41st Annual Denver Oktoberfest in Downtown Denver

The 41st Annual Denver Oktoberfest in downtown Denver will start September 17 and go through the 19th and from the 24th through the 26th on Larimer. The Denver Oktoberfest is located between 20th and 22nd Streets on Larimer Street in the Ballpark Neighborhood of downtown Denver.

Downtown Denver will rock when the events begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 17, 2010. The opening ceremonies will be presented by Jim Koch, the founder and of Sam Adams beginning at 6:30 p.m. and lasting until 7:30 p.m. There will be live music from 9:00 p.m. to 1 a.m. The hours of the festival are Friday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday the hours will be from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The following events are scheduled for the Denver Oktoberfest:

Saturday September 18, 2010
8:00am-11:00am Das Hustlehoff 5k Running Race  (Register)
1:00pm-4:00pm Live Music
6:00pm-1:00am  Live Music

Friday September 24, 2010
6:00pm-1:00am Live Music
7:00pm-8:00 Oktoberfest Olympics

Saturday September 25, 2010
5:00pm-7:00pm Live Music
9:00pm-1:00am Live Music

There are also dozens of events being held over the course of the Denver Oktoberfest, located on two separate stages – the Rock Stage and the German Stage.  Headliners include The PolkaNauts, Jaden Carlson and the Fox Street All Stars.

Come and enjoy fun with the whole family in downtown Denver when the 41st Annual Denver Oktoberfest gets off to a great start.

Please contact New Era Realty to learn more about The 41st Annual Denver Oktoberfest in downtown Denver , or any of the many wonderful Denver loft and condominium offerings at 303.991.9878 or 800.392.1950.

What is the Denver Living City Block?

Eco-conscious individuals will be pleased with the efforts of Rocky Mountain Institute, a group of environmentally conscious experts dedicated to the creation of the Denver Living City Block. The project is scheduled to take place over the course of three years, with the final stages being completed in 2012 or 2013.

The Point of the Project

The Denver Living City Block will be a functioning system that makes a living city block more sustainable and efficient. It’s the first of its kind, and will help to illustrate how other cities can integrate systems and make changes that will allow for more eco-friendly practices and less waste.

Benefits of The Denver Living City Block

This project will create many benefits for this city block. Some of the different things that will be installed include energy-absorbing sidewalks, living roofs, vertical gardens, and even on-site renewals. These integrations will help this block reduce waste and learn more about being eco-friendly with all the processes that take place in life and business. The Denver City Living Block should serve as a step to attain to, especially for other large cities and areas.

Three components will play major parts in creating this area, including economic development, marketing, and proving the benefits of energy retrofits.  This will produce more jobs in the community, help the project to obtain financing, and make the community a more desirable place to live and work.

More than 80% of the business owners in this area have already committed to the Denver Living City Block, setting the standard for business owners in major cities all over the country.

Sustainability of the Future

Transforming two city blocks into an efficient and sustainable structure, The Denver Living City block will illustrate the ways in which current city blocks can be made more eco-friendly and sustainable. This is opposed to creating brand new efficient city blocks, which is also admirable. However, being able to take current blocks and transform them into more efficient areas can be extremely helpful to the future of the country.

Funding of the Denver Living City Block

The business owners currently on-board with this project will be providing the majority of the funding required to get thing underway. Street and city-controlled improvement measures will be funded by the City of Denver and taxpayers, while other funding opportunities being looked into include building owners, tenants, joint governance structures and more.

This will also provide a blueprint for other cities as far as funding goes to make city blocks more efficient and sustainable. While future funding opportunities may include government grants, citizen-funded efficiency programs, and charity-funded programs – none of these are available as of yet.

However, both the business owners and citizens of Denver are excited to see the progress made through the Denver Living City Block, as well as future city blocks that follow in it’s path.

Please contact New Era Realty to learn more about the Denver Living City Block at 303.991.9878 or 800.392.1950.

Denver Living City Block – “Eco-Lodo”

What can make Denver living in the downtown area better than it is currently? A project, the Living City Block pilot project, is located in the historic district of Denver. The area includes a block and a half that includes a diverse collection of Denver living space – both low-income and high-end – as well as retail space, office space and restaurant space. This block offers a unique opportunity due to the range of ownership and the uses and visibility that these historic buildings have presently. The owners of the buildings will provide a commitment letter saying they will invest in the modifications of their buildings.

Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) was given a face lift over twenty years ago. The Denver living space options were increased with the revitalization of older buildings by changing them into loft apartments, among other projects. This type of urban development has been accomplished in various cities and the economic effects are already occurring in the completed projects.

The impact on Denver living is expected to be similar. The tax bases will be boosted, the occupancies will increase and business will see the beneficial aspects of being in the downtown areas. The city will gain from the project. The Living City Block project has the opportunity to take this project to the next level. When doing so, the building owners will have lower operating costs, their buildings will have higher rates of occupancy and their assets will have an improved value. The tenants who occupy the building will see beneficial aspects as well. The value, all around of the Living City Block will be significantly higher.

When using the environmental context of the Living City Block, it is possible to create efficiency and purchasing power while qualifying the risk and raising the potential for profit. Working with residents, tenants and owners of the buildings, this project can decide on the priority, organize and simplify the process while still looking at all the options. From solar energy to wind energy the same renewable option will be used as on all of the buildings located on the same block.

Those coordinating Living City Block will take care of all aspects that can be used on the project. Continuing to address the benefits, act as the designer and the clearinghouse for all the financial sources and as the means for achieving results using these financial aspects for the project (conventional or alternative, debt/equity, tax credits) will be the first part of a system that will make up the work of the Living City Block.

The project will be totally within the Lower Downtown Historic District and include buildings that were constructed in the early part of the 20th century. The chance to work with the historic preservation committee due to the area where the revitalization will take place, the project will also focus on the fact that energy efficiency can be realized even in historic buildings.

We invite you to please contact New Era Realty with any questions you may have about about the Denver Living City Block at 303.991.9878 or 800.392.1950.

Downtown Denver Living – Living La Vida Lodo!

Denver living includes the Lower Downtown Historic District (LoDo). This area was formed by the City Counsel in 1988. The object was to get people interested in preserving this piece of the past – the historic buildings, architecture and the economy. The protection of the buildings, the 127 that remained, was guaranteed through the historic status. The 1960s and 1970s saw about 20% of the downtown buildings torn down because of ordinances for height limitations. Today Denver living includes the preservation of the area first settled by General William Larimer in 1858. The settlement was named Denver City and the area prospered growing from 4,749 people in 1860 to 35, 629 in 1880.

The citizens of Denver City raised the money to have the Transcontinental Railroad built from Denver to Cheyenne and Denver living as far as transportation became much easier. In 1989 a group of property owners in the Lower Downtown area joined forces with the District Collaborative to form the LoDo District. This effort was a mutual interest in the neighborhood needs.

The LoDo District today is a 501(c) 3, which takes care of this area by supporting the cultural, historical and retail marketing. The downtown area is the part of Denver more focused on but they also extend into the areas of Ballpark, River North, Prospect, Riverfront Park, the Central Platte Valley and Auraria. The LoDo District represents both business and residential communities.

The downtown area continues to become more evolved and is the place that it is due to the caring people who strive to take care of this historic piece of the past. The old buildings are a part of the past that they want to keep as a positive for the future.

The goals of the LoDo District organization are to preserve the integrity of the area designated as historic. They also want to influence the present public policies as well as future ones when it comes to issues regarding this neighborhood. The promotion of the businesses in the area to tourists, visitors and residents is another goal and sharing plans between the LoDo members for the good of the area is another.

The commitment of the members of this district want to create a balance between preserving their past and going forward into the future. There are more than 300 members that represent both the residential areas and the businesses in the LoDo District. Ongoing projects to promote this area include marketing, special events, a set of committees that handle the projects and they even have an e-newsletter that comes out twice a month. The LoDown on LoDo, is published and can be accessed online and the Old.New.Now. is a printed newsletter and a calendar of the ongoing events.

One of the many projects LoDo members have is the LoDo Cares Program. Since 1990, this program has been helping to brighten the lives of the Barth Hotel in the Lower Downtown area. The Barth Hotel is an assisted living center and is the home of 62 seniors who are either disabled or low income.

The LoDo Cares Program has taken Christmas gifts to every one of these residents on Christmas morning. Restaurants in the area donate food to make the tradition holiday meal for the residents. The LoDo program also ensures they spend birthdays with residents. Many have no outside family or contacts other than the members of the LoDo Cares Program.

Please contact New Era Realty to learn more about Denver living and Lodo at 303.991.9878 or 800.392.1950.

Denver Downtown Living – The Golden Triangle

Denver living will include the neighborhood that is often called the Golden Triangle. According to the Downtown Denver Partnership and the Golden Triangle Neighborhood Association this area is one block that goes east to Lincoln Street, which takes in nearly all of Civic Center Park except for Colorado State Capitol and a very few of the buildings that are north of Colfax Avenue. Denver living in this area is a small population of only 630. The importance of the Golden Triangle is regarded very seriously as this is the location of many cultural and civic venues. They are in the northern part of this neighborhood in the area that is called the Civic Center.

The Golden Triangle area is the site of many renovations today and Denver living is the better for them. There will be a new justice center that was approved by a vote city-wide. The Denver jail will be a part of this new construction. The expansion of the Civic Center area has been discussed. The proposed expansion would include the Denver Mint, which is three blocks from the current location of the park as well as the justice center. A new wing was completed in the fall of 2006 for the Denver Art Museum and this was a further addition to the many art galleries already there and the Curious Theatre Company.

Many in the neighborhood feel that the area may be developing too quickly. There have been three condominium developments built in the area within the last five years. One recent condominium is the Prado, which is a French style building with 18 floors. Presently the builder, Craig Nassi and some of the residents of Denver disagree on the building of these condominiums in the Golden Triangle.

However, those who li ke the condominiums say this is one of the best ways of showing off Denver as a wonderful place to live. The Prado penthouse of Carmelo Anthony, a Denver Nuggets basketball star was recently a feature on MTV Cribs.

The history of the Golden Triangle area is interesting because it is one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods. There are many homes here that include bungalows and Victorian style homes that were built in the 19th century and early in the 20th as well. The mayor of Denver in 1904 to 1919, Robert Speer was responsible for the addition of a neoclassic park north of this neighborhood and for the canyon built around Cherry Creek.

At the end of World War II, the area became a business support area. Many of the homes of historic importance were torn down and parking lots were built. Other businesses including car dealerships were built. The 1990’s saw changes as this neighborhood started changing into more of a multi-use neighborhood.

Condominiums were built and loft developments sprang up in the neighborhood and several of the former supply stores and garages were renovated to become restaurants, offices and art galleries.

Please contact New Era Realty to learn more about living on the Plaza, Riverfront Park, or any of the many wonderful Denver loft and condominium offerings at 303.991.9878 or 800.392.1950.