The Confluence Luxury Apartment Building Finally Tops Out

For months, people traveling the Platte River Greenway or driving northwest along Speer Boulevard have marveled at the behemoth building rising near Confluence Park, towering over the nearby converted warehouses and Victorian storefronts, wondering when — if ever — it will finally stop.

And now it has. The team behind the Confluence, a 35-story apartment building off 15th Street right by the convergence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte, announced yesterday that the skeleton has topped out, on target with the goal of a spring 2017 opening. The Confluence "makes a modern architectural statement" at the northwest corner of downtown, the announcement reports with admirable understatement. Part of the statement: just how high a building could get once the Platte River Valley zoning was lifted. (Denver Infill has a good history.)

Besides that remarkable height and location, the Confluence will offer such amenities as a heated outdoor pool and hot tub on a large deck overlooking Confluence Park and the Rocky Mountains; cabanas with individual fire pits; master grilling stations; skyline lounges; a professional chef’s kitchen and catering facility; a state-of-the-art fitness facility; gated, underground parking; a maintenance center for bikes and skis; direct access to Confluence Park; ground-floor retail and a 24-hour front-desk attendant.

There will also be blackout shades in every unit, which should come in handy, because the downtown lights that the Confluence is now blocking out for neighbors will soon be shining in the eyes of its residents.