S*PARK - A Modern Urban Village

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One (of the many) fun perks of our recent merger with Sopher Architects is learning about all the cool new projects we have become a part of. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of blogs to get everyone up to speed on all of Sopher Sparn’s current projects. We’ll start with the most electric of the series’ first; the S*PARK development.As many Boulder residents already know, there are working plans to designate a section northeast of downtown Boulder as ‘Boulder Junction’. Within ‘Boulder Junction’, there are plans for a large-scale development that we’re calling S*PARK. SPARK (for short) stems from an area of Boulder known as Sutherland Park, where the Sutherlands Lumber Company was in business before closing their doors in 2010. The vision behind spark is predicated upon values of community, culture, creativity and inspiration all united by active green-spaces and cutting edge technology.It will be a place to live, work, eat, play and stay – true mixed use. SPARK will be a modern village, a place for the creatives, crafters, makers, and innovators. The 680,000 square feet of office, retail, and residential space is currently under Concept Review. If approved, SPARK will feature approximately 180 residential apartments, a boutique hotel, creative retail and restaurant space, office space, an underground parking garage, and a 4-story wrapped parking structure. The site totals about 7 acres. The development team for this revolutionary modern urban village, which includes local real-estate company Element Properties,  has been working closely with the City of Boulder Planning Department to explore the project’s potential as a ‘guinea pig’ for a model Eco-district, pioneering the way for neighborhood-scale sustainability standards.Update to article: S*PARK was approved by the Planning Board in October 2015