1800 Larimer Earns LEED-Platinum Pre-certification

Construction began May 5 on one of downtown Denver’s largest multi-story, high-rise office towers located at 18th and Larimer streets, designed by RNL of Denver and being built by Mortenson Construction.

The tower is the largest high-rise office building to be built downtown in the last 20 years.

The 22-story tower at 18th and Larimer streets in Denver will become Xcel Energy’s new downtown headquarters and has received LEED-platinum pre-certification from the USGBC.

Rendering courtesy of RNL

Xcel Energy will be consolidating its 1,300 Denver employees into the building, which is located across from its current headquarters at 1225 17th St.

“The cutting-edge energy features and its location made it the top choice for Xcel Energy,” said Randy Schwartz, executive vice president of Westfield Development Co., developer of the new building. “Xcel Energy wanted the greenest and most sustainable building possible, and 1800 Larimer fits them perfectly.”

The 22-story tower will offer 500,000 sq ft of Class AA lease office space. The building has received LEED-platinum pre-certification from the USGBC. Final certification will be obtained once the building is complete in April 2010. Total construction costs are expected to be around $192 million.

The LEED-platinum certification makes the building one of a rare breed of office towers in the nation designed to receive this certification, according to Tom Hootman, director of sustainability at RNL. He said there are currently only three LEED-platinum buildings in Colorado and 74 in the world.

“1800 Larimer is redefining Class AA office space and pushing the envelope on sustainable design,” said Hootman.“ It’s raising the bar on what clients expect.”