New To Stapleton and Need the Lay of the Land?

 Welcome!  I’m glad you’re interested in checking out the Stapleton neighborhood.  My family and I live here and obviously I think it’s a neighborhood worth looking into….I think you’ll find the same to be true.  This part of the site is for the people who are new to the Stapleton area and want to get an overview of all the area has to offer.  I’ll give you a brief overview on each topic and then give you links if you want to dig deeper on anything that catches your eye.  I hope this information is helpful and if you still have questions that I didn’t cover here please give me a call at (720) 545-9003 or shoot me an email at joe@synergyret.com and I’ll be happy to support you in any way I can. I’m a real estate broker in the area so I’m happy to help people buying or selling in Stapleton but I’m also just happy to answer questions about the area.  Don’t forget to sign up on the right hand side of the page to be informed of new blog posts!

The People:  I put this first on the list because above all else the people that live in a community are going to make it what it is…everything else is secondary.  In my experience Stapleton is full of active, entrepreneurial, giving, caring and family-oriented people.  I’ve seen countless examples of people caring for their neighbors and going out of their way to help the less fortunate…which impressed me.  There are families without kids (all are welcome!) but most households have children.  On our block 90% of the homes have kids, which is pretty representative of the area as a whole.  This makes for a great place to raise kids.  We love when our neighbor kids ring the door bell and ask “Can Emme (our 4 year old) come out and play?  That’s the kind of neighborhood we were looking for when we chose Stapleton.

 

What is Stapleton?:    Stapleton is a new urbanist master-planned community built on the former site of the Stapleton International Airport.  The airport, which was replaced by DIA, closed and in the mid 90′s a plan was devised to redevelop the abandoned airport.  Forest City Enterprises is now redeveloping the community and has been doing so for over 10 years.  Stapleton has been a big success, remaining on of the top selling communities in Colorado and typically in the top 10-15 selling communities nationwide!  That says a lot about the area considering the turbulence in real estate markets in the past 5 years.  Upon completion, it’s anticipated Stapleton will be home to 30,000 people and 12,000 residences.   Want a little more info, click here.

 

The Location:  Stapleton is on the East side of Denver near the intersection of I-70 and Quebec St.  The location is great for those who want to be near downtown and Cherry Creek as well as near the airport.  Stapleton’s site claims you can be downtown in 10 minutes but realistically it’s 15-20 minutes and a few more minutes to park once you get there.  I get plenty of speeding tickets and I can’t get there in 10 minutes!  DIA is 20 minutes away.  Light rail is coming through Stapleton in 2016 which will provide easy access to dowtown and the airport as well.  The first 10 years of building in Stapleton occurred South of I-70 but that is now almost nearly built out and the builders are now moving North of I-70 where the remainder of Stapleton will be built out.

 

The Parks:  One of the first things you’ll notice in Stapleton as you drive through is the parks…they’re everywhere!  Forest City, the master developer, did a great job of keeping a tremendous amount of open space in the plan, which is in sync with the new urbanist planning movement.  First of all, Stapleton is home to Central Park, an 80 acre park that is the third largest in all of Denver.  In addition, spread throughout Stapleton are tons of pocket parks, greenways and trails that connect the whole area.  So how did they create all these parks and open space and parks and still make a profitable development?  The short answer is they took the space for the parks from the homeowners’ backyards.  I say that in a joking way but you’ll notice the backyards in Stapleton are small considered to some other areas.  This was intentional and it was done based on a tenet of new urbanism, that people shouldn’t be in their back yards secluded with just their family, they should be out in the parks being part of the larger community!  This concept of small lots and more parks isn’t for everyone but it appeals to those looking to be an active part of a community.  In addition to regular parks Stapleton has a 3 acre dog park, a climbing wall, the Westerly Creek Greenway, the Bluff Lake Nature Center, the Sand Creek Greenway and more.   For additional info on all these parks check click here.

 

The Homes:  There is a mix of housing in Stapleton including for rent apartments as well as for sale condos, single family attached homes and single family detached homes.  Home prices range from the mid $100′s to the $900k + range but I think most would consider the heart of the housing market in the area is in the $300k – $500k range.  Typically the homes are 1,600 – 3,000 square feet and most are two or three stories.  There are some ranch sytle (one story) homes but that style is not found as frequently.  Homes almost always have a front porch and alley-loaded garages (there are a few exceptions of homes with front loaded garages but they are set back and rare).  Again, the emphasis is on community (hang out on your front porch and chat) rather than emphasizing garages and the automobile.  The porches and lack of ugly dominant garage doors (just my opinion!) are two of my favorite traits of the area.

There are nine active builders in the area offering new homes including Century Communities, KB Homes, Wonderland Homes, Standard Pacific Homes, New Town Builders, Parkwood Homes, David Weekly Homes and Infinity Homes.  The builders all have model homes showcasing their some of their latest floorplans.  I’ve developed relationships  with the sales staffs at each builder and if you want the latest scoop on what each builder has to offer currently click here.  In addition to new homes there are also available resales in the neighborhood.   To be set up to get automated updates on all available and new listings in the area please email me at joe@synergyret.com.  This site isn’t about pushing my real estate broker services but if you want help finding the right home for you in the area I’m happy to help.

 

The Schools:  Stapleton is home to 8 schools and more to come in the near future.  Here is a brief outline of the 8 schools and if you want more info including contact information and websites for each school you can click here.

Knowledge Beginnings:  Early education/daycare provider serving infants through kindergarden age kids.  Located in the East Bridge neighborhood of Stapleton.

Montessori of Denver:  Private pre-school and elementary.  One of four Montessori schools in the Denver area providing student directed learning programs.  Located in the South End neighborhood of Stapleton.

Primrose School:  Private school serving pre-school through 12 year old students.  Balance between teacher led and student directed learning.  Located in the E 29th Avenue neighborhood of Stapleton.

Westerly Creek Elementary:  Denver Public School serving kids pre-school age through 5th grade.  Located in the Westerly Creek neighborhood of Stapleton.

William “Bill” Roberts School:  Denver Public School serving kids pre-school age through 8th grade.  No transition between elementary and middle school so siblings stay together longer (which may be good or bad depending on the siblings).

Swiggert Mcauliffe International School:  Two schools in one that will serve kids pre-school age through 8th grade.  Swiggert will serve the young ones up through the second grade and Mcauliffe will serve students from 3rd to 8th grade.  Located in the Central Park West neighborhood this school was just built in 2011.

Denver School of Science and Technology (“DSST”):  Denver Public School serving students for 6th through 12th grade.  DSST is a ”STEM” school focused on science, technology, engineering and math.  Located in the South End neighborhood of Stapleton.

Anchor Center for Blind Children:  School for the blind serving over 400 students (on and off campus).  Located in the E 29th Avenue neighborhood of Stapleton.

In addition to these schools there is a high school and two elementary schools planned for near term future growth. Check back later on for more details.

 

The Pools:  Stapleton has 5 pools including 4 outdoor pools and one in indoors at the Stapleton Recreation Center which is really more like an amusement park than a pool.  Walking to these pools in the summer for get togethers or a dip with the kids is one of the best parts about living in Stapleton in the summer.  Each pool is unique and fun in different ways.

 

 

 

 

The Rec Center:  Stapleton is home to Central Park Recreation Center built in 2011.  It’s amazing.  You can do your cardio while enjoying in a breath-taking of the mountain range.  Basketball courts, pools, weight room, workout classes, community activity rooms and more.  Daycare is available which makes it functional for the parents in the area.  (Did I mention there are a few families in Stapleton?)  Being a member at the Recreation Center is an additional fee and it’s not included in owner’s typical $38/mth HOA fees.  To check out current pricing give the rec center a call at (720) 865-0750.

 

The Shopping:  Stapleton has several commercial areas featuring plenty of restaurants, retail shops and the basics such as groceries and big box stores.  The most unique and walkable commercial area is the 29th Avenue Town Center.  This area features restaurants, spas, a wine shop, coffee shops, ice cream shops, and more (the important stuff) that are all accessible from the homes in the western end of Stapleton.  Less walkable and more suburban feeling commercial areas include Quebec Square and Northfield Stapleton.  (Think Wal-Mart, IHOP, Home Depot, etc)  This is where the developer seemed to sell out a bit from the New Urbanist movement and fell back into suburban norms (Sorry Forest City – just my opinion!).  Even though they fall short in this area we still have more shopping amenities than most areas in Denver which is very handy.  Northfield is North of I-70 and will soon be more connected with the housing once the new overpass over I-70 is complete.  The eastern side of Stapleton is currently under-served in terms of commercial uses but there is a town center planne for that side of the development which will hopefully be started in the near future.

 Other On-Line Stapleton Resources:

Looking for a few more good sources of on-line information about Stapleton?  Try these!

- Stapleton Connect - Stapleton’s social network, a great way to meet people, learn about events and get connected.

- Stapleton Denver - Forest City is the developer of Stapleton and this is their site about everything you want to know about the neighborhood.