We've actually been meaning to tell you about this one for months, but it has repeatedly slipped our mind. Dodging a forklift on Washington Avenue last week, we found ourselves on the 1000 block of S. Colorado St., and as soon as we got there we remembered attending a SOSNA Zoning Committee meeting over the summer and hearing about a cool project to add a couple of stories onto an existing garage at 1030 S. Colorado St.
The view on the block today is uninspired, but the additional two stories, designed by Abitare Design Studio, will give the property an impressive new look. Once they're finished, the building will still have three parking spots downstairs, and four 1-bedroom apartments above. A shared roof deck will make the property even more desirable for renters.
As we mentioned, this building is just a few steps away from Washington Avenue, and any new residential near this corridor warms our hearts. The fact that the developers are able to retain the existing building and stack a couple of floors above is even better. Waste not want not, ya know?
From the ground, you can see the still sparkly new homes that make up Carpenter Square just around the corner. Once the addition is finished, residents will have an even better view. In addition, they'll have easy access to Carpenter Green, the park that's in the works at 17th & Carpenter. And let's not forget whatever retailer eventually opens on the opposite corner. Finally, far be it from us to forget that they'll only be two blocks away from the wonderful American Sardine Bar.
With all of this stuff easily accessible from this location, we continue to wonder when the first die will be cast on a large mixed-use project on Washington Avenue. We'd be willing to wager it will come sometime this year, though the location, we confess, we cannot yet predict.