How to build an urban neighborhood: a short course for new developers.

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Step 1. Make sure it has a past. Anyone can stack up a few rough bricks, pick a historic name, call it a warehouse district and chances are, it will sell like crazy. But we've found that, over the long haul, our particular breed of neighbors appreciate the real thing--like the fact that our newest neighborhood, Prospect Place Village, started as an Italian food market over 100 years ago.

It seems that soil steeped in red wine and garlic inspires particularly wonderful ideas like putting a true piazza at the heart of the Village. That same sort of inspiration simply doesn't emerge from old airports, parking lots and landfills.

Step 2. Ignore what they say. The naysayers. The ne'er-do-wells. The malcontents who spout things like, "You can't do that, they won't let you, what are you, nuts?" Who are they anyway? If we believed them before, there's a good chance Larimer Square could have been leveled for a nice parking lot, loft living in LoDo would have taken a lot longer to happen, and the Oxford Hotel could be a retirement community serving Orange Roughy daily. Thank goodness we didn't listen to them.

Have a vision and go for it. Other people that get it will find you soon enough. Plus they'll inherently understand the economics of being there first.

Step 3. Don't screw it up. Okay, so you've got a historic property and you've ignored the skeptics. Now, don't immediately go for the fast buck. Build it with the kind of care and craftsmanship that stands the test of time. Build it like you were going to live in it (see Step 4).

And always be true to good design. Just because a lot of people don't know what a real loft is, doesn't mean you should just add a couple of feet to the ceiling height and call it one. You want to see a real loft? Come to Ajax, the first completed building in the Prospect Place Village. See what heavy timber construction, double insulated glass, and...