Speaking French

Beauvallon Adds 'Quality European Product' to Denver's Multifamily Residential Market

by Mark J. Shaw

Photo by Fred J. Fuhrmeister, Time Frame Photography

Denver's high-rise residential market will acquire a distinctly French accent when the first phase of the $104 million Beauvallon is completed and ready for occupancy early next year.

Beauvallon features two 14-story towers with a total of 210 luxury, for-sale condos. The identical residential towers are connected by a heavily landscaped five-story "podium" containing residential amenities, retail space and parking.

The project's European flavor comes from what designers call its "modified French Baroque style," which features wide balconies, two-story mansard roofs, ornate cornices, urban landscaping and other Old World architectural elements.

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Upscale Urban Living

Located just four blocks south of the State Capitol, Beauvallon offers sweeping views of the downtown Denver skyline and the mountains to the west. It is the creation of Denver developer Craig Nassi, president of The Beauvallon Corp.

Nassi is best known for his other high-rise residential projects in the Golden Triangle neighborhood - the 16-story Belvedere, completed in 2000, and the 19-story Prado, finished in 2002.

Beauvallon was designed by Denver architects Martin Design Inc. and built by general contractor Swinerton Builders, also of Denver.

Beauvallon will add significantly to the "quantity and quality of multifamily product in the Broadway-Lincoln corridor and presents one of the broadest opportunities for mixed-use development outside the central business district," Nassi said.

"Denver has seen plenty of mixed-use projects on the market, of course, but Beauvallon is something different because of its size, location and the scope of its retail."

The project includes more than 65,000 sq. ft. of retail space, with a grocery store, Italian restaurant, Irish pub, Asian fusion restaurant and pizzeria, all at street level.
There are also other residential and neighborhood retail services.

The rooftop of the podium includes a pool, hot tub and a heavily landscaped urban park for residents. Other onsite amenities include a health club and business center.
Beauvallon sits on a 150-ft.-wide, 500-ft.-long north-south site between NInth and 10th streets and abuts Lincoln Street on the east. Parking spaces for 600 cars extend two floors below grade under both towers and four floors above the retail outlets in the podium.

"The parking was a big challenge," Nassi said. "Not only because it's a long, skinny site where we had to maximize the use of space, but adding a grocery store to the retail mix required a lot more parking spaces."

An All-Inclusive Plan

Design of the Beauvallon was driven by three elements - making the best use of the elongated site, finding ways to enhance the views for residents and creating floor plans that didn't place too many residences on any one floor.

"We definitely didn't want this to feel cramped like a hotel," said Doug Wagner, vice president with Martin Design. "We tried to place no more than eight residences per floor, with fewer in the more upscale spaces."

Designers were also dealing with a 175-ft. height limit above Broadway, enforced by the city and complicated by the fact that the site slopes 20 ft. downhill from east to west. That meant the towers could be only 156 ft. tall to stay within the city's restrictions.

"Integrating parking into the site was also tricky for us from a design standpoint," said Dale Skinner, Martin Design's senior associate. "The main challenge was figuring out access and circulation, how to make it work for both the mixed-use retail and the residents. We had to find a way to put the access points on different levels."

Then the design team confronted the complexity of a fully integrated, mixed-use development. "We knew that the third floor on up in both towers would be purely residential," Wagner said.

"The question was how to mix the retail, office and infrastructure needs on the other levels. We also knew that most mixed-use high-rises don't provide their residents with very much open space close by. Our solution was the podium, using the space between the two towers like a private park for residents. That's where we put the pool, hot tub and landscaping."

The podium was placed 65 to 70 ft. above grade, in part to provide good views of the mountains from the pool deck and offer an open-air, yet private space exclusively for residents and their guests.

"Beauvallon will create its own little community, an all-inclusive plan for residents, even down to their grocery shopping," Skinner said. "It has much more than just a few retail outlets. We think it's one of the best mixed-use plans anybody has developed for an urban high-rise."

Stops and Starts

Swinerton's $49 million contract at Beauvallon included little self-performed work but significant site and scheduling challenges.

Preconstruction at Beauvallon started in September 2000 and construction broke ground in August 2001. The financing collapsed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and work had to be stopped until April 2002, when new financing was secured.
"We had already dug part of the hole and done some soil work," said Swinerton President David White. "Then it went inactive until early 2002. We used the time to continue refining the design and adjust our construction schedule."

White also said that the tight urban site proved difficult because the city required that the north-south alley behind the project remain open for deliveries. There was almost no storage space available near the site.

Beauvallon is a post-tensioned structure with a full concrete frame. Moving Swinerton's table forms required flying them out over Lincoln Street, which had to be closed as each one was moved up to the next level. Crews gained a month and a half on the schedule, despite building most of it through the winter, said John Duven, Swinerton's senior superintendent.

Scaffolding placement was also tricky, not only because of the multiple setbacks on the towers, but because of moving and resetting the scaffolding without disrupting the work of different trades.

The many balconies, heavy architectural detailing and use of high-quality materials required close coordination of the trades. Interiors include premium cabinets, imported tile, wood floors, raised-panel doors, granite countertops and lots of windows.

Workers on the project peaked at about 300, Duven said.

Also, Swinerton had to manage a tight budget and the ongoing changes necessary for the project to remain competitive in Denver's busy, upscale multifamily market.
"This is our biggest multifamily project in Colorado so far," White said. Swinerton recently completed the Bear Creek Apartments at Williams Village for CU-Boulder, but the two projects were different in scope and target end-users.

Nationally, Swinerton is the fourth largest builder of multifamily housing in the United States, according to Engineering News Record.

Nassi said the first tower at Beauvallon should be complete around New Year's Day, and the second tower about 60 days after that.

Useful Sources

For more information on The Beauvallon and its project team, contact:

www.bcndevelopment.com
www.martindesigninc.com
www.swinerton.com

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