by Valley Gadfly | Jul 18, 2024 | General Featured
by Glen Richardson
Bassist Baier: Frank Baier and his wife Christine host the neighborhood music series on their front lawn, where his band Groove Machine entertains.
Singing With Soul: New singer-soloist at this year’s summer lawn singalongs is Biff Gore, dubbed “The Ambassador of Soul” by LA pop rock band Maroon 5.
As sure as the sun rises and sets, summer graces us with its warm embraces, bringing with it delightful lawn singalongs. None is more charming, nor more quintessentially local, than the sunset serenades of Cory- Merrill neighborhood bassist Frank Baier and his band Groove Machine.
Gems on the lawn providing spirited musical entertainment with a good beat, lots of feeling, plus easy listening singalong lyrics. Like George Gershwin’s Summertime composition for Porgy and Bess, the music has a rhythmical hook and instrumental beat that embodies “Good Vibrations.” Tunes as rhythmic as the Beach Boys’ pop and rock songs, with an edge and a synthesized beat with electric guitar riffs. Neighbors, friends, walkers, bicyclists, music fans, and their dogs flock to the neighborhood to listen-dance to the jam sessions that in recent years have progressively become a ball and blast. They stand, sit on chairs, or stretch out on lawns at homes adjacent, across the street, or nearby to enjoy the sunset concerts.
A top musician, Baier has worked on Broadway shows including Grease, and Jesus Christ Superstar. He has performed with such musical talent as Brook Benton, Hall & Oates, and the Bee Gee’s. He’s also played with the Minneapolis and St Louis Philharmonics, and New York’s finest society orchestras. Each summer Baier and his wife Christine treat the neighborhood to the summer music series on their front lawn.
Top Talent
Lawn Keynoter: Groove Machine’s keyboardist Tim Greenhouse adds depth and color to lawn singalong sunset serenade in the Cory-Merrill neighborhood.
Keyboards add depth and texture to a band’s sound, and Tim Greenhouse is one of Colorado’s best. Sometimes flashy, his work allows the band to add extra layers while often adding some edge. Moreover, he gives the band the opportunity to vary the sound and atmosphere of a song.
Artistic Greenhouse is a Denverite who has played with such stars as Bob Hope. Furthermore, he has participated in Switzerland’s prestigious annual Montreux Jazz Festival that annual draws nearly 250,000 spectators. He has also played with celebrated Colorado-based entertainers Hazel Miller and Lannie Garrett.
Adding captivating sounds and emotional expression to every concert is longtime Groove Machine percussionist Doug Bainbridge. A top musician, he helps maintain the rhythm and adds vibrancy to the music. Bainbridge spent several years playing around the Pacific Rim. He worked for a half-dozen years as a drummer-percussionist on South Korea television before returning to the U.S.
New as singer-soloist at this year’s summer lawn singalongs is Biff Gore, a powerful soul-singer with down home guitar styling. Dubbed “The Ambassador of Soul” by LA pop rock band Maroon 5, the soloist-guitarist adds a feeling of connection that engages the lawn crowd. While providing entertainment and joy to listeners, his performances create bonding, lower stress, improve the mood, while also adding emotion.
Lawn Lineup: Neighbors, friends, walkers, and music fans line up along the sidewalk to enjoy a diverse genre of music at a lawn event that has become a ball and blast.
His rich vocals landed him a spot on the sixth season of NBC’s talent show The Voice, in the spring of 2014. His grueling blues sound moved him to the top eight. During his time on The Voice, Gore realized his desire to share his musical gifts with people, so he returned to Denver. Worship Pastor at the Highline Community Church, he has “The Biff Gore Radio Show” on KLTT-670 AM, where soul meets sound in a symphony of inspirational stories, music, and wisdom.
Harmony & Bonding
The music is rhythmic, warm, lyrical, and melodious. But it’s about more than the music. It’s about moments between people. Families and friends getting together who haven’t seen each other in a year, and picking up a conversation like they’d just seen each other yesterday. It’s about kids enjoying the music with mom and pop. There’s a family feel that you rarely experience.
Concerts are not just an evening of pleasure, but a true immersion into the heart of our communities. From the toe-tapping rhythms of the band, the lawn singalongs are a true sensory feast that beckons both young and old to revel in the joys of summer.
Family-friendly, offering diverse genres of music, they are a great way to enjoy being outside in the evening when temperatures cool off. Sometimes soft, smooth, and gentle, other times rich, loud, and wild, they signal everyone to chill out, and take it day by day. Giving people a sense of freedom, an escape to “let loose” through the means of music. It boosts everyone’s moods and dispositions.
by Valley Gadfly | Jul 18, 2024 | Main Articles
Denver’s Business District Becoming Neighborhoods; Another 1,837 Apartments Planned In The Coming Year
by Glen Richardson
Best Of Broadway: This nine-story medical building was renovated into studio and one-bedroom apartments. Fourteen units are for unhoused patients released from Denver Health.
If you’ve noticed some old buildings getting a new lease on life in Denver, you’re right. The Mile High City ranks among the nation’s top spots for apartment conversions, with about 300 apartments entering the market through adaptive reuse in 2023 — and there are six times more such apartments on the horizon.
In addition to generating more apartments, the trend is likely to bring more people and energy to downtown Denver, hard hit by the pandemic’s work-from-home deluge. Residential conversions are anticipated to bring people and new energy to downtown apart from the workday. If so, stores, restaurants, entertainment, and other amenities of a vibrant lifestyle will optimistically return.
RentCafe’s annual adaptive reuse report shows that apartment conversions are on the rise again in the U.S., having increased by 18% in 2023 compared to the previous year. Plot twist: While office conversions are usually the go-to for future projects, hotel conversions rocked the charts in 2023, hitting a record high. Yet, with 58,000 office projects in various development stages nationwide, office conversions are expected to take the lead again.
Mile High Style
Clarion Converted: Renamed Renewal Village, the 215-room Clarion Hotel is the largest Mile High hotel converted to apartments to date.
Denver is part of the trend, with around 1,000 new units projected to be created through repurposing former office spaces.
Denver ranks 8th among cities with the most conversions in 2023. Developers successfully transformed a school building into 190 apartments, and a 1956 office building located at 655 Broadway is now home to 110 new apartments.
Looking ahead, The Mile High City is a major player in future apartment conversions, with plans to bring 1,837 new apartments to life in the coming year. Office conversions prevail (1,002 units), while repurposed schools (420 units) and hotel conversions (261 units) are also set to expand Denver’s rental market. The remaining units will come from residential conversions.
Metro Area Trend
Street Art: The 10-story Art Institute building was converted into 192 apartments named Art Studios. Nichols Partnership was the hammer that shaped the new art piece.
In the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area, office conversions are expected to be the most popular, mainly due to the 1,000 projected units in the capital city. Following closely are hotel conversions (937 units), including 576 apartments expected to be retrofitted in Aurora.
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of converting an existing building for purposes other than those it was originally designed for. In this article, adaptive reuse is expressed as the conversion of an existing building into rental apartments. The RentCafe study is based on apartment data related to buildings containing at least 50 units.
Data, of course, is subject to change. New properties and markets may emerge, while some properties might not be completed or maintain the same status (other than completed) for several years. Additionally, various factors such as delays, sales, or project abandonment can prevent completion of some properties. Future projects encompass those currently undergoing conversion, as well as those in the planning and prospective redevelopment stages.
Long Local History
Creek Condos: This office building on Cook St. in Cherry Creek was converted into 44 condos named Catalonian at Cherry Creek in the late 1990s.
Conversion of old buildings has a long history in Denver. Marcel Arsenault, founder and CEO of Real Capital Solutions, did his first office-to-residential conversion in Cherry Creek in the late 1990s. The building’s offices were converted to 44 condos, now named Catalonian at Cherry Creek at 180 Cook Street. It was an old office building, and so the price was low. At the same time Cherry Creek residential values were high. Everybody wants to live in Cherry Creek; thus, it made sense for Arsenault to do residential
In 2006, 1600 Glenarm Place, a 31-story tower at 16th Street Mall, was turned into more than 300 units. In 2015 Nichols Partnership converted the former Hotel VQ next to Bronco’s stadium into Turntable Studios, a 13-story complex with 179 studio apartments. In 2022, the owner of Denver’s Petroleum Building filed plans to turn the office building into around 130 apartment units.
Nichols Partnership completed the 10-story, 192 apartment Art Studios — the former Art Institute of Colorado building — in the first quarter of 2023. Located in Denver’s Golden Triangle neighborhood, conversion of the building acquired in 2019 was delayed by the pandemic. Using leftover materials for the school, the rebuild honors the building’s history. Nichols Partnership also converted the five-story One Platte office building, at 1701 Platte St. Completed in the spring 2022, it’s now 90% leased, a testament to both the building and the Platte St. location.
Hotel Renovations
Turntable Trend: In 2015 the former Hotel VQ next to Bronco’s stadium was converted into Turntable Studios, a 13-story complex with 179 apartments.
Denver’s hotel conversions have virtually all been for the city’s homeless plus the migrant invasion. The earliest was in February, 2020 when a former Quality Inn & Suites on Quebec Street in Park Hill was converted into apartments known as Fusion Studios. The changeover provided transitional and long-term housing. At that time, the city required residents to pay up to 30% of their monthly income as rent.
With a new mayor and city council, Denver has been purchasing hotel housing — albeit mostly older properties and most often motels — at a record-setting pace. The tempo has been so fast neither the media nor citizens can keep pace. Here’s a sampling: New Directions, a former Best Western in the 4500 block of N. Quebec St. The city paid $25.95 million for the 194-unit property; Tamarac Family Shelter, previously an Embassy Suites on East Hampden Ave., Denver paid a combined $30.9 million for lease-purchase; Clarion Hotel is Denver’s largest to be converted to housing for the homeless. Renamed Renewal Village, the 215-room hotel was purchased in Jan. 2023 for $24 million — $10 million each from Denver and the Colorado Division of Housing, plus $3.6 million from Adams County.
by Valley Gadfly | Jul 18, 2024 | Valley Gadfly
Valley Gadfly
Welcome to August: It’s “Summertime and the livin’s easy!” Sure, it can be hot, but it is always filled with adventures that ignite excitement and energy to generate summer happiness!
This month brings up a lot of different feelings. It signifies the lazy days of summer and the excitement of the seasons changing. Gentle and dreamy days, just don’t give up the shade.
To help you enjoy the last breath of summer, here are our choices for shopping, dining, and entertainment, to soak up time outdoors, in the pool, and under August’s Full Moon:
Soak up sunshine and the blissfulness of Denver at DCPA’s outdoor Sculpture Park Aug. 3, starting at 2 p.m. British DJ Lee Burridge brings melodic shades of technicolor emotionalism to All Day I Dream. Information: 303-893-4100.
Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo and singer Meshell Ndegeocello play at the Botanic Gardens Summer Series Aug. 7, 6:30 p.m. Information: 720-865-3500.
View work by national artists with live acoustic music at Cherry Creek’s Smash Fine Arts Festival Aug. 10-11, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Information: 720-300-4924.
Enjoy smoked bliss by pitmasters from across the country at the Denver BBQ Festival on McGregor Square Aug. 16-18. Information: denverbbqfest.com.
Here’s a hot August suggestion: Keep the summer heat out with Solar Shades — either manual or motorized — from Cherry Creek Shades & Drapery on E. 6th Ave. Family owned, locally operated since 1968. Information: 303-355-4223.
Make this August sweet by visiting Cherry Creek North often. Stroll 16 blocks of chic boutiques, cool galleries, fun fitness studios, sun-soaked happy hours, and buzz worthy eateries. Days to enjoy as you please. Information: 303-394-2904.
See juried fine arts & crafts at the new Park Hill Summer Art Festival on the Masonic Lodge grounds Aug. 17-18, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Information: 303-324-5956.
Snag the chance to hear the Hot Tomatoes Dance Orchestra do Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington numbers at Dazzle Aug. 19, 6 p.m. Information: 303-839-5100.
Let your taste buds try the bottomless Denver Brunch Fest at the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria campus Aug. 24, noon to 4 p.m. Information: brunch-so-hard.com
Hear the Doobie Brothers’ picking and harmony that’s tallied five Top 10 singles and 16 Top 40 hits at the Ball Arena Aug. 29, 7 p.m. Information: 303-405-1100.
Plan to participate in this year’s Special Olympics Plane Pull Challenge at DIA Aug. 24. Event is at Signature Aviation, 7850 North Harry B Coombs Pkwy., 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pull funds Special Olympics to provide sports & healthy living for children & adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Teams of up to 25 compete to pull airplane 12 ft. in the fastest time. Create or join a team or register as an individual to support Denver, state athletes. Information: 720-359-3100.
Infrequent, uncommon, as rare as hen’s teeth! It’s an event that happens every two to three years, and the saying, “once in a blue moon,” is what describes this August’s Supermoon.
Mark the date, time: August 19, 7:36 p.m., Mountain Daylight Time. It’s unique because it’s a special seasonal blue moon and it will be the last blue moon until May 20, 2027.
Need a hot date? Pick any August day, they don’t get much hotter than that! This month will sip-away like a bottle of wine. So, do what sheep do on sunny days, have a baa-baa-cue.
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
by Valley Gadfly | Jun 20, 2024 | Valley Gadfly
July is a hot date to sing songs hailing the Land of the Free, as we embrace freedom on America’s birthday, July 4, 1776. Fireworks will roar across the sky like the thunder in July.
It’s summertime and the weather’s hot, but at least there’s no snow. With its days of blue skies and time that seemingly stands still, we’re in a spell that connects us to good times.
To help you seize summer, here are our spirited choices for shopping, dining, and entertainment, to get you rockin’ into July’s festivals, parades, fireworks, and barbecues:
For a fabulous summer stroll with the family, head to Cherry Creek North for the juried Cherry Creek Arts Festival, July 5-7. District streets will be filled with art, plus food & entertainment, starting at 10 a.m. Information: 303-355-2787.
Enjoy an evening of music under the stars as the Colorado Symphony plays Mozart at McGregor Square July 10, 7 p.m. Information: 303-623-7876.
For French fun featuring artists, shopping, and cuisine, go to Bastille Day at Cherry Creek’s Fillmore Plaza July 12-14, 4-9 pm. Information: 720-447-7961.
Swallow Hill’s Four Mile Park summer concerts end with Sugar Britches tribute to songwriter John Prine July 10. Then Shakedown Street salutes Grateful Dead Band’s eclectic style July 17, 6:30 p.m. Information: swallowhillmusic.com.
Get barbeque for the 4th, and year around at AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q, given the “Bib Gourmand” title for high quality at a good price. Unfussy S. Delaware St. dine-in or take out spot is 29th on Yelps Top 100 BBQ list. Information: 720-851-5571.
Jazz-soul vocalist Tatiana Mayfield sings music of Aretha Franklin, other jazz-soul artists at the Arvada Center July 15, 7:30 p.m. Information: 720-898-7200.
Cherry Creek North retailers, restaurants, art galleries, fitness studios, and more offer markdowns at Sidewalk Sale, July 18-23. Information: 303-394-2904.
It will make you laugh, cry, and think, so take the family to see the musical Wicked playing at the Buell Theatre, July 24-25. Information: 720-865-4220.
See art, plus multiple stages of performers at the Global Dance Festival in the Stockyards Event Center, July 26-27, 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Information: 720-707-0670.
View the work by 150 artists and craftsmen displaying their work at the Cheesman Park Art Fest, July 27-28, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Information: 505-373-7363.
Rumble, reel, rave, and party at the Roaring ’20s Gala July 13-14 to help a local non-profit working to create change. Dress in Roaring ’20s attire for dinner, live auction, and dancing followed by Casino Night at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center, beginning at 6 p.m. and lasting until midnight July 14. You’ll be helping Hope Connection & Community give a helping hand to fulfill hopes, dreams, and goals of families and children in need. Information: 303-386-6232.
Named after Julius Caesar, July marks the midway point of the year. For the big party on the fourth, America consumes around 150 million hot dogs to celebrate our independence.
As we March into July to a John Philip Sousa tune, the Dave Matthews Band’s hit song “American Baby” gives us a source of optimism and hope, even when times are tough.
Kaboom: Watch Glendale’s jaw-dropping fireworks — considered the Valley’s premier display — July 2. What will lightning say to annual fireworks? “You stole my thunder!”
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
by Valley Gadfly | May 20, 2024 | Glendale City News
You Knead To Know Denver Is No Longer In A Pizza Rut; Mile High Scores 82 Out Of 100, 14% Higher Than The Average City
by Glen Richardson
Top In Town: Angelo’s Taverna on E. 6th Ave. is city’s longtime favorite pizza eatery. Google rates it 4.6 stars on 2,983 reviews. Yelp ranks Larimer Square’s Osteria Marco best restaurant.
Step aside, New York and Chicago. Denver is the best pizza city in America. Pizza restaurants in Denver are among the highest rated on Yelp, and pizza prices here are more affordable than most metros. Moreover, demand for pizza is so strong that pizza prices are rising faster than overall inflation — 4.0% compared to 3.5%.
Denver ranked 7th last year. Furthermore, five years ago people coming to Denver from Pizza meccas (New York, Chicago, or Connecticut) couldn’t find anything tolerable in Denver. “Residents didn’t know. . . or had ever tasted good pizza,” locals recall.
Today, pizza restaurants in the Mile High City average 4.05 stars out of 5 on Yelp — one of the highest averages in the country. Buying a cheese pizza each week for a year in Denver requires 1.03% of the median annual income — 30% less that the income required in the average city reviewed (1.47%). Denver beat out popular pizza cities — including New York, Chicago, and Detroit — in part because of lower prices, but just as important, due to far better pizzeria reviews!
Top At 4.05 Stars
Pizza Popularity: Denver is the best pizza city in America. Pizzerias — including Redeemer Pizza on Larimer, shown, are among the highest rated on Yelp.
Clever Real Estate ranks the country’s 50 largest metros in the nation. They use data-driven metrics, based on the quality of pizza restaurants per capita: Google search trends, Yelp reviews, plus two surveys of 1,000 Americans, and multiple affordability metrics. Here’s how Denver’s pizza scene surpassed the competition:
Denver pizza restaurants averaged 4.05 out of 5 stars on Yelp — better than the average city’s 3.89 stars and New York’s 3.93 stars. Plus, Denver pizza is more affordable. Based on local prices and incomes, buying one large cheese pizza each week for a year would cost the typical resident 1.03% of their annual income. Nationally, the figure is 1.47%, and in New York, it’s 1.77%.
Giles Flanagin admits change in the local pizza scene has been dramatic in the past few years. Cofounder in 2015 of Denver-based Blue Pan Pizza, he says countless top pizzerias have opened since. Eateries he defines as “small businesses with a passion for pizza, dough, fermentation and quality.” Denver residents, he adds, are supporting high-quality products with high-quality ingredients. Thus, growth has been very rapid, featuring a lot of different pizza styles all done very, very well.
Denver Diversity
Denver’s pizza diversity — as discussed by Flanagin — can easily be found on a local pizza map. Mile High pizzerias offer New York-style thin-crust pizza, Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas, Sicilian pies; and even Connecticut’s signature New Haven-style pie.
But, but that’s just the beginning: Once known as “cow town,” pizzerias in the Queen City of the Plains now feature eclectic offerings like breakfast pizza, plus exotic toppings like Guinness cheese, Sichuan sauerkraut, crème fraiche, limoncello-marinated chicken, and pistachio pesto.
The creativity never stops: Consider a Middle Eastern lamb pizza, a sweet potato, goat’s cheese & pine nut pizza, or a Tandoori chicken pizza. Or, maybe a veggie supreme or dessert pizza.
Top Restaurants
Delightful Duo: Being the epicenter of the west’s beer culture enhances Denver’s pizza popularity. Pizza and beer make a classic pair, bringing out the best of each other’s complementary flavors.
Yelp ranks Osteria Marco on Larimer Square as Denver’s top pizza restaurant. It is known for hand-tossed pizzas such as Artisan, Fig & Gorgonzola, and Carne. The cozy basement eatery also serves Italian plates. Information: 303-534-9855. They also list Marc’s Coal Fire — an Italian eatery-bar by Coors Field — that serves Neapolitan and New York-style pizza with choice of toppings. Information: 303-396-7000.
Many residents and the Chronicle rate Angelo’s Taverna on E. 6th Ave. as the Mile High’s top pizza restaurant. Google ranks it 4.7 stars based on 2,532 reviews; Yelp gives it 4.5 for 1,501 reviews. Information: 303-744-3366. Esters Neighborhood Pub on S. Holly in Virginia Village — albeit not strictly a pizza restaurant — also has seriously delicious pizza in a welcoming atmosphere. Information: 303-955-4904.
Among local pizza spots, some of the most popular newcomers are Dough Counter on S. Colorado Blvd. that specializes in New York and Sicilian-style pies. Information: 303-997-8977; and funky pizza joint Blue Pan — with a location on E. 12th Ave. — that brought the crispy pan pizza style to the Mile High City. Information: 720-519-0944. Furthermore, new dough spots keep popping up: Rolling Pin Pizza is among the latest, opened in early April at 1514 York St., followed by Eat’Ya Pizza on the 16th Steet Mall in early May.
Pizza Passion
Denver scored 14% higher than the average city based on pizza passion. The city’s score was 82 out of 100, compared to the average city’s score of 72. The ranking includes placing No.1 out of 50 cities for
Passion For Pizza: Blue Pan Pizza that opened here in 2015 is in the forefront of Denver’s pizza revolution. Due to technique and quality, their Detroit-style pizza remains a crowd favorite.
online search interest in pan pizza. The metric measures how often locals are searching Google for pizza, and pizza-related terminology.
The abundance of options ranges from Neapolitan and Detroit-style, to square-cut tavern pies of the Midwest, to the New Haven-inspired wood-fired pies.
With 72 breweries, Denver is the epicenter of beer culture in the West, enhancing the popularity of local pizza. Pizza and beer make a classic pair, because they bring out the best of each other’s complementary flavors. The fresh crisp flavor of beer cuts through the creamy cheese, enhancing the herbs in the pizza sauce, and balancing the acidity.
Mile High Mozzarella
Shape Of Taste: Photos show square Detroit pizza, top, and a Chicago-style round deep-dish pizza. City also has rectangular Sicilian pies, New York circular shape; plus, oblong New Haven pies.
The Mile High City’s pizza popularity isn’t due to Denver’s Italian community. Less than 5% of the city’s 2024 population of 708,948 are of Italian descent. Most of today’s local pizza aficionados, moreover, are unaware that a Denver-based company is the world’s top mozzarella pizza producer.
Leprino Foods — headquartered in a three-story building on West 38th Ave. at Quivas St. — sells more than a billion pounds of cheese a year. It is the same site where, in 1950, Italian immigrant Mike Leprino Sr. started making small batches of cheese by hand from the back of his neighborhood grocery store. Mike’s 73-year-old son, chairman, and chief executive Jim Leprino ($2.3 billion 2024 net worth), runs the company.
In 1958, after chain grocery stores forced the local Leprino food market to close, the Leprino cheese empire was started with $615. Today, Leprino uses up to 7% of the nation’s total milk supply. The company controls as much as 85% of the market for pizza cheese, while selling to Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Papa John’s, and Little Caesars. Able to invest in technology that dairy farmers can’t afford, the company has more than 50 patents, plus an estimated 7% net margin.
