Sustainable condominium development to open in Denver

Spire, a pioneering sustainable residential development targeted for LEED certification, is scheduled to open later this year in downtown Denver -- a city known as a frontrunner in the green movement.

The condominium tower -- which is 42 stories high, with 496 units and more than 527,000 sq. ft. of available floor space -- was developed to offer attainable green living to people with modest incomes.

Sales started in April for Spire’s condominiums, which range in price from $200,000 to more than $1 million. To achieve an attainable price, the unit sizes are relatively small (average 1,063 sq. ft. per unit) in one- to three-bedroom floor plans. The development is expected to open for occupancy in November.

To make the development more sustainable and achieve LEED certification, Spire’s developer, Nichols Partnership, is using Energy Star-qualified appliances in all units. Whirlpool Gold appliances are being used as a standard on all but Spire’s top 10 floors, which feature KitchenAid appliances.

“We knew that Whirlpool Gold and KitchenAid appliances would not only help us to meet our sustainability goals, but also provide our customers with a very appealing, contemporary interior design and excellent value,” said Christopher Crosby, executive VP of Nichols Partnership. “Whirlpool Corp. is aligned with our effort to provide a value-oriented project that is both attainable and sustainable.”

Whirlpool considers sustainability a top priority, said Tracy Frye, Whirlpool’s senior contract marketing manager. “It is our goal to provide our builder and developer customers with appliance packages that save energy, water and promote healthy indoor air quality,” she said. “We’re here to make specifying sustainable appliances as easy as possible.”

Spire’s layout consists of an eight-story parking garage and ground level retail space that is expected to include an upscale restaurant-nightclub, a coffeehouse, a yoga/spinning studio and a satellite location for Connect by Hertz, a car-sharing service. Amenities will include an outdoor pool, hot tubs, a fire pit, clubrooms, a screening theater and health club facilities.