Union Station North Explained

Union Station North, Denver, Colorado
Settlement Type:Neighborhoods in Denver
Image Alt:Union Station North
Pushpin Map:USA
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Union Station North in the United States
Pushpin Relief:yes
Pushpin Label:Union Station North
Coordinates:39.7598°N -104.9968°W
Coordinates Footnotes:[1]
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:City and county
Subdivision Name2: Denver[2]
Unit Pref:US
Population Density Sq Mi:auto
Timezone1:MST
Utc Offset1:–7
Timezone1 Dst:MDT
Utc Offset1 Dst:–6
Postal Code Type:ZIP code
Postal Code:80202

Union Station North, formerly known as Prospect, is a neighborhood within the city limits of Denver, Colorado.[3] Previously dominated by industrial buildings, waste, railroad tracks and considered an area of the city to be avoided, today it has been rehabilitated into multi-story residential buildings, restaurants, amenities, easy access to downtown Denver, and is a short walk to the South Platte River Trail, which runs along its northern boundary.[3]

Name

Originally an area of Denver known as, "The Bottoms", "Prospect", or "Prospect Park", Union Station North is one of the oldest parts of Denver.[4] [3] The name, Prospect, originated from the adjacent, "Prospect Junction" railyard located partially within and immediately to the north of Union Station North.[3] [5]

In July 2016, the official name of the neighborhood was changed from "Prospect" to "Union Station North".[3]

History

Union Station North sits on land that originally belonged to the Arapaho Tribe.[6] They named the South Platte River, which flows along Union Station North, Niinéniiniicíihéhe.[6] The discovery of gold in Denver in 1858 resulted in a large increase of white settlers to the area and the native population was pushed out.[7] From the city's founding and continuing through the 1970s, the South Platte River was essentially treated as an open sewer.[8] [9]

By the 1960s, Union Station North contained immigrant housing, vacant lots, railroad tracks, and industrial plants dumping discharge into the South Platte River. Along the river's banks could be found landfills, discarded cars, weeds, old tires, waste, feathers from a pillow factory, and hobo camps. The area was considered an undesirable place to live.[4] [3] [10]

In the 1990s and through the 2010s, redevelopment took place in the LoDo/Union Station/Riverfront Park/Confluence Park areas along with the building of Coors Field (1995) and the creation of Cuernavaca Park (2000). This redevelopment spread to the adjacent Union Station North neighborhood and residential buildings were planned and built.[3] [11] In 2006, Denver developer Dana Crawford referred to Union Station North as, "a very industrial area" and Denver architect Jim Johnson added, "this is still the true-grit part of town".[12]

In 2019, the new commuter rail G Line added an additional set of tracks through the neighborhood in the guise of a bridge over both the South Platte River and BNSF rail lines in the Prospect Junction area.[13] [14]

Today, Union Station North is a small, clean, thriving, primarily residential community combined with daily passages of locomotives transiting in and out of the Denver area.

Geography

Union Station North is located on the north side of Downtown Denver and is wholly contained within the larger neighborhood of Five Points. It is bounded by the South Platte River to the north, Cuernavaca Park to the northwest, 20th Street to the southwest, Wewatta Street to the southeast and the Park Avenue West viaduct to the east. Union Station North is additionally surrounded by the Union Station/LoDo neighborhood to the southwest, Ballpark neighborhood to the southeast, River North Arts District ("RiNo") neighborhood to the east, and the Highland neighborhood to the north. Coors Field is adjacent to Union Station North, located on the south side of the community.

Some streets in the neighborhood, Chestnut Place, Wewatta Street, 20th Street, 21st Street and Delgany Street, follow the old Denver city grid laid down in the 1850s. The remaining streets follow the north/south configuration system of 1864 which was designed in order to comply with federal government mandates.[15]

The northern boundary of Union Station North follows the South Platte River, which has had a history of flooding in the past. Today, tall embankments run along both sides of the river which guard against infrequent, yet inevitable high water. Additionally, the walking/biking South Platte River Trail[16] skirts along the river.[17] [18]

Demographics

As of 2010, Union Station North had a population of 3077 residents. The neighborhood's average age is 41 and 47% of the population are homeowners.[19]

City of Cuernavaca Park

The City of Cuernavaca Park is divided by the South Platte River, the southern section being located within the Union Station North neighborhood along with the Flour Mill Lofts. The South Platte River Commission recommended the park's construction in 1995 and it was completed in 2000.[20] The creation of Cuernavaca Park reclaimed and repurposed land that had been an industrial wasteland for over a hundred years.[21] Formerly in this area along the South Platte river were numerous mills discharging volumes of thick, black and gray soot into the sky, polluting the air and land of the downtown Denver area.[21] Denver had the largest concentration of flour mills in the western United States.[21] By 1975, as the area's industrial operations slowed, this part of Union Station North became a disused muddy stretch of the river filled with weeds and passing locomotives belching diesel smoke.[21] In 1974, the Platte River Development Committee was created with goals that included recovering the South Platte River for boating enthusiasts, creating parks and linking the entire urban river area with concrete pedestrian/biking trails.[22] [23] Today, Cuernavaca Park contains large areas of grass, trees, covered picnic pavilions, a baseball diamond, paved trails on both sides of the river, tables, benches and toilet facilities. Rock sculptures are located immediately north of the Flour Mill Lofts.[20]

The dominating feature of the park is the oval walking/biking path that offers two bridges for crossing the river.[20] The bridges are reminiscent of nineteenth-century railroad trestle bridges keeping in character with the industrial-chic flavor of the area.[20]

The Mexican City of Cuernavaca is one of Denver's sister cities.[24]

Fauna

The fauna of Union Station North is rich for a large downtown metropolitan area. Barn swallow, Barrow's Goldeneye, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Cliff Swallow, Ferruginous Hawk, Forster's Tern, green heron, Northern Rough-winged Swallow all make their homes along the South Platte River and can often be seen from the South Platte River Trail.[25]

Alphabetical list of Union Station North residential buildings

Key
† = to be determined

Name Type Address Units Year built Stories References
Ajax Lofts Condominiums 2955 Inca Street 49 2003 4[26] [27] [28]
The Casey Apartments 2100 Delgany Street 187 2015 6[29]
Diamond at Prospect Apartments 3001 Fox Street 140 2005 4[30]
Flour Mill Lofts Condominiums 2000 Little Raven Street 42 200010[31] [32]
Griffis North Union Apartments 2975 Huron Street 296 2016 5[33]
Griffis Union Station Apartments 2905 Inca Street 400 2010 5[34]
Inca 29 Brownstones Condominiums 2900 Inca Street 29 2007 3[35]
Jack Kerouac Lofts Condominiums 3100 Huron Street 60 2005 4[36] [37]
The Metro Apartments 1, 2, 3 Apartments 2121 Delgany Street 415 2004 4[38]
Watertower Lofts Condominiums 2960 Inca Street 96 2002 5[39]
X Denver Apartments 3100 Inca Street 251 2021 12[40] [41] [42]
3000 Huron Apartments 3000 Huron Street 300 2023 13[43]
21st & Wewatta Proposed 21st & Wewatta 180 12 [44]
29th & Fox Proposed 29th & Fox 124 12
29th & Fox (South Corner) Proposed 29th & Fox 120 12
2099 Chestnut Proposed 2099 Chestnut 77 8

Notes

A.Originally built as an industrial building in the 1920s and was later converted into a residential building in 2000.[45]

B.Originally built as an industrial building in 1894 and was later converted into a residential building in 2002.[46]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2014 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Places. United States Census Bureau. July 1, 2014. January 5, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150207080811/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/gazetteer2014.html. February 7, 2015. dead.
  2. Web site: Active Colorado Municipalities . State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091212060308/http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html . December 12, 2009.
  3. Web site: Calhoun . Patricia . Welcome to Union Station North, a New Neighborhood in Old Denver . Westword . 20 July 2016 . 10 June 2021.
  4. Web site: Noel . Thomas J. . LoDo (Lower Downtown Denver) . Colorado Encyclopedia . 15 April 2015 . 10 June 2021.
  5. Web site: Armstrong . Jack . Union Station North 007.jpg . Wikimedia Commons . January 2011 . 20 June 2021.
  6. Web site: d'Elgin . Tershia . South Platte River . coloradoencyclopedia.org . 22 February 2017 . 19 June 2021.
  7. Web site: Indigenous Tribes of Colorado . ala.org . 21 November 2017 . American Library Association . 19 June 2021.
  8. Web site: A Short History of Denver and the South Platte River . web.mit.edu . 19 June 2021.
  9. Web site: Case study: South Platte River, Denver, Colorado, USA . cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/wp.wpi.edu . 21 June 2021.
  10. Web site: Simmons . Thomas H. . Simmons . R. Laurie . Anstey . Mary Therese . Tops Down and Bottoms Up Intervention—The Great Depression, Federal Relief Programs, and World War II, 1930-45 . discoverdenver.co . 17 June 2021 . Section 5.2 . 2.
  11. Web site: LoDo ~ Denver's Lower Downtown Success Story . Denver Public Library . 29 October 2014 . 10 June 2021.
  12. Web site: Buchholz . Jan . Kerouac Lofts attract eclectic mix . bizjournals.com . 17 June 2021.
  13. Web site: Sachs . David . With the G Line opening, RTD and transit riders will be partying like it's 2016 . denverite.com . 23 June 2021.
  14. Web site: Armstrong . Jack . Union Station North, South Platte Bridges . commons.wikimedia.org . 23 June 2021 . 23 June 2021.
  15. Web site: Taylor . Mike . A Tale of Two Grids: Confusion Aside, Diagonal Streets Distinguish Downtown Denver . Confluence-Denver.com . 10 June 2021.
  16. Web site: regional_trails_web.pdf . Denvergov.org . 10 June 2021.
  17. Web site: Prendergast . Alan . South Platte Flood of 1965 . Colorado Encyclopedia . 13 March 2020 . 10 June 2021.
  18. Web site: South platte river Globeville and north areas . casfm.org . 10 June 2021.
  19. Web site: Prospect Park, Denver . Nextdoor.com . 12 June 2021.
  20. Web site: City of Cuernavaca Park . The Cultural Landscape Foundation . 20 June 2021.
  21. Web site: Fletcher . Harrison . Building for the Future . Westword . 21 June 2021 . 5 March 1998.
  22. Web site: Greenway Foundation History:1970s . thegreenwayfoundation.org . 21 June 2021.
  23. Web site: Valley Highway EIS . www.codot.gov . 21 June 2021 . 4.9-5.
  24. Web site: Hughes . Jessica . Denver's Sister Cities . uncovercolorado.com . 20 June 2021.
  25. Web site: Important Bird Areas, South Platte River Corridor . audubon.org . 12 September 2016 . 10 June 2021.
  26. Web site: Ajax Lofts . condo.com . eRealEstate Holdings, LLC . 22 January 2023.
  27. Web site: Denver Lofts and Condos by Area . Denver's Real Estate . 10 June 2021.
  28. Web site: About Ajax Lofts . Highrises.com . 10 June 2021.
  29. Web site: Dravitz . Ryan . The Casey Update #3 . Denver Infill . 10 June 2021.
  30. Web site: Diamond at Prospect Apartments . Apartments.com . 10 June 2021.
  31. Web site: Flour Mill Lofts . condo.com . 2022 eRealEstate Holdings, LLC . 22 January 2023.
  32. Web site: Flour Mill Lofts . RiverFrontDenver.com . 11 June 2021.
  33. Web site: Griffis North Union . Apartments.com . 10 June 2021.
  34. Web site: Griffis Union Station . Apartments.com . 10 June 2021.
  35. Web site: About Inca 29 Townhomes . Highrises.com . 10 June 2021.
  36. Web site: Jack Kerouac Lofts . highrises.com . highrises.com . 22 January 2023.
  37. Web site: Jack Kerouac Lofts . Johnson Nathan Strohe Design . 8 July 2015 . 20 July 2021.
  38. Web site: The Metro Apartments . Apartments.com . 20 July 2021.
  39. Web site: WaterTower Lofts . Apartments.com . 10 June 2021.
  40. Web site: Dravitz . Ryan . Union Station North Roundup AUG 2020 . Denver Infill . 10 June 2021.
  41. Web site: The Co-Living Trend Heats Up in the Mile High City . 5280.com . 21 July 2021.
  42. Web site: A Final Look at X Denver . denverinfill.com . denverinfill . 21 January 2023.
  43. Web site: Union Station North Roundup AUG 2022 . denverinfill.com . denverinfill . 21 January 2023.
  44. Web site: Union Station North Roundup AUG 2022 . denverinfill.com . denverinfill.com . 22 January 2023.
  45. Web site: Kindesign . One . Historic flour mill converted to industrial style loft in Denver . onekindesign.com . 17 June 2015 . 15 June 2021.
  46. Web site: Watertower Lofts . riverfrontdenver.com . 15 June 2021.