Developers of Lux at DU, a new building on the southeast corner of University Boulevard and Evans Avenue, are still deciding details of their project, but they know some things for sure: It won’t be a condo and it won’t be geared to students.
“It is a market-rate building, a rental,” developer Phil Caplan told the University Park Community Council Oct. 8. He and partner David Elowe have assembled seven lots along University from the corner of Evans south to the parking lot of the University Park United Methodist Church.
It is there that they plan to erect a nine or 10-story rental residence with interior parking and ground-floor retail.
“It’ll be a mixed-used building,” Caplan explained. “It won’t be marketed or geared toward students.”
It may, however, include a supermarket. Preliminary discussions have been held with Whole Foods and Sprouts, an Arizona-based organic food and vitamin chain.
“We would absolutely love to have a market there,” he said. “No promises. We’ll do that if we can.”
“There would also be room for a restaurant or two and maybe a high-end coffee shop.”
Caplan assured listeners that parking for apartment residents and retail shops will be contained within the building. Plans are to park cars on one underground level and three levels above the retail shops.
“We’re gonna park everyone who lives and shops the building in the building,” he assured residents.
“They’ll be nice apartments,” he added, with washer-dryers in each unit, granite countertops, “nice” cabinetry and spaciousness.
The building will be stepped back from the block so it won’t loom over the street, he said, allowing the retail stores “to activate the street.”
Caplan said he expected Lux at DU to break ground next summer and take 18 to 20 months to construct. He pledged to preserve the trees along University Boulevard or replace those that can’t be preserved.
The project depends on City Council’s agreement to rezone the property from its R-3 designation to RMU-30, a mixed use category that allows retail-residential uses. Final decision on rezoning is scheduled for council’s Oct. 20 meeting, which will include a public hearing prior to the vote.
Design review by the city is not required, Caplan said, but he expects to have drawings ready as soon as February.
“It’s a wonderful location,” he said. “The University makes it such a nice corner to have retail on and to live on.”