OZ Architecture, Gordons Team Up on Denver Mixed-Use Project

By Gail Kalinoski

Rendering of DriveTrain, Denver

Denver—Denver’s hot River North Art District (RiNo) is getting another mixed-use development that is expected to continue the transformation in the Brighton Boulevard neighborhood along the South Platte River. DriveTrain will feature housing, retail and restaurants, a hotel, artists’ studios and a workplace incubator.

Developers Tom and Brooke Gordon have chosen OZ Architecture, an award-winning architectural and design firm located in RiNo, to create the design plan for DriveTrain. OZ Architecture was one of the first large companies to move to RiNo in 2011 and has since been among those spearheading the neighborhood revitalization. OZ is also the architect and design team helping develop a new World Trade Center Global Campus along 38^th Street in RiNo. That transit-oriented, mixed-use development will also have a hotel and feature approximately 250,000 square feet of shared office space, an international business and conference center, retail, globally-themed restaurants and eventually housing. World Trade Center Denver is a trade association that focuses on training, networking and creating opportunities for international business people.

DriveTrain, named for Drive Train Industries, the former occupant of the 3-acre site along Brighton Boulevard, will be the first of its kind in the area to include a pedestrian-oriented residential, retail and restaurant project along with incubator spaces and a 120-key boutique hotel, according OZ and the development team.

“DriveTrain is much more than a building; it will be a new destination in RiNo,” Rebecca Stone, managing principal at OZ Architecture & lead architect on the project, said in a prepared statement. “It is going to have a very specific energy and distinct sense of place that will appeal to people of all backgrounds, interests and ages. I see it becoming a catalyst in the ongoing transformation of RiNo into one of the coolest, most interesting places in Denver.”

Noting that OZ has been involved in the design and architecture of more than 15 current and future projects in RiNo, developer Brooke Gordon called OZ the “right partner” for the DriveTrain project.

Brooke Gordon said OZ has been “contributing to the transformation of a once purely industrial part of Denver into a new hub for those seeking a collaborative, artistic and innovative community, which is exactly what we’re striving for with DriveTrain.”

DriveTrain will have four buildings ranging from six to nine stories with construction starting in early 2017 and completion expected by late 2018, according to Denverinfill.

The developers said the residential options will include condominiums ranging from penthouses to micro units, as well as affordable rental housing units that will have artists’ studios on the ground floor and residences above. A hotel will be located in one of the buildings and each will have retail and restaurant spaces. DriveTrain will also feature incubator workspaces for creative companies, artists, chefs, design and other innovative firms seeking collaborative locations.

Parking will be located underground and will be open to the public. The site is close to the future 38^th/Blake Station light rail stop and along the South Platte River where the city is planning new improvements, including a new riverfront park.

“We want to create a real place along the river and Brighton Boulevard,” Tom Gordon said. “The plan on which we’ve partnered with OZ Architecture will attract a diverse class of creative and visionary people and businesses – those seeking fresh ground to make art, launch businesses and develop new ideas.”

Tom and Brooke Gordon and their family investment company, Iselo Investment Partners, are also developing luxury townhomes along the South Platte River at 33^rd Street and Arkins Court. River Row Homes at DriveTrain, which will feature 23 units priced between $1.1 million and $1.5 million, is expected to begin construction this summer, according to The Denver Post. The homes, which will range in size from 2,100 to 2,500 square feet, are being designed and built by Sprocket Design-Build, the newspaper noted.

Image courtesy of OZ Architecture