The changes are part of the planned improvements the developer
will make to the busy Hampden/University intersection.
Kent Place is a residential/retail development on the 11 acres
of land at the northwest corner of Hampden and University.
Thousands of cars daily use the Hampden/University intersection and
there were concerns about the impact of 350 residential units
By By: Tom Munds
Kent Place development plans include a longer lane for cars
turning east from University Boulevard and a longer acceleration
lane going west on Hampden Avenue.
The changes are part of the planned improvements the developer
will make to the busy Hampden/University intersection.
Kent Place is a residential/retail development on the 11 acres
of land at the northwest corner of Hampden and University.
Thousands of cars daily use the Hampden/University intersection and
there were concerns about the impact of 350 residential units and
the retail stores on the already busy location.
Kevin Foltz, project development director, testified about the
traffic issue during the Feb. 5 public hearing before city council
concerning the proposed changes to the project.
“Our company, Continuum Partners, recognized the concerns about
traffic congestion and has been working with the Colorado
Department of Transportation on possible ways to improve the
intersection,” Foltz said. “We agreed with the CDOT recommendation
that the only way to make the suggested improvement was to use land
from our project to provide the additional space needed to make the
changes at the intersection.”
Foltz explained the developer donated the land that will be used
to improve the right-turn lane from University to Hampden by
lengthening the length of the acceleration lane the full width of
the project. Cars turning right only have a short distance now to
merge with traffic westbound on Hampden.
The double left-turn from University to Hampden also has room
for only a few vehicles to line up to make the turn. Plans are to
replace the double lane with a single left-turn lane, but to
provide almost a block-long lane for cars to line up to make the
turn.
The intersection improvements are only part of the changes to
the original Kent Place Plan.
Foltz said Continuum Partners spent a year reviewing and
evaluating the project before coming forward with proposed changes
that will change the building configuration, reduce the retail
space from 65,000-square feet to 51,000-square feet and change the
retail parking ratios.
The changes also mean the project will be built in two phases
instead of three, and time to complete the project will be reduced
from seven years to five years.
The development director said work on the first phase of the
project will begin this summer as crews construct the retail
buildings and most of the townhouses.
“Changes in the plan eliminated two of the proposed tower
buildings and those have been replaced with the ‘row house’ style
townhouses,” Foltz said. “The size and shape of phase two is
undecided. We plan on the same basic design, a 12-story tower and a
14-story tower. But the size of the buildings and the type of units
we’ll offer will be decided as we evaluate market demand as we
complete phase one.”
Contact Tom Munds at 303-566-4108 or
tmunds@ccnewspapers.com.