Building Remodels: Torchy’s Tacos Falls Short While Belmar Groves Looks Successful

While one of my favorite things to post about on this blog is new construction, the reuse of existing buildings can also be exciting. It’s rare, however, to see it done right. 

Part of the problem is that so much of Lakewood’s existing infrastructure is low-density and car-based. Think one story buildings surrounded by a sea of empty and unused asphalt. Reusing these buildings, while cheap, doesn’t do anything to build a vibrant and walkable downtown. The Belmar shopping district is a perfect example of this. The old Villa Italia mall was surrounded by acres of unnecessary parking. Tearing the entire thing down paved the way for the Belmar to rise as a walkable downtown. 

With that in mind, let’s focus on two building remodels currently underway in downtown Lakewood—one of which appears successful from a design standpoint, and the other not so much.

The first remodel is of the Belmar Groves Apartments on the north side of Alameda and Wadsworth. Metro West Housing Solutions is the developer, and like everything they do, the Belmar Groves remodel appears to be a quality project. Starting with 118 apartments of undistinguished 1970’s design, Metro West is removing the bland outer facade and replacing it with a modern facade featuring a number of different textures and feels. The apartments will receive new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, HVAC systems—the whole shebang.

What’s really exciting, however, is Metro West’s emphasis on connecting residents to the spaces outside their units. Apartments are getting balconies and doors that open onto the complex’s updated landscaping. There will be gardens, BBQ areas and a playground. 

It’s an impressive design of the kind we’ve come to expect from Metro West Housing Solutions. There work to bring affordable housing to Lakewood has been continually impressive.

The second remodel is being done by Torchy’s Tacos, which is taking over the defunct Village Inn location at 7381 W. Alameda, across from Belmar and along the beautifully renovated Alameda Parkway Business Improvement District. Although the interior of the old Village Inn building is being renovated, the outside footprint has been left unchanged. That’s my problem with it.

The Village Inn was a car-centric building that did nothing to interact with the surrounding space. It remains that way, despite its transition into a taco joint. Literally the only exterior change appears to be the replacement of the words “Village Inn” with “Torchy’s Tacos.” 

In my view, a better plan would have involved adding outdoor seating and perhaps a garage-style door connecting patrons to the landscaping along Alameda and adding to a sense of “urban bustle.” 

I put this term in quotes, but it’s a real thing. Being able to see people in an indoor/outdoor space encourages others to come into the business and patronize it. Connecting what’s happening inside a building to what’s going on outside keeps public spaces from feeling empty or dangerous. It’s what the Belmar Groves projects gets right and the Torchy’s Taco project ignores.

  

Plans on Paper: Belmar Residence Inn and Belmar Block 6 Multifamily Residence

As 2020 draws to a close, downtown Lakewood has begun to see signs of life after a long and dreadful year. A handful of new freestanding stores will soon be opening at 100 S. Wadsworth, including a Living Water Car Wash and a Sherwin-Williams paint store. This strip of undeveloped land between Wadsworth Blvd. and The Villas residential neighborhood has seen a number of proposed development plans appear on paper over the last ten years, including townhomes, a gas station, and an In-and-Out Burger. None got past the planning stage until now.

Another project that currently exists only on paper is one to build a Residence Inn at 470 S. Teller St. This undeveloped parcel is located in the heart of Belmar and was previously under consideration for development as an office building. This is a key parcel in Belmar, and I'd be very happy to see a hotel there, as it would bring in guests who would be likely to shop and eat in downtown Lakewood. How likely is this project to actually happen? I don't know. The city of Lakewood's Planning Department was looking at it as early as last March, so it may be frozen in place until the pandemic wanes and the hotel industry figures out what travel looks like post-pandemic.

A plan was also submitted this year too develop 7221 W Virginia Pl. as a multifamily residence. The undeveloped parcel also sits in the center of Belmar, between Target and the proposed Residence Inn. For a while there was talk of developing this site as an upscale retirement home, but that plan appears to have fallen through.

I'd love to see both these parcels developed, as filling in these parking lots would complete much of the original vision of Belmar. For example, a pair of 3+ story buildings on these parcels would complete the street wall around Belmar Square, defining the park's boundaries and giving it a sort of "hidden gem" feeling that's common to parks in European cities, where you can be walking one minute in a dense urban district, only the next to come unexpectedly upon a neat and orderly oasis of green.

Again, we'll just have to see if any of this goes from a mere plan on paper to actual construction.

Improvements Coming to Alameda Between S. Carr and S. Benton

Construction has started on the stretch of Alameda that passes through downtown Lakewood, and the plans call for extensive upgrades to the streetscaping of the area.

Alameda between S. Carr and S. Benton will receive landscaped medians, new sidewalks, trees and other landscaping (along with an irrigation system), new street lighting, and flagstone place markers. The goal is to create a "front door" to downtown Lakewood.

Attention will also be paid to Teller St, which will receive a new traffic signal, an upgraded cross walk, and a sidewalk on the west side of the street to improve access to O'Kane Park and Rose Stein Elementary.

Kum & Go Gas Station and Convenience Store Proposed for 150 S. Wadsworth Blvd.

The City of Lakewood is reviewing plans for a 6,000+ square foot gas station and convenience store at 150 S. Wadsworth. This site is an undeveloped property just north of the downtown Lakewood Swedish Medical Center and ER, and just south of the planned (but not yet built) nursing facility at 100 S. Wadsworth. The planned gas station will back up to The Villas, an adult living community of 145 townhomes.

In the past, the city has worked with residents of The Villas to ensure that both the Swedish Medical Center and the downtown Lakewood Walgreens would have buffer zones between the planned developments and the homes of Villa's residents that backed up to the Wadsworth corridor. I'm guessing the city will require a buffer in this case as well, but I haven't heard any details yet.

I also don't have any details yet on the site plan for the downtown Lakewood Kum & Go, but I do know that the company has been rolling out new, larger stores that feature outdoor patios, a food focused layout, and craft beer stations that can fill growlers to go.

The Danish Plan, or How Boulder Capped Growth but Created New Problems

In 1976, Boulder adopted what's generally called the Danish Plan, named after Boulder anti-growth activist and politician Paul Danish. It limited housing growth to 2% a year, with an exemption for affordable housing projects funded by the Boulder Housing Authority. Adopted by voters, it had a sunset clause that kicked in after 5 years, after which the Boulder city council adopted its own ordinance limiting housing growth to 1% a year. The stated goal was to preserved Boulder's quality of life and unique character.

The Danish Plan (and its successor ordinance) did indeed put a brake on the development of new housing in Boulder. It also caused home prices, property taxes, and rents to skyrocket, and today affordable housing simply doesn't exist anywhere in the city. The Danish Plan increased traffic exponentially and made parking difficult as more and more workers and students were forced to drive in and out of Boulder each day from the surrounding municipalities where they lived. Indeed, the exclusivity of Boulder housing actually accelerated the changes to Boulder's character.

Today, Boulder is in many ways a playground of the rich, divorced from the rest of the metro area. It's a wonderful place to visit, but I could never afford to live there. When I do visit, I often remark to myself on how different it is from the Boulder I knew in the 1980's, when I was a college student. The goal of Paul Danish may have been to preserve the funky, hippie-friendly town he loved, but change is inevitable, and the Boulder of the 1970's and 80s is long gone.

Starting in about 2013, the Boulder city council reversed course and began to allow more housing growth, channeling it into transit oriented developments in old industrial zones that allow people to live and work closer together. This is the kind of growth that I favor-- growth that allows for the development of urban centers where people can shop and socialize without needing their cars. It's managed growth that preserves established neighborhoods but redevelops old and unneeded commercial strips. The metro area has way too much commercial real estate and not anywhere near enough housing-- especially affordable housing. Smart growth is about repurposing vacant or underutilized land to meet current needs. I'm absolutely against developers plopping three-story townhouses next to 1950's ranches in the middle of Green Mountain Heights or around Morse Park, but I'm also against leaving Colfax blighted.

Anti-growth measures like the Danish Plan are anti-smart growth just as much as they are anti-sprawl. At the same time, they do nothing to preserve the existing character of a city or limit traffic congestion. Instead they're a false promise to put time in a bottle.

Refresh Planned for Villa South Shopping Center

Business Den reports that the Villa South Shopping Center at Mississippi and Wadsworth has been purchased and the new owners plan to spend $2.5 million refurbishing the aging strip mall. The shopping center's only notable tenant is Johnny's New York Pizza, a popular choice for pizza delivery in the downtown Lakewood area. As the new owners plan to raise rents substantially, it's an open question whether Johnny's or any of the current tenants will remain.

CubeSmart Self-Storage Planned for 6206 W. Alameda Ave.

The defunct Asian buffet at 6206 W. Alameda Ave. may become a self-storage facility under a proposal currently before the Lakewood Planning Commission.

The plan calls for demolishing the current structure and replacing it with a multistory building with a masonry facade on the first floor and glass curtain walls and metal canopies on the upper floors. The building would house climate controlled storage units, as well as business center with private workstations and a shared conference room.

The building would have windows along Alameda, connecting the office space inside to the Alameda greenway. Parking would be along the side and back, while a masonry wall and landscaping would separate the development from neighboring residential areas.

Overall, this plan strikes me as a good one. This is a site that's peripheral to downtown Lakewood, and as such, isn't a good site for a restaurant. A self-storage center is useful to have nearby, but isn't going to generate a lot of traffic and disrupt neighboring residential areas. At the same time, it's a chance to replace an eyesore structure and parking lot with a building that follows current zoning and building codes, placing the building along Alameda in order to contribute to the overall streetscape, and requiring higher quality materials on the facade.