Major Mixed-Use Project Delivers New Core To Growing Town Of Superior

People have started moving into a new master-planned community in Superior. The development by Carmel Partners went up on 156 acres of raw land and includes a pedestrian-focused downtown with nearly 500 residential units and 70K SF of commercial space.

An aerial shot of the under-construction Origin at Downtown Superior project. — Photo credit: Courtesy of Carmel Partners
The Origin At Downtown Superior Development Will Include 469 Residential Units.

The project, Origin at Downtown Superior, introduces a new residential and commercial core to the growing town, with townhomes, apartments, retail and civic buildings, including a community center. The project sits roughly where U.S. 36 crosses under McCaslin Boulevard.

“We wanted each element to feel unique but cohesive,” said Sarah Hunter, associate principal at KTGY, the project’s primary architect. “The biggest challenge is bringing down the scale of something like a wrap building so it doesn’t feel overwhelming to a pedestrian.”

The project was approved in 2019 but faced hurdles, including the Marshall Fire and the pandemic. KTGY sees the project as a possible catalyst for more new development.

“Because of the different architectural styles there is space for future development,” Hunter said. “The intent is that it keeps evolving, and the goal is to make it so it keeps evolving and becomes more a part of the community as a whole.”

Origin at Downtown Superior comes amid a broader housing crunch in the Boulder-area suburbs. A July 2024 study by the Denver Regional Council of Governments identified an immediate need for 8,000 housing units in the North submarket — which includes Boulder, Erie, Longmont and Louisville — and projected a future need of 29,000 more in the next decade.

Superior is less than four miles southwest of Louisville.

The North submarket, which can be roughly plotted to the U.S. 36 corridor, saw the highest population growth rate in the study, with a 53% jump between 2000 and 2020 that added more than 180,000 people.

While the submarket saw a “record year” in 2018 with more than 5,300 new units delivered, DRCOG found that housing production hasn’t kept pace with demand. Between 2000 and 2020, the area’s population jumped 53%, the highest growth rate in the region.