Here is an interesting piece of Denver real estate, the Stapleton neighborhood.How fun would it be to live in an area that was once an airport? The redevelopment of Stapleton International Airport has resulted in an exciting and unique example of Denver neighborhoods. Many Denver homes have been established in this convenient neighborhood resplendent with interesting history. Stapleton International Airport occupied this area to the northeast of Denver from 1929 – 1995 and served as the TWA hub. Many different airlines made Stapleton their home during the time it was open and the airport enjoyed a busy and successful run until it was replaced by the Denver International Airport. It also enjoyed some interesting moments of fame during its tenure. It was the airport designated for the first flight of the Boeing 767 in 1982 and served as the stage set for the movies, Die Hard 2, The Shining, and Dumb and Dumber.
With new developments in aircraft and aircraft related rules, Stapleton became obsolete and plans for decommissioning began in the 1980's. The last commercial flight from Stapleton happened on February 27, 1995 and was a Continental flight between Denver and Gatwick in London. The airport was closed and this historic piece of Denver Real Estate began its new life as all of its structures were removed except for the control tower and one parking structure which still remains as parking for the new airport. Stapleton can claim that its proximity to the airport is certainly closer than other Denver neighborhoods! Certainly the Denver homes in Stapleton have easy access to anywhere in the world!
Redevelopment of Stapleton was taken on by a private civic organization which convened in 1990 and presented their plan in 1995. Of all Denver neighborhoods the Stapleton Denver real estate area is the largest the city has to offer, thus the plans for development had to be ambitious, yet obtainable. These civic planners decided Stapleton should be a pedestrian based development project and not automobile based. In fact, nearly 1/3 of the Stapleton area was to be used for open space with the rest being developed as residential and commercial areas including big box retail plazas. Stapleton is considered the largest new urbanist redevelopment project. Construction began in 2001 with 1,000 new Denver homes offered by 2004.
Stapleton continues its redevelopment into the largest of Denver neighborhoods and is considered to be one of the best Denver real estate investments going. It is predicted that by the project's end, Stapleton will have over 30,000 Denver homes, fours schools and over 2 million square feet of retail space.
