additional vehicle traffic their project will add to the area.
José Carredano speaks at a Thursday ceremony marking the end of environmental remediation at the site, as Rep. Diana DeGette looks on. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
By last year, all the available trips had been allotted, leaving some sites unable to be redeveloped. But more trips will become available as Fox Park’s infrastructure, including eventually a new bridge from the property into neighboring Sunnyside, is built out.
Carredano said the rest of this year will be spent continuing infrastructure work, excavating for future underground parking and gutting the interior of the former Post building — the only structure currently on the site.
Carredano’s group and Dallas-based Trammell Crow will refashion some of the structure into office space, and another portion will become a Virgin Hotel. Work on that, and a nearby 450-unit residential project, should begin in the first quarter of next year. World Trade Center Denver has agreed to take some of the office space.
Work on a 2,500-seat entertainment venue should also begin in the first quarter.
Carredano would say only that the venue would be run by a “well-known operator in the city,” but a map displayed at the site showed an area labeled AEG, a clear reference to Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, whose existing local venues include Mission Ballroom and Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre.
“There’s a lot of things to talk about,” Carredano said as he stepped to the podium when the ceremony began. “The most important thing is: Welcome to Fox Park.”
Fox Park developer José Carredano, left, discusses a map of the project with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Thursday. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Denver’s Fox Park project wants to come out of the gate with a little bit of everything.
The 41-acre project where Interstates 70 and 25 met is planned to eventually include a mix of uses from hotels to office space, residences to a concert venue.
And while building out the site fully will likely take at least seven years, according to José Carredano, work on at least some portion of each of those components should begin early next year.
“Our main focus is to start all the uses that Fox Park is going to have. We want people to understand it’s not just residential, it’s not just office,” said Carredano, who is leading the development team.
A giant structure that was once a Denver Post printing facility will be repurposed. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Carredano spoke to BusinessDen shortly before Denver Mayor Michael Johnston, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) and other officials arrived to speak at a ceremony marking the end of environmental remediation work on the property.
Carredano’s group purchased the property, home to a massive building that once served as a Denver Post printing facility, in 2019 for $56.6 million. At the time, a portion of the land was a Superfund site. Boston and Colorado Smelting Co.’s Argo Smelter operated there for more than a century.
Carredano’s group began environmental remediation work in 2022. More than 470,000 cubic yards, or nearly 32,000 truckloads, of contaminated dirt were removed.
In addition to remediation, Carredano’s group has also been completing infrastructure work, including extending Fox Street into the property. Pointing to a fire hydrant, he said that a lot had gone into allowing it to be there.
“We’ve spent almost $30 million this year in infrastructure,” Carredano said. “So it’s a big deal.”
The view of downtown Denver from Fox Park, with the extended Fox Street in the foreground. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Fox Park sits in a portion of Globeville known as Fox Island, which features a development restriction found nowhere else in Denver. Because the area has limited access points by car, and city officials don’t want it to become overwhelmed by traffic, developers can build something only if they are allotted a certain number of “trips.” The number is meant to correspond to how much additional vehicle traffic their project will add to the area.
José Carredano speaks at a Thursday ceremony marking the end of environmental remediation at the site, as Rep. Diana DeGette looks on. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
By last year, all the available trips had been allotted, leaving some sites unable to be redeveloped. But more trips will become available as Fox Park’s infrastructure, including eventually a new bridge from the property into neighboring Sunnyside, is built out.
Carredano said the rest of this year will be spent continuing infrastructure work, excavating for future underground parking and gutting the interior of the former Post building — the only structure currently on the site.
Carredano’s group and Dallas-based Trammell Crow will refashion some of the structure into office space, and another portion will become a Virgin Hotel. Work on that, and a nearby 450-unit residential project, should begin in the first quarter of next year. World Trade Center Denver has agreed to take some of the office space.
Work on a 2,500-seat entertainment venue should also begin in the first quarter.
Carredano would say only that the venue would be run by a “well-known operator in the city,” but a map displayed at the site showed an area labeled AEG, a clear reference to Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, whose existing local venues include Mission Ballroom and Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre.
“There’s a lot of things to talk about,” Carredano said as he stepped to the podium when the ceremony began. “The most important thing is: Welcome to Fox Park.”
