DENVER — Six city blocks of Denver’s River North Arts District (RiNo) adjacent to the 38th and Blake transit station will soon be one of the most interesting destinations in Denver to live, work, innovate, design or visit. The planned mixed-use development is being called Giambrocco and its mix of existing adaptive repurposed and new buildings will celebrate the eclectic nature of the surrounding neighborhood, as well as offer visitors and residents easy transit options.
Denver-based Tributary Real Estate, in partnership with Charles Street Partners from Boston, has been working with OZ Architecture, a RiNo-based design firm, to develop the master plan and primary residential and retail building designs for Giambrocco. Gensler is leading the concept design for the creative office buildings, a boutique hotel, and adapting an existing building into a marketplace concept. Wenk & Associates has brought a new vision to the extensive streetscape and landscape design, creating one of the most collaborative architectural neighborhoods in Colorado.
Today, this area is home to a working mill, art galleries, manufacturing, auto-body shops, residences and offices. As the culture-rich RiNo district continues to redevelop, Giambrocco will retain the wild nature of the eclectic vicinity to maintain a sense of place and character. The existing 1940s buildings represent the area’s industrial, food processing and warehousing past, while new construction respects the historic buildings and compliments their origins. Giambrocco will be steeped in history but quintessentially modern.
Accessible to the airport, the suburbs or other Denver neighborhoods via the 38th and Blake light rail stop, Giambrocco offers a lively mix of offices, housing, artists-in-residence, retail, service, restaurants, food incubator opportunities, parking, and even a hotel. The new neighborhood will welcome pedestrian activity in the walkable streets, with food truck festivals, movie showings, outdoor retail pop-up opportunities, alleyway and intimate plaza performance spaces, public art galleries, outdoor exhibitions and more.
The neighborhood is expected to include:
- More than 500,00- square-feet of Class A office space with parking that can be converted to offices over time
- 350 market-rate and affordable apartments spread throughout the development
- Live/work art studios sprinkled throughout the parcels to activate the street
- Retail strategically located in “hot spots” that serve the surrounding neighborhood
- Public art throughout the project to embrace the community spirit
“RiNo is Denver’s bustle of commerce, the vigor of production, the incubation of ideas, and the freedom of artistic spirit,” said Bill Parkhill, a member of the development team at Tributary / Charles St. “As the developers, we’ve embraced these diverse influences to create a neighborhood where it all works together.”
“Giambrocco will be a place in and of itself, but which also contributes to the ongoing renaissance of RiNo from an unexplored part of Denver to the most dynamic and vibrant district in the city,” said Rebecca Stone, OZ Architecture’s managing principal. “It’s critical to note the respect the entire design team is placing on the existing architecture and atmosphere of the area – from the rail yards to the found art – to ensure the culture and vibrancy are carried through to this latest evolution of the neighborhood.”
“People want to work in a place that feels energetic and alive, and inspires creativity,” said Brent Mather, Gensler Architecture’s design principal. “Additionally, there are movements radically changing our single-car commuting culture. Giambrocco’s offices will reshape the typical workspace to reflect the desire for collaboration, while also allowing space for future innovations in parking and transportation.”
“Inspired by RiNo’s wild nature, we will create pockets of vegetation that are unique in urban environments and unlike “downtown” standards,” said Greg Dorolek, principal, Wenk & Associates. “Street trees will be grouped in groves rather than more formalized arrangements. Shrubs, ground covers, and perennials can be grouped to create seasonal gardens along the street. Vines will be used to make vertical gardens and veil the more masculine industrial materials of the neighborhood. The result is a landscape as innovative as RiNo itself.”
Bordered by 38th street to the north, 35th to the south, Brighton Blvd. to the west, and the rail-line to the east, Giambrocco will bring the 38th and Blake Station to life as it develops over the next few years.
Images courtesy of OZ Architecture.
