By: Brian J. Levitt Chief Executive Officer, NAVA Real Estate Development
While our company was founded on the premise of developing properties that have a positive impact on its residents and surrounding community, no one could have predicted the prescient nature of the decisions made when Lakehouse – a 12-story, 196-unit community in Denver’s Sloan’s Lake neighborhood and pilot project for the WELL Building Standard – opened in March 2020. As the meaning of “home” expanded through the COVID-19 pandemic, the development’s foundational focus on wellness – with features like a proprietary building air filtration system, raised organic vegetable garden, aquatics room and access to self-contained health-related on-site amenities – proved particularly meaningful and useful to future residents. The forward-thinking decisions that were conceived working with the International WELL Building Institute and utilizing the WELL Building Standard are what helped enable us to deliver the right health-focused product in Colorado, in the right place next to Sloan’s Lake and at the right time, just when the global pandemic arrived.
At the outset of design for any project, it can be hard to predict what the world will look like when the property comes to fruition. The decisions that drove the development of the project began in 2014 at the IWBI WELL program launch in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans. The inspiration gained from the WELL Building Standard layered with our wish for inspiring design and a connection to nature shaped our vision to create a place where residents would be more active, eat healthier and build deep connections with their neighbors – all of which would hopefully have a positive impact on their health. The community’s focus on human well-being was not a response to any trend or event, but rather an organic attempt to differentiate Lakehouse in the marketplace, appeal to Colorado’s health-conscious consumers and push the envelope of sustainable development in a meaningful direction.
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