With construction on historic Denver Union Station just getting under way, developer Dana Crawford told brokers at Kentwood City Properties she prefers the redeveloped building be referred to as a “transit center,” rather than a hotel.
“We do plan to have really good food and quite a few adult beverages,” Crawford says with her typical humor. “Transit users like adult beverages, too.”
Crawford was invited to speak at Kentwood City’s sales meeting because the company’s office is located directly across the street from Union Station at 17th Street and Wynkoop. Managing broker Jim Theye says the office will distribute information to those curious about the Union Station project at its front desk.
When the hotel opens in July 2014, it will have 112 rooms rather than the 227 initially planned because the National Park Service would not award the project historic tax credits with the higher number of rooms.
The best rooms in the building will be under the rafters, Crawford says. “It will feel like you’re in a French opera.”
It may be necessary to switch off electricity during construction, but Crawford says she hopes there will still be a way to keep thelights burning, particularly the Travel By Train sign welcoming people to the historic building.
“I don’t think we could handle it down here if it weren’t lit up,” says Crawford, who has spent decades preserving historic LoDo buildings.
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