Dairy Block Awarded 2021 Americas Award for Excellence from the Urban Land Institute

August 3, 2021 Posted In

Dairy Block is thrilled to announce it has been honored with a 2021 Americas Award for Excellence from the acclaimed Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Developed by McWHINNEY, Sage Hospitality Group and Grand American, Inc., Dairy Block is a mixed-used redevelopment of an entire historic downtown Denver block that once housed Denver’s Windsor Dairy. Opened in 2017 and home to Denver’s first activated Alley, Dairy Block offers 73,000 total square feet of prime restaurant and retail space, 250,000 square feet of office space and the independent 172-room Maven Hotel.
ULI is a nonprofit education and research institute with the mission of shaping the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. ULI began the Awards for Excellence program in 1979 to recognize truly superior development efforts in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Winning projects represent the highest standards of achievement in the land use profession.

This year, 72 projects and programs from across North America were submitted for the competition, with 12 winners named. The public can view the winners and finalists at the 2021 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence gallery.

Designed to celebrate the maker and meet the high standards of Denver’s increasingly discerning urban audience, Dairy Block is home to more than a dozen bars & restaurants by top Colorado chefs and cocktail crafters, including Seven Grand, Kachina Cantina and Poka Lola Social Club, along with Denver Milk Market, the 16-concept food hall by Chef Frank Bonanno.

The award-winning micro-district also offers an impressive mix of retail outlets, including locally owned Huckleberry Coffee Roasters, Blue Ruby, and Sarah O. Jewelry and international brands like Warby Parker and Grace Loves Lace. Inside the FREE MARKET retail collective at Dairy Block, independent retail outlets like Rosemont Barber Shop + Provisions, BRUTO + Back of House, and The Conscious Merchant sit next to Beautycounter and Aesop.

Designed to be a celebration of artful and unexpected experiences, Dairy Block hosts a robust engagement schedule of ongoing community events, including a market series, First Friday Art Walks and pop-up art galleries, family-friendly festivals and live music.

McWhinney & Sage Hospitality previously won a ULI Americas Awards for Excellence in 2015 for the renovation of the landmark Denver Union Station.

“Our goal was to create an innovative and inspiring destination for downtown Denver that is a synergy of celebrating the past and present,” said Chad McWhinney, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of McWhinney. “It has been incredible to see locals and visitors alike embrace this one-of-a-kind mixed-use development. Even during the pandemic, the Dairy Block team worked creatively to activate our outdoor urban spaces in new ways and created a place where people can safely gather and create new memories.”

Dairy Block is also an office destination, with more than 10 corporate tenants housing more than 1,100 employees – including Prologis, Hord Coplan Macht, Equus Software and Cuvée – along with the shared office space Flex Office – Denver. Dairy Block’s office tower was awarded LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2017 and the Downtown Denver Award from the Downtown Denver Partnership in 2019.

Dairy Block features more than 750 original art pieces created by emerging and established Colorado artists, including Andrew Ramiro Tirado, Mario Zoots, Molly Bounds and Diego Rodriguez-Warner. Curated by Denver’s NINE dot ARTS, the collection is valued at more than $1 million.

For overnight guests, the award-winning Maven delivers an industrial hotel experience with 172 modern guestrooms and the 2,300 square foot Windsor event space.

“Staying at The Maven is the ideal way to enjoy a comprehensive Dairy Block experience – from starting your day with a latte from Huckleberry Roasters to ending it with a crafted cocktail at Poka Lola Social Club, with incredible shopping, art and dining in between,” said Sage Hospitality Co-founder, President and CEO Walter Isenberg. “We are honored to have the entire block recognized as a one-of-a-kind experiential urban development.”

Dairy Block was designed by Crème Design, Shears Adkins Rockmore Architects and Johnson Nathan Strohe. Denver’s Saunders Construction, Inc. served as the General Contractor for the construction of the new buildings at Dairy Block.

“The ground floor retail offerings, along with our hallmark activated alleyway, have been the foundation of Dairy Block’s success. The art, curated goods, exceptional services, and multitude of events and activations create a unifying energy felt throughout the high rise office and Maven Hotel every day. We are pleased that our vision has resonated so well with not only visitors to Denver but its residents as well,” said Phil Hodgkinson, President of Grand American.

The winners of the ULI Americas Awards for Excellence become finalists for the 2021 ULI Global Awards for Excellence, competing against projects from Europe and Asia. ULI will announce the winners of the global awards in conjunction with the ULI Fall Meeting in October.