![]() ![]() The first stage of a major facelift to the city’s oldest transit hub will be finished Monday. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.With room rates averaging about $360 per night, the Crawford should quickly become one of Denver’s more in-demand higher-end hotels for out-of-towners-or locals who want an urban escape in the Mile High City. Service is European style (so no front desk, just a concierge), and of course, guests will have access to the many shops and restaurants on the site, including Snooze, the Kitchen Next Door, and a Tattered Cover outlet. The hotel will bring in even more people, which creates vitality, which increases the price of surrounding real estate.” -Dana Crawford, PreservationistĮach of the hotel’s 112 rooms is different, with decor from local and regional designers. “One of the things about this historic district is that people live here. “It was Dana’s vision to redevelop this building into something special 30 years ago, and it was a favor to the team that she agreed to let us name the hotel after her,” McWhinney says. It’s a fitting moniker because Dana Crawford, the de facto First Lady of LoDo, has been thinking about how best to reinvent this area longer than just about anyone-even if she is a reluctant honoree. When it came time to name Union Station’s boutique hotel, developers considered numerous options before settling on the obvious choice: the Crawford. The art, decor, and craftsmanship that went into each space reflect Denver’s Western heritage while incorporating modern design and amenities. The Crawford Hotel’s interiors had to conform to historical landmark guidelines, so features such as support beams dating to the 1800s have been integrated into the room layouts. It’s a game-changer that’s taken on dimensions none of us could’ve imagined 10 years ago.” “It’s already become a new attraction for investment and job growth, and it creates a great quality of life. “Union Station is redefining downtown and our commitment to a multimodal transit culture,” he says. Mayor Michael Hancock, who has tracked and supported this project since his city council days, says its impact will stretch far beyond LoDo. Denver will be able to win that battle because it’s the type of place people want to work and live.” -Joe Vostrejs, Larimer Associates “Robust public transportation is important to the younger workers that are so in demand right now. “Denver has a history of being authentic and unique, so we wanted that to flourish within this building.” ![]() “A mistake other cities have made is making historic buildings too commercialized with lots of chains,” says developer Chad McWhinney. In addition to its primary function as our city’s transit hub, developers hope it also will become “Denver’s Living Room,” a gathering place where locals and visitors can meet, relax, and enjoy food from some of Denver’s best-known chefs and beers from our booming craft brewing industry. The people behind the new Union Station intended it to be much more than a historic renovation project. Many of the original details were recreated or restored while they also were updated to serve their present-day purposes, such as the former ticket window, which now houses one of the station’s two bars. With the station’s landmark status came strict limitations. As of this month, it becomes the gateway to the future. Denver has long been the gateway to the American West, and Union Station has always been the gateway to downtown Denver. What follows is a visual unveiling of some of the highlights of the new train station-including its luxurious boutique hotel, the Crawford-and its adjacent environs. After some concerned-and ambitious-local developers, led by East West Partners and Continuum Partners, revealed the limitations of that plan to city officials, the two groups began crafting what would become the reinvigorated cityscape we’re about to behold: an entirely new neighborhood with housing, retail, hotels, offices, and green space that caters to locals and tourists alike. The inspiration for the massive project stretches back to the early 2000s, when the redevelopment was conceived of as little more than a modest transportation center-one with a problematic design that would’ve worsened traffic congestion and left the surrounding unsightly rail yards mostly untouched. Liquid Diet: Where to Find Denver Juices. ![]()
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