At the tail end of the summer work crews started demolishing the office tower formerly known as the Geico building. This six story structure had sat vacant on the southeastern corner of Wadsworth and West Alameda for over a decade, and the structure, while fairly unique in it's appearance, was pretty much an eyesore.
Earlier, the long-abandoned decrepit building that was next to it, formerly a Bennigan's restaurant, had been demolished, scraped away to allow for redevelopment of the whole corner.
The contractor chose to use an unconventional method of tearing the Geico building down, dismantling the structure floor by floor in order to minimize the impact to the surrounding environment and to maximize the recycling of the structural components.
The building was completely down by the first week of October, and with the removal of all the waste the only indication that anything had ever been on the site was a large pile of dirt.
Soon construction crews replaced the destruction crews, as the site was going to be re-utilized for a Walgreens and a Key Bank.
By the end of November the foundations had been laid out. There were a few snowfalls of note, but snow melts quick in the Denver metro area - more days of sunshine here than any other major city in the U.S.
The new buildings started to take shape in December, aided by the mild winter. I drove past the site five times a week and while it was hard to notice any progress some days, the progress was fast from week to week.
By January, the walls were going up on both buildings. For three months of actual construction in the middle of winter at altitude, the crews were making commendable time.
March and the facade is almost finished. There were three fairly heavy snowfalls in March, which slowed the construction crews down a bit. A couple of early Spring snowfalls in April also contributed to the slowdown.
However, once all the glazing was done, the HVAC crews moved quick to get the buildings ready for the interior crews to start mudding walls, installing ceilings and doors, as well as fixtures.
...and there you have it, another Walgreens and Key Bank open up in Lakewood. Smack dab in the heart of Lakewood, in fact.
There must be 3 or 4 Walgreens in Lakewood already, so why another?
Two factors at play: First, Lakewood finally has it's own hospital - Saint Anthony's, a 279 bed hospital with a level I trauma center, opened in June of 2011. It's hard to believe that a city of 142,000 people never had a hospital until almost two years ago, but that was due to all the cities that surround Lakewood having hospitals.
Second, Lakewood has an old, old population - one that is only getting older. Within one mile of this new Walgreens there are at least three large assisted care senior living communities.
Those two factors mean one thing - lots and lots of prescriptions! The people who run Walgreens are not dumb - they not only know which side of the bread is buttered, they know where the very best butter is.
By the end of November the foundations had been laid out. There were a few snowfalls of note, but snow melts quick in the Denver metro area - more days of sunshine here than any other major city in the U.S.
The new buildings started to take shape in December, aided by the mild winter. I drove past the site five times a week and while it was hard to notice any progress some days, the progress was fast from week to week.
By January, the walls were going up on both buildings. For three months of actual construction in the middle of winter at altitude, the crews were making commendable time.
March and the facade is almost finished. There were three fairly heavy snowfalls in March, which slowed the construction crews down a bit. A couple of early Spring snowfalls in April also contributed to the slowdown.
However, once all the glazing was done, the HVAC crews moved quick to get the buildings ready for the interior crews to start mudding walls, installing ceilings and doors, as well as fixtures.
...and there you have it, another Walgreens and Key Bank open up in Lakewood. Smack dab in the heart of Lakewood, in fact.
There must be 3 or 4 Walgreens in Lakewood already, so why another?
Two factors at play: First, Lakewood finally has it's own hospital - Saint Anthony's, a 279 bed hospital with a level I trauma center, opened in June of 2011. It's hard to believe that a city of 142,000 people never had a hospital until almost two years ago, but that was due to all the cities that surround Lakewood having hospitals.
Second, Lakewood has an old, old population - one that is only getting older. Within one mile of this new Walgreens there are at least three large assisted care senior living communities.
Those two factors mean one thing - lots and lots of prescriptions! The people who run Walgreens are not dumb - they not only know which side of the bread is buttered, they know where the very best butter is.
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