Plans for a mixed-use project at the northern end of South Pearl Street are getting bigger, resetting the look and feel of the corner that greets shoppers and diners heading into Old South Pearl. The refreshed vision keeps the blend of offices, restaurants, and housing, but stretches the development footprint to create a busier, more defined gateway into the neighborhood.
The proposal, now branded as “Top of Pearl,” has grown its site area by almost 8,000 square feet and is being framed as a way to stack office, food, and residential uses right at the street edge, according to the Denver Business Journal. Updated renderings from the architecture team show a three-story building that leans into sidewalk seating and ground-floor retail to bookend Old South Pearl’s main commercial strip.
What the plan calls for
Concept drawings filed with the city show a compact, three-story structure with a corner restaurant at Pearl Street and Louisiana Avenue, retail lining Pearl, and residential units stepping down along Louisiana. The materials outline roughly a dozen apartments, office space on the upper floors, and underground parking, along with widened sidewalks and added landscaping meant to boost pedestrian activity, according to Developing Denver. The layout is designed to turn what is now a single vacant lot into a continuous, walkable frontage that ties into the existing shopping district.
Local investor Doug McKinnon, through an entity tied to McKinnon & Associates, bought the 0.29-acre corner at 1301 S. Pearl St. in December for $2.9 million and has since cleared the former Hanson’s Grill building as part of the repositioning, BusinessDen reports. McKinnon has said the design is still preliminary and could shift as it moves through Denver’s review process.
Design and public space
The concept rendering, credited to OZ Architecture, highlights a pedestrian-focused ground level and building massing intended to signal the entry into Old South Pearl, according to the Denver Business Journal. OZ Architecture is listed as the project’s design lead in city filings and promotional materials submitted with the concept packet, and the firm’s portfolio features similar street-oriented mixed-use work around the region.
Timeline and next steps
The project is currently in concept review with the city and is expected to evolve as site plans and permits advance. City staff and the design team will sort through sidewalk widths, curb configurations, and parking details during that process, according to Developing Denver. McKinnon told BusinessDen that the plans are still in flux and that tenant mix and streetscape elements will be refined as approvals move forward.
Why neighbors will watch
Old South Pearl is one of Denver’s busiest neighborhood retail corridors, home to a regular farmers market and a steady stream of restaurants and small shops that rely heavily on street life. Recent openings and relocations have only amplified the strip’s pull, including Hoodline coverage of a James Beard favorite jumping to South Pearl. That kind of momentum explains why the Pearl and Louisiana corner is so coveted and why a larger mixed-use gateway project is likely to draw scrutiny from nearby residents and business owners as the design gets locked in.
