In-and-Out Burger Is a Go for Downtown Lakewood

Although I'd heard a while ago that the corner of Wadsworth and Alameda was under consideration for one of Denver area's first In-and-Out Burgers, there was a long period when nothing seemed to be happening. 

Well, things are happening now, as evidenced by the construction happening on the corner, as well as the banner hanging out front. Woot!

Now, I first heard about In-and-Out Burger in the 1980's, when high schools friends who'd moved to Colorado from California regaled me stories of the chain's burgers. I also recall a cheerleader I knew who coyly modified the In-and-Out Burger bumper sticker in her locker by carefully cutting out the "b" and the "r" in "burger." Such was the 80's.

It wasn't until the mid-90s that I actually tried an In-and-Out Burger-- and it was good! So I'm pretty happy to have one in my neighborhood to keep me out of McDonald's.

That said, the architecture is pretty standard fast-food design, the building on a small pad with lots of room around it for a drive through and parking. The building does front Wadsworth, and the drive-though looks as if it will be hidden behind the structure, which I suppose is a sort of win. But it's a lot of asphalt.

It also seems likely, at least in the short term, that downtown Lakewood's In-and-Out Burger is going to drive some horrendous traffic our way.

Time to brace ourselves for lots of people with the urge.

Yum! In-N-Out Burger Proposed for Downtown Lakewood

150 S. Wadsworth is that strip of undeveloped property on S. Wadsworth Boulevard between Pickering's Auto Service and the Swedish Belmar Emergency Room, and it's been the site of several proposed developments over the years, including a Kum&Go gas station and townhomes.

The city of Lakewood recently allowed the property owner to develop the site as multiple pad developments, in other words, a row of typical free-standing, suburban buildings. The first to be approved was a car wash, and it looks like a Sherwin Williams paint store and Bank of America won't be far behind. It was all pretty "meh."

Only now the city has received an application by In-N-Out Burger, the quasi-legendary California based burger chain, to build on the site as well. To which I say, "yum!"

If you've never been to an In-N-Out Burger, well, all I have to say is that they can be really, really good. When I was last in Arizona, I ate there three times in a single week, it was so good. Anthony Bourdain said it was his favorite fast food restaurant. Thomas Keller, owner of America's most famous restaurant, The French Laundry, celebrated the 16th anniversary of his restaurant with catered In-N-Out Burger.

The restaurant's founders, Harry and Esther Synder, supposedly refused to expand the chain beyond its original California locations, fearing that they would lose the quality control that made their burgers so delicious. So while rival McDonald's encircled the globe, In-N-Out Burger stayed close to home, until Grandaughter Lynsi Synder took control of the company in 1999, expanding slowly into Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Utah.

So it's a big deal that In-N-Out is finally coming to Colorado, and a really big deal that downtown Lakewood might get one. The Denver Post covered it. 9News covered it. It's big. And delicious. And hopefully it won't be scuttled by the anti-growth, anti-everything crowd that seems to be oh-so-vocal in Lakewood these days.

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.

Short Term Nursing Facility Proposed for Vacant Lot at 100 S. Wadsworth

The Denver West Health & Rehab Physicians Development Group has proposed a short term nursing facility for the vacant lot at 100 S. Wadsworth.

This long, narrow lot fronts S. Wadsworth from Pickering's Auto Service on Bayaud Ave. to W. Byers Place and the new emergency medical center currently under construction at 260 S. Wadsworth.

The plan would allow for two buildings on the lot, each fronting Wadsworth, with parking in between. Car access would be from Bayaud or Byers.

This is good design, folks. By pushing car access to the rear of the site, it's possible to run an unbroken pedestrian/bike trail along Wadsworth. Pedestrians and bikers will feel safer on account of having building facades to one side, while auto traffic on Wadsworth will be kept flowing by not having cars entering onto the street directly from the new parking lot.

Centura Health to Open Family Medical Center at Wads & Alameda

 Centura Health is opening a family medical center above the Walgreens on the north east corner of Wadsworth and Alameda.

Healthcare has been a big driver of the economic recovery here in Colorado, and Lakewood is no exception. The biggest impact has been from the new St. Anthony's Hospital, located on land that was formerly part of the Denver Federal Center at Simms and Alameda, but downtown Lakewood has seen its share of growth too. Kaiser Permanente has plans to expand their Alameda and Carr St. location, while HealthOne will run the emergency medical center currently under construction at 260 S. Wadsworth (directly north of the downtown Lakewood Walgreens).

Why the boom? I've heard there are two factors. The first is the transition of the baby boom generation to retirement, medicare, and greater health care needs. The second is the huge expansion of medical care made possible by the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). More people with health insurance means more business for heath care providers, and that has meant more economic development for Lakewood.

Phase Three Underway at Geico Tower Redevelopment

Construction is well underway on the emergency medical center at Wadsworth and Alameda, adjacent to Key Bank and Walgreens. This is the third and final phase of the redevelopment of the former Geico Tower, and I'm a little amazed (but in a good way) at how quickly it's happening. 

It does make me wonder if we might have gotten a taller, denser cluster of buildings if the parcel has remained undeveloped until after the recession ended-- there were plans floated back in 2007, if I recall the date correctly, to put a mid-rise tower with residential units there, which was abandoned when the economy tanked.

Construction Starts on Emergency Medical Facility at 260 S. Wadsworth

Fences are up and initial construction is underway at 260 S. Wadsworth Blvd., which is the vacant lot just north of the Walgreens on the northeast corner of Wadsworth and Alameda.

The two story building will be an emergency medical center with a brick and stone facade fronting Wadsworth. The building will only take up about a third of the lot-- the rest of which will be devoted to parking and an ambulance drop-off. The plans call for quite a bit of landscaping, including trees, benches, bike racks, street lights, trashcans, and sidewalks connecting the building to the Walgreens next door.

As a whole, the development is fairly low density, which is unfortunate in my book, but I do like how the surface parking is hidden from the street. I also appreciate the requirement that the building rise to two stories on the side where it fronts Wadsworth, as both Wadsworth and Alameda require taller buildings along them in the downtown area in order to create that sense of being in a central business district.

Originally I'd heard the facility would be run by Health One, but now it looks like it will be Swedish.

I should also point out that this development has not been without controversy. It backs up to the Villas, a suburban-stye residential area, and the Villas Neighborhood Association has been concerned about noise and light pollution, particularly from the sirens of arriving ambulances. The developers assured the association that the vast majority of clients would arrive by private car and that the number of ambulances arriving with sirens running would be as low as 20 a year.

Protests Continue to Rock Jefferson County, Downtown Lakewood

Protests against the Jeffco School Board's conservative majority continued on Friday night, as an estimated 2500 protestors waved signs at intersections from 120th Ave in the north of Jefferson County to Ken Caryl Blvd. in the south. Newspapers as far away as Great Britain reported on the controversy.

Parents, students and teachers line Wadsworth

Blvd. in downtown Lakewood on Friday night 

to protest the actions of the Jeffco School 

Board.

The protests began last year when a newly elected conservative school board majority announced its plans to end the Jeffco school district's 45 year history of collaboration with its employee association and implement a series of controversial decisions, including the firing of Jeffco's award winning superintendent, Cindy Stevenson, and the unilateral imposition of an opaque and untested pay scheme for teachers.

It was the decision by board member Julie Williams to create a curriculum review committee, however,  that ignited the latest round of protests, sick-outs, and student walk-outs. The proposed committee would have had the mandate to seek out and bring to the board's attention classes and curriculum that failed to promote Ms. William's narrow view of patriotism, the free-market system, and history. The original text of the committee's mandate even hinted that courses that taught about safe sex, global warming, or evolution would soon be placed under the school board's microscope.

The Jeffco School Board dropped Ms. William's language at its Oct. 1st board meeting, but voted nevertheless to establish the curriculum review committee, despite nearly three hours of public comment that ran overwhelming against the proposal.

All year, I've been hearing rumblings about the Jeffco School Board's hidden agenda. Now it seems that agenda is out in the open.

Progress at the Walgreens Site

Quite a bit of work has already been done at the new Walgreen's site.

The Walgreens will be two stories, and it looks like it will do a good job of filling in the northeast corner of Alameda and Wadsworth. Immediately to the east, the foundation has been laid for the Key Bank, which will also be two stories. A third building will sit to the north of the Walgreens, fronting Wadsworth. No construction has started there, and it's my understanding that no tenant has been identified, but the building is planned to be between three and five stories.

I'm happy that the buildings will all be at least two stories high, and that parking will be on the interior of the block. Taken together, this will allow the buildings to front the street in proper New Urbanist style.

Key Bank Site

Walgreens at Alameda & Wadsworth

Walgreens Development Site Plan

Connecting Downtown Lakewood

Anyone who lives in Belmar knows that crossing Wadsworth on foot is an unpleasant task. It's too many lanes and too many cars, and as a result, downtown Lakewood is effectively cut in half.

So it was nice to read in the Lakewood Sentinel that the city is finally taking seriously the need to unify Belmar, Lakewood Commons, Belmar Park, and the Lakewood Civic Center.

The City of Lakewood has also put up a web page for the Downtown Lakewood Connectivity and Urban Design Plan, announcing a series of public workshops.

Perhaps most promising of all, the city's webpage states that the "study will evaluate transit options in the area, as well as possible connections to the West Corridor light rail stations at Wadsworth and the Federal Center."

Belmar Sign at Alameda and Wadsworth

I noticed a while back that Continuum had requested a replatting of Belmar Block 1 to shrink the size of Lot 1. It looks like this was a prelude to putting in a sign on the corner of Wadsworth and Alameda, which the corner certainly needs. Of course, what I would like to see is a building on that corner (and not a Best Buy parking lot), but a big, bold sign would be a start.

Work is now underway on the sign, as you can see in this photo:

Update: Here's a photo of the finished work. The sign pulses from blue to orange, but in a generally good way. It's not as tall as I'd have expected, but it works.

Walgreens to Replace Office Tower at Wadsworth and Alameda

The city of Lakewood looks set to approve a redevelopment plan for the northeast corner of Wadsworth and Alameda. The plan would involve tearing down the current office tower and replacing it with a Walgreens. The site would also accommodate two other smaller buildings for potential further future development.

Of course, this isn't the first redevelopment plan for this corner. Until demolition/construction begins, I wouldn't hold my breath.