A major residential development is taking shape on 20 acres near the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center, adding nearly 600 new apartments in what the developers say will be a thoughtfully connected community in northeast Denver.
Irvine, California-based real estate investment and development firm MBK Rental Living recently expanded into Colorado with a project in Colorado Springs and the 578-unit Alexan Peña Station, at 6355 N. Ceylon St., in Denver.
MBK Rental Living partnered with real estate giant Trammell Crow Residential on Alexan Peña Station. The project also received equity from Japan’s Tokyo Tatemono Co. Ltd.
The garden-style community will span 12 residential buildings, each three to four stories tall upon completion, according to Ken McCarren, president of MBK Rental Living. The company has so far received temporary certificates of occupancy for its first two residential buildings and one of its clubhouses.
“We’re releasing a new building about every three weeks,” McCarren told the Denver Business Journal.
The development will include two 8,070-square-foot clubhouse buildings. The residential buildings will total 564,604 square feet, bringing the overall project to 580,744 square feet at full build-out, which is anticipated in January.
Alexan Peña Station will also feature two fitness centers, one in a standalone building, and the other in one of the clubhouse buildings, said Lisa Cabral, MBK Rental Living’s director of design and marketing.
A rendering shows outdoor space at Alexan Peña Station in northeast Denver.
The 12 apartment buildings will have a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans that span from 686 to 1,350 square feet, the company said.
Alexan Peña Station will also include around 46 affordable units for people earning 60% of the area median income, Cabral said.
MBK Rental Living strives to create a sense of community at its developments by incorporating gathering spaces and communal areas, McCarren said.
Alexan Peña Station will have a 2-acre park that is open to the public. Other amenities include dog parks, work spaces, collaborative meeting rooms and 24-hour wellness centers, along with resident events that will be held each month, Cabral said.
Trammell Crow Residential researched what type of amenities would best resonate with renters, McCarren said. That resulted in the project including a pickleball court, a resort pool, mini water fountains, cornhole stations and barbecues.
“You know, everyone calls it an apartment community, but we take that to the Nth degree,” McCarren said.