News

The Inn at Auraria on display

By Josie Klemaier
jklemaie@mscd.edu

The Inn at Auraria, one of two new student housing facilities opening to students in Fall 2006, is now giving tours by appointment. The tour offers a view of a completed unit on the 30th floor of the Executive Tower at 14th and Curtis Streets.

Photo by Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu
The remodeled Executive Tower Inn will feature nine and a half foot ceilings to enhance the open loft-style floor plans and furnished living arrangements. The opening is scheduled for Fall 2006.

The Metropolitan toured the four bedroom, two bath unit with Leasing Manager Chris Nabours last week to discuss security concerns and check out The Inn’s startling, penthouse-quality views of Denver and the Front Range and the brand new amenities it has to offer.

Construction is still in progress and anyone wanting to take a tour must enter the building equipped with a hard hat and be accompanied by someone trained on the safety precautions of the area.

The walk from the Tivoli Student Union to the Executive Tower at 14th and Curtis Streets takes an average of eight minutes and passes by Cherry Creek and other downtown apartments and businesses.

The Executive Tower sits across from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and next to Brooks Tower, another downtown apartment complex.

The Inn’s entrance will be off 14th Street and the entrance to the hotel occupying the 16 floors beneath it will be off Curtis Street.

The Inn’s entrance will feature a vestibule where students will access the lobby with a special key-card. The lobby will be manned 24 hours a day by a courtesy officer who will have a roster of the students’ information to verify their identity in case anyone should forget their key, Leasing Manager Kaci Day said on Monday.

Day also said that no apartment complex can promise complete safety and security, but given the close location to the school and the 24-hour manned lobby, she expects security issues will be minimal.

All units offer views, and all views from the 30th floor units successfully capture what makes Denver unique from any other city.

Any student living in one of these high-rise apartments could spend hours gazing at the world living and moving below them.

Views of the north look over the constant movement of tiny figures on the streets of downtown Denver, and to the west are breathtaking views of Elitch Gardens, Invesco Field at Mile High and the Front Range as far as the eye can see, including the backside of Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater.

Views of the south and west even offer a glimpse into the windows of Auraria’s classrooms. However, it is doubtful any professor would count that as attendance. Each unit floor plan at The Inn depends on its placement on the floor. The size and shape of the corner units differ from that of the center units. Every unit features high ceilings and exposed ventilation systems for a lofty atmosphere.

The door to the four-bedroom corner unit available for viewing opens into an entryway that leads to a full kitchen with standard appliances, including microwave and dishwasher, with a granite counter top bar that looks over the living room area.

The living room would comfortably sit up to eight people, with four stools at the kitchen’s bar, a contemporary-style couch, armchair, end table and television stand, all of which are included in the lease.

The floor-to-ceiling window comes equipped with blinds and looks over the roof of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and on across the city.

Each four-bedroom unit contains two baths with showers and toilets. The four granite counter top vanities, each with their own towel bar and medicine cabinet, are in the hall for convenience and privacy.

Two-bedroom apartments have one bathroom with two separate vanities.

The bedrooms in every unit have a private floor-to-ceiling window offering a view of the city. Included in the lease is the contemporary-style bedroom furniture, including a bed with mattress, a computer desk and a wardrobe closet. Each bedroom is also cable and Internet ready.

Bedrooms and their windows vary in size in the corner units only, which accounts for the difference in prices. There is no need to worry about determining who gets which room, for it is figured in the lease agreements, Nabours said.