UPBEAT ABOUT UPTOWN.

• Author: TITUS, STEPHEN
• Position: Brief Article

THE TRENDY UPTOWN SQUARE DEVELOPMENT PROMISES TO TRANSFORM A DENVER NEIGHBORHOOD. THE UPSHOT: NO MORE BULLETS OVER PEARL STREET

IN the mid 1980s, Ted Freedman considered installing bulletproof glass in his Denver home. Gangs gathered regularly in the park across the street, and gunshots were all too common. "We were never going to leave," he said. "We were going to fight."

These days, Freedman walks to his downtown law office and eats lunch on his porch while listening to birds sing. Freedman's Uptown neighborhood until recently had missed the remodeling boom enjoyed by most areas surrounding downtown Denver. Anchored by the abandoned St. Luke's Hospital, then located at 20th Avenue and Pearl Street, and dominated by low-income housing and parking lots, Freedman said lenders were unenthusiastic about the area's prospects. Then, in 1997, Atlanta-based Post Properties arrived on the scene with plans for nearly 1,000 upscale apartments and supporting retail properties.

Post bought an 11-acre site surrounding St. Luke's. Its renaissance attracted other developers and turned the once-crippled neighborhood into one of Denver's trendiest growth areas.

"What we hear from the neighbors is they love it and wish it was all done now," said Marianne LeClair, senior redevelopment specialist for Denver Urban Renewal Authority. "What we hear from Post is they can't deliver the units fast enough."

So far, Post's $55 million investment in phase one of the project has created 96 apartments -- all rented -- and a four-story parking structure. Leasing agents for Uptown Square already are taking deposits on another 380 apartments, which rent for $750 to $3,200. The first phase is slated for completion in August. Phase two of the project, which calls for another 247 units, is already under way.

Art Lomenick, Post Properties senior executive vice president, said leasing is so strong the company is moving ahead with plans for a third phase. The completed project will bring Post's commitment to nearly $150 million.

"We really liked the idea of being part of a neat historic neighborhood," Lomenick said. "Uptown is truly a neighborhood. There's people that live there and love it there."

While Uptown Square comprises mainly rental units, other developers are offering condominiums at $200,000 and up in a neighborhood that, according to the Denver...