What do you do for an encore to the Union Station redevelopment? (Bring Billy Joel out to play some songs with you?) Develop something nearby to take advantage of that new LoDo vibe that Union Station helped create.

McWhinney, along with Sage Hospitality, unveiled plans this week to develop a mixed-use property about a block from its previous project, Union Station. The partners are calling the LoDo mixed-used development Z Block, a play on its location along Wazee Street between 18th and 19th on the site of historic Windsor Dairy Block. McWhinney CEO Chad McWhinney (snapped at a Bisnow event earlier this year) explains that the project represents a further revitalization of LoDo, an area that’s an increasingly important part of attracting new businesses, young workers, and tourists to Colorado.

The development will feature 260k SF of office space, a hotel and a mix of restaurant, retail, and lobby space on the ground floor. Z Block's slated to open in fall 2016 with McWhinney as the managing partner, Sage Hospitality as the hotel manager and operator, and NKGF as the project’s marketing partner. Sage Restaurant Group, developer of The Corner Office Restaurant + Martini Bar also in Downtown Denver, plans to put one of its newer brands in part of the restaurant space.