Whew, last weekend was busy.  With more than 300+ visitors to our SPIRE Summer Open House event it was an exciting weekend of building tours, free yoga classes, and free Jamba Juice.  Word of mouth about the many benefits of SPIRE must be spreading and we want to thank everyone who stopped by.  We also want to apologize.  It was such an incredible turnout that at about 3:00 pm we ran out of Jamba Juice.  We know some of you missed out on those delicious smoothies and we’d like to make it up to you. The first 100 people to stop by our Sales Center this weekend will receive a certificate for a free Classic Jamba Juice with a free boost.

Our team will also be available to take you on a tour of SPIRE and its many amenities that are part of focus on Healthy High Rise Living.  With two pools, two spas, fitness center, yoga floor and zen garden, SPIRE provides great facilities for our residents to enjoy.   With our great walkability (Walkscore of 100 out of 100) SPIRE is a “Walkers Paradise”.  The score is based upon SPIRE’s easy access to public transportation, shuttles, bike and walking paths, and the many entertainment and dining options within a few blocks.  In the heart of Downtown Denver and the Theater District our location offers residents the best of that our wonderful city of Denver has to offer.  So if you are out on a bike ride this weekend, checking out an exhibit or performance downtown, taking in an afternoon yoga class, or just window shopping downtown, please feel free to stop by our sales center at 891 14th street in the base of the building.  

Thank you and we wish everyone a wonderful weekend.  Here are some other weekend events you may want to check out while you are in the Neighborhood of SPIRE.

• Join the Denver Art Museum the final Friday of August for Untutled #32. With the King Tut exhibition in town, Untitled takes on ancient gold bling and all things Egyptian.
• Root Down Cooking Demos:  A journey into local cuisine at the Denver Public Library.
• Come join hundreds of your yogi friends every Sunday, 4 p.m. May 30 – Sep. 19 at Denver’s City Park for yoga, live music, socializing and FUN!)
• Comedy at the Bovine Metropolis at 8:00 pm Saturday with Left Right TIM.  Coming all the way from Boulder, Left Right TIM (LRT to those in the know) is made up entirely of University of Colorado students and alumni.

Cheers!

Denver is an amazingly healthy city.  It could be the 300+ days of sunshine.  It could be our wonderful climate and each of our gorgeous four seasons.  It could be the many biking and running trails throughout the city or our Rocky Mountain backyard.

It might be all of the above.

Whatever the cause, Denver is consistently ranked as one of the healthiest cities in the U.S. and all of us at SPIRE thought that was pretty special.  Embracing healthy living was a core value for SPIRE.  That drove the creation of the spacious fitness center, the multiple spas and pools, the yoga floor and the Zen garden.  It was important that homeowners in SPIRE could find both fitness and wellness features for their Denver lifestyle.   SPIRE homeowners might relax with a run on the treadmill, a early morning yoga class, some weight training on state-of-the-art fitness machines, or a simple soak at the end of the day. Healthy living at SPIRE is easy.

After considering the amenities in the building, our SPIRE design team looked at the lifestyle that continues after you walk out the front door.  The location of SPIRE was selected for its proximity to the light rail, the 16th Street shuttle, and the Cherry Creek bike and running paths.  The website “Walk Score” gave our address of 891 14th Street a perfect 100 out of 100 for walkability and named SPIRE a “Walkers Paradise”.  Need the occasional bike or car as well???  No worries.    If your healthy lifestyle plan is to live car optional, SPIRE is here to help.  SPIRE residents enjoy free memberships to both Bcycle and Connect by Hertz.

SPIRE Perfect 100 Walkscore August 16th 2010

Congratulations Denver, on continually being ranked as one of the most healthy cities to live in.  We like the idea of healthy living so much we made it part of the SPIRE design.  To learn more about healthy high rise living at SPIRE or our LEED® design elements, please contact our sales team at 720-457-7550.

Sustainable and Attainable….. that was one of the first descriptions used for SPIRE.  Attainable referred to the attractive pricing for condo residences in the heart of downtown Denver.  Sustainable referred to the fact that SPIRE was designed and built pursuing the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED® criteria.  For a building to qualify for LEED® certification, a certain number of points must be earned in various categories within the scope of sustainable design.   It’s something everyone working on SPIRE felt was important and more importantly,  it’s something our homeowners valued.   With such things as air quality, daylight access, materials, location, and operating efficiency for utilities involved, it’s a pretty important part of a home.  For many of our residents, living in a sustainable building is on the “must have” list when selecting a home.

All of us at SPIRE would like to thank  everyone who contributed to this achievement.  We were  fortunate to have such an incredible team of design, architecture, and construction experts to make this goal a reality.

To learn more about SPIRE or to tour any of our residences, please contact our sales center at 720-457-97550.  Cheers and here is a copy of the official release.

SPIRE ACHIEVES LEED® CERTIFICATION
High-rise provides sustainably designed high-performance condominium homes in Downtown Denver

DENVER (June 23, 2010) – RNL today announced SPIRE’s attainment of the LEED-NC Certified designation, as verified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).  Developed by The Nichols Partnership, Inc. and built by JE Dunn Construction Company, SPIRE is a dynamic new urban community showcasing sustainable high-performance homes and a 41-story residential lifestyle overlooking both the Rocky Mountains and Downtown Denver.

Even in times of acute national focus on sustainability only a handful of multifamily projects in the United States have been able to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification, considered as the platinum standard in green construction and design.  In addition, SPIRE is one of the largest LEED Certified condominium towers in the country, and the only LEED certified condo high rise in Colorado.  RNL served as the LEED administrator for the project, providing tremendous commitment to and investment in designing and building a high-performance building.

Doug Spuler, AIA, LEED AP, RNL, principal and project director for SPIRE congratulated the team, saying, “The Nichols Partnership embraced the LEED registration process and truly understood the benefits of providing a modern, sustainable option for Downtown residents.”

With 496 sustainably-designed condominium homes in an urban location, SPIRE introduces natural daylight, enhanced indoor air quality, energy saving design, potable water use reduction, inclusion of regionally harvested and recycled content materials, innovative transportation solutions and 100% utilization of  electricity from renewable energy sources to make SPIRE not only an amazing addition to the Denver skyline but a unique opportunity to own a high performance home and live a sustainable lifestyle.

LEED metrics are focused on energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. Some of SPIRE’s sustainable features include:
·         Over 90% of all regularly occupied spaces provide direct line of sight views and access to daylight
·         100% Green Power, renewable energy contract to provide renewable electricity for the building
·         61.4% reduction in potable water consumption from a calculated baseline by using native plants, drip irrigation and moisture sensors
·         26.5% reduction in potable water use due to utilization of reduced-flow lavatory, kitchen sink faucets and shower heads, dual flush toilets, and waterless urinals
·         Improved Indoor Environmental Quality through enhanced air filtration, low-emitting materials for paint, coatings and carpets
·         Commitment to recycling with a dedicated single stream recycling chute located on all occupied floors
·         Transportation options that augment a 97/100 walk score (one of the highest scores in Denver) include 180+ bike racks, motor scooter and motorcycle parking, discounts on Low Emission Vehicle Parking spaces, Connect by Hertz car sharing service located in the ground and adjacency to RTD light rail and the city’s B-Cycle program

“Building a high-performance LEED home at any price point is a challenge and a huge accomplishment.   What is so unique about SPIRE is the fact that we are able to deliver a high-performance LEED certified home at an attainable price point in one of the most compelling locations that Denver has to offer,” states Christopher Crosby, LEED® AP, Executive Vice President, The Nichols Partnership, Inc.  “Our commitment to high-performance LEED design and construction and the successful sales that we have thus far achieved is one of the silver linings of the current housing market… our hope is that pursuit of LEED certification for multi-family projects will be as commonplace as it is for commercial buildings today and that LEED certification will be a key differentiator for the residential marketplace in the future.”

At 470 feet tall, SPIRE’s modernism and subtle art deco influences conclude in a celebratory, articulated crown forming a distinctive and identifiable addition to the Denver skyline.  The building features a 33-story residential tower atop an eight-story parking podium with ground floor retail, culminating in just under a million square feet.

For more information about SPIRE, please visit www.spiredenver.com.

Photos by Joseph Brodsky (founder of Ninety Plus Coffee) | Theme and Photo Optimization by Steven Holt (creative agent for Ninety Plus Coffee)

It’s almost time. If you missed the recent article in the Denver Post by Penny Parker, the topic was about SPIRE preparing for homeowners to move in. This has been ongoing news as all of us, and all of our homeowners, have been looking forward to picking up their keys and moving in. With that moment just around the corner and the timing of this article, we thought it was a nice time to discuss the foundation of the building with the SPIRE retail spaces.

Living downtown at SPIRE is a magical experience. Restaurants, shops and entertainment are only footsteps away. Pools, hot tubs, fitness center, sports room, and multiple lounge spaces are within the building. And at the base of SPIRE for residents to enjoy will be a number of excellent retail amenities. The Denver Post article let the cat out of the bag about two of the retailers we are excited to have at SPIRE. The first, Revolution Cleaners, is an environmentally friendly dry cleaner.  SPIRE residents will enjoy the convenience of in-building delivery and drop off.  Here is a little bit more about Revolution Cleaners from their web site…

Revolution Cleaners opened for business in 2004 with the intention of raising the cleaning standard in both service and process. We introduced a new cleaning technology and became Denver’s only true environmentally friendly dry cleaner. We are firmly committed to serving our customers and the environment in the best way possible. That philosophy shows in our dedication to customer satisfaction, quality service and through our sustainable business practices:

• We are Denver’s true environmentally friendly cleaner, using the only non-toxic technologies available.
• We guarantee the quality of our product.
• We use wind power to run our plant.
• Our vans use alternative fuels.
• Our uniforms and laundry bags, wherever possible, are made from organic cotton and renewable hemp fiber.
• We use renewable resources in our stores such as bamboo hardwood and cork.
• Our employees are highly trained garment care professionals.

The second SPIRE retailer will be Ninety Plus Coffee, a coffee wholesaler and retailer. It will be the first retail store for the “green” company, whose clients include Whole Foods. We didn’t want our SPIRE homeowners to have to travel far at all for one of the most basic (and some would say essential) pleasures of downtown life… an exceptional cup of coffee in the morning.

We are so proud to have such wonderful tenants as part of the SPIRE retail base and in the surrounding neighborhood. You may have noticed that these two businesses pursue “green” operations. We like that. We can’t wait to announce our other retail tenants so please stay tuned.

To learn more about the a home at SPIRE or to schedule a tour of our 42 story addition to Denver’s Skyline please contact the SPIRE sales center at 720-457-7550 or visit us on the web at spiredenver.com.

If you are a fan of green initiatives in Denver,  feel free to come in and check us out at our new sales center. SPIRE is a USGBC registered project and we would love to share with you more details of all of the items that contributed to our LEED points.

Regards… and more news coming soon.