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Proposed development would wrap 16-story apartment building around Sports Castle

The proposal includes plans for a 16-story, 511-unit apartment complex that would wrap around two sides of the iconic building. The Sports Castle would be left for public use.

DENVER — A development group has submitted a proposal to develop a 16-story apartment complex that would wrap around the Sports Castle but would leave the iconic building for public use.

Real estate group Wood Partners submitted the concept to the city last week, and it's currently undergoing review, Laura Swartz with the office of Community Planning and Development said. 

According to Swartz, the proposal includes a 16-story, 511-unit apartment building that would wrap around two sides of the Sports Castle, located at the corner of 10th Avenue and Broadway.

The ground floor of the proposed building, which would extend along Broadway on one side and to Lincoln Street and 10th Avenue on the other, would be used for a co-working space for residents, a community center and the apartment's leasing center. 

Those areas are currently occupied by parking garages and an office building.

The actual Sports Castle building would be preserved for public use. The proposal lists a grocery store, restaurant or event venue as some possibilities for that eventual redevelopment.

The seven-story structure was built in 1925 as a car dealership. In 1971, it was acquired by Gart Bros. Sporting Goods Co., a local company founded by the Gart family in 1928, and became a sporting goods superstore that once had a tennis court on the roof. Sports Authority took over in 2003.

The Sports Castle has been largely vacant since it was the local flagship store for Sports Authority. The once-mighty sporting goods chain filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2016 and closed all of its stores shortly after.

RELATED: The plan for all those shuttered Sports Authority locations

RELATEDInside Denver's Sports Castle as it prepares for big Sports Authority store closure 

Wood Partners, based out of Atlanta, Georgia, is behind four other developments in Denver, including the Glass House condominiums, according to their website

The proposed design is only in its initial stages and has not yet been approved.

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