The building's height will help with the creation of a classic urban street wall along that stretch of Alameda. Having a continuous street wall helps to define the Alameda and Wadsworth intersection as a downtown, mixed-use area. At the same time, street walls cut down on the number of hazardous driveways faced by pedestrians who are moving through an urban area. Two story quadplexes at the Village at Belmar behind this new building will then act as step downs to the single story ranch homes found in the neighborhoods north of Alameda.
To me, all of this is a sign that Lakewood's revamped zoning code is working as intended. We're seeing development channeled to our new urban core and our existing neighborhoods protected.At the same time, some people have asked me why we're seeing so much health care related development. My answer is that Colorado is a graying state, and health care is going to be a growth industry for quite some time. The buildings that are going up in downtown Lakewood, however, are quality, well-designed buildings. Many of them will be a part of our city for a long time, and their design and use of quality materials makes it likely these buildings will be used for different purposes 25 or 50 years from now. That's smart and sustainable.
