A long-empty site beside The Landmark in the Denver Tech Center is headed into the future now as construction gets underway on an enclave of 90 luxury low-maintenance homes — one of very few single-family home projects to emerge along the south I-25 corridor in the past decade.

Renderings of the Village at Landmark project by Greenwood Village-based builder Century Communities show prominent brick-and-stone architecture in a higher density layout that will be enclosed by a gate. Two series of designs by Godden Sudik Architects offer five plans ranging from 3,280 to 4,550 square feet, with prices anticipated to begin from $1.7 million.

Support from Greenwood Village

Support for the project by the City of Greenwood Village has been readily evident as Century began site preparations this week, according to The Village’s Managing Director Scott Sinelli, who spoke with The Denver Gazette.

“I’ve been very impressed with the response from Greenwood Village,” Sinelli said. “They have offered to help in any way they can.”

A Greenwood Village City Council approval in November could prove a turning point not just for the 13-acre project site on East Berry Avenue across from Landmark’s condo towers, but also for the larger area of empty sites and older office parks south of The Landmark.

Despite the area’s favorable proximity to the freeway and to Light Rail, the broader site had seen little development since the 2008 market crash.

Over that time, several redevelopment plans within the area had stalled, caught between pressures for denser, transit-oriented residential development, and city residents’ concerns over traffic and infrastructure.

Leading into the 2008 downturn, the immediate site on Berry had been headed for a higher-density multifamily project by Landmark’s developer Zack Davidson. He had marketed it as a luxurious, Italianate village expansion of his broader Landmark project.

When the market began coming apart in 2008, Landmark’s two condominium towers and their surrounding commercial attractions were in the midst of completion. The condo towers completed sales, while the entertainment district’s theater and shopping/dining spaces struggled with occupancy in the following years.

However, plans for the lower-density multifamily project, showcased from a lavishly appointed information center on site that had attracted pre-sales, ended up failing before construction got underway.

Davidson, caught up in controversy over the project’s metropolitan district and facing criminal charges related to alleged embezzlement, committed suicide in Florida in 2013.

Fast-forward, and Landmark’s amenities have largely filled out as popular attractions. With a mix of high-end and mid-range restaurants, plus the Comedy Works club and a popular Monk & Mongoose coffee shop, they stand as easily walkable enticements for any residential project that can succeed at the site.

Century, which reportedly purchased the ground for $11 million from the FDIC in 2016, is taking a conservative approach to presales of the homes.

Sinelli said that the Village’s two sets of residential designs will be represented by two model show homes, expected to deliver in second quarter 2027.

“We do want to get the models completed before we start preselling,” Sinelli said, noting that the designs are an entirely new collection not represented by any of Century’s large residential projects in Lone Tree, Castle Pines and other areas.

An older market

Sinelli added that private elevators will be included in each plan. Although none of the five designs will offer a ranch or main-floor master suite layout, the target market could cover a wide age group, but would likely skew older.

“There will probably be more downsizing buyers, needing less space and less yard,” he said. “They may have grandkids in neighborhood.”

“Those will sell,” said Jennifer Markus, top-selling agent with Kentwood Co., the real estate agency with the largest share of sales in the surrounding Greenwood Village.

Markus noted that in her experience, buyers aged 60 and older have a proven aversion to multistory plans. But the private elevators included with the design would likely overcome that objection, she said.

Meanwhile, Markus added that they would likely create second-home possibilities for snowbird buyers who head to Scottsdale or Naples during winter, and that in addition to the low-maintenance, the proximity to Landmark’s restaurant scene would be a strong draw.

“It’s a huge lock-n-leave opportunity,” she said.

Century’s Sinelli noted that the community would be a half mile from Club Greenwood, the 153,000-foot athletic and tennis club at East Orchard Avenue and South Quebec Street.

“Greenwood Village is a very exciting location, and there are not a lot of new homes coming into this market, so it’s unique,” Sinelli said. “Our price point and quality are not competing with the rest of market.”

Century Communities is Colorado’s third-largest builder and reportedly ranks among the top-10 largest public builders in the nation.