By Olivia Bell Buehl

Dana Crawford's Ajax Lofts, opposite, designed by John Williams Architecture, are a live/work environment built in the Central Platte Valley outside of Denver's downtown core. Part of a renewed, repurposed '50s outdoor mall in Denver's Cherry Creek area, David Owen Tryba Architects' 191 Clayton Street, above, is a mixed-use redevelopment with 25 high-end residential lofts. Right, Artspace, designed by MJSA Architects, is a recent adaptive reuse of the California Tire and Rubber Company located at the edge of the Gateway district of Salt Lake City.

Born decades ago in the gritty industrial districts of cities, loft living has transformed downtown Denver and Salt Lake City and impacted smaller cities like Boise and even towns like Jackson, Wyoming.

Developer and preservationist Dana Crawford of Urban Neighborhoods, who was instrumental in reinvigorating Denver’s LoDo in the mid-1960s, kicked off the city’s loft movement in the late 1980s. Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, architect Max J. Smith, AIA, of MJSA Architects was rehabbing buildings on the city’s neglected West Side into living/working units for artists. Such lofts in converted industrial buildings sported open spaces, high ceilings, large steel-framed windows, brick or concrete walls, and exposed heating and ventilation ducts that became synonymous with a trendy urban lifestyle.

Today, with buildings suitable for renovation in short supply, Crawford and other developers are focusing on new mixed-use construction with loft-style condos. Denver architect David Owen Tryba, FAIA, eschews the term “loft” for “alternative urban housing.” “The trend today is a combination of elements,” he explains. “There are vestiges of exposed columns and concrete slabs, but with more refined finishes.” Designed by Tryba’s firm, the Clayton Lane Lofts demonstrate how the rough-hewn loft has morphed into more luxe digs.

Likewise, in a building in Jackson, across from city hall, “the apartments look like lofts,” says its architect John Carney, AIA, of Carney Architects. “They have the key components, but they also have luxurious kitchens and bathrooms.” Kin Ng, RA, a partner in MJSA Architects, notes “The firm is concerned about housing for everyone.” Artspace, a recent adaptive reuse of the California Tire and Rubber Company in Salt Lake City, includes 53 affordable lofts.

Economics are effecting another change in the loft movement. “It’s moving out,” notes developer Joseph Payton. His Oneida Lofts, 12 miles from LoDo, are housed in a former refrigerated warehouse from the 1950s set in a communal garden.

If early loft dwellers found their neighborhoods deserted after dark with few supermarkets, today the idea of community is central to loft living. Says Crawford, “Mixed-use buildings create the experience of being on a campus. You run into your neighbors everywhere.” Urban Neighborhood’s latest project, Prospect Place, includes seven new buildings grouped around a piazza with shops, galleries, and bistros.

So who is the typical loft dweller? According to David Tryba, they are not just hip, 20- and 30-something first-time buyers who want to be near the action. “At the high end of the market are the baby boomers cashing in on their suburban houses. They don’t want to worry about security when they are away.” Plus, with gas prices approaching $4.00 a gallon, it’s an idea whose time has come—again.