Industrial Construction in Globeville, Elyria-Swansea and Montbello

Industrial sites near the Mousetrap interchange carry strong highway access and a long history underfoot, and we build for both. Across Globeville, Elyria-Swansea and Montbello we renovate older plants, replace failing slabs, clear obsolete structures and put up new warehouse and production space on tight, urban lots where the neighbors, the rail line and the interstate are all within a block.

The roads explain the demand. Both I-25 and I-70 cross Globeville, and the I-25 and I-70 Mousetrap interchange lies in the neighborhood; I-25 was built there from 1948 to 1958 and I-70 in 1964. More recently, the Central 70 Project, a $1.2 billion rebuild of about 10 miles of I-70 from Brighton Boulevard to Chambers Road, finished construction in July 2023 and removed the 57-year-old viaduct between Brighton and Colorado boulevards, through the Elyria-Swansea area. A building here has quick access to both north-south and east-west freight, which is why distribution and manufacturing users keep looking at lots that look cramped on a map.

Our role is to make a small or awkward lot work: a loading court that turns inside a short depth, a floor that carries heavy equipment, a drainage plan that does not flood the neighbor, and a schedule that does not close a street for months.

Old Industrial Ground, New Highway Frontage

Elyria-Swansea is bounded by the South Platte River on the west and Adams County on the north, has a major railroad crossing from southwest to northeast, and contains a pet-care manufacturing plant and the Denver Coliseum. That mix of rail, river, heavy manufacturing and public venues is typical of the district, and it means most parcels abut something that restricts what a contractor can do: a flood-sensitive edge, a rail right-of-way, a street used by event traffic.

The Central 70 concession is a design-build-finance-operate-maintain agreement with a private partner that runs to 2052, adds one express toll lane each way, and put a 4-acre park over a 1,000-foot lowered section. For adjacent property owners, the practical result is a rebuilt corridor with changed frontage conditions, and for us it means coordinating haul routes and lane closures with the highway's long-term operator when a project touches the edge of the corridor.

Legacy Soil and Working Beside Live Operations

Neighborhood activism in Globeville and Elyria-Swansea won a 1994 settlement with ASARCO that funded soil cleanup, a sign of legacy smelter contamination to check in due diligence near these industrial areas. We take that seriously on every job here. Before excavation, we review prior environmental reports, ask for sampling where history is unclear, and set a written procedure for how we handle, test, stockpile and haul soil that looks or smells wrong.

Safety planning also covers working beside live rail and traffic. We set exclusion zones near rail right-of-way, use flaggers and spotters where trucks cross shared drives, and keep dust and noise within the limits the city and the neighbors expect. Every crew on site holds daily briefings that name the hazards of that day's pour, lift or demolition, and visitors sign in before they enter the work zone.

Coordination That Fits Tight Lots

Constrained lots reward builders who coordinate their trades closely. We schedule the concrete trade partners who place and finish slabs, aprons and foundations, which matters when a pour window is set by a street closure. We sequence demolition, utility trenching and grading, and the forms, embeds and hardware that tilt-wall and steel framing need.

For older buildings, industrial demolition services let us take out a worn floor and replace it with a slab designed for the equipment you actually run today. On properties that must keep operating, our industrial renovation and modernization work is staged so lines can be moved in sequence instead of shut down.

Where Urban Infill Money Goes

On this side of Denver, the building is rarely the largest swing in cost. Demolition of existing structures, soil handling, utility relocation, shoring near property lines and traffic control can together approach the cost of the new shell. We break these out in the estimate so you see which items are choices and which are conditions of the site.

Pavement is a second driver. Heavy trucks turn tightly on infill lots, so we usually price concrete in turning areas and dock aprons and asphalt in lanes with steady moving traffic, as explained under heavy-haul access roads. Parking that must be provided but is rarely used can often be built to a lighter standard; our stabilized parking lots page shows the options.

Operations That Choose This Part of Town

The users we meet here are mostly logistics, food, building products and light manufacturing operations that value a short trip to the interstates. A logistics and distribution tenant wants dock count and truck turning space. A food and beverage operator wants sanitary floors, drains and cold chain capacity, and that shapes the slab, the insulation and the refrigeration pad.

A truck terminal or cross-dock may be the best fit for a narrow lot with long frontage. Nearby, the airport side of town is covered on our page for the Denver International Airport area, and the redevelopment district east of here is described under Stapleton and Central Park.

Bring Us the Lot and the Constraints

Send us the address, the survey and what your operation needs to do on the site. We will tell you what is feasible, what it costs and what has to be checked first.

Common Questions

What should we check before buying an older industrial lot in Globeville or Elyria-Swansea?

Start with the environmental history, the survey and the flood and utility maps. A 1994 settlement funded soil cleanup connected to legacy smelter contamination, so prior reports and sampling matter here. Next, check zoning, rail easements and access to the street grid. We can walk the site with you and your consultants and flag the conditions that tend to change the price.

How does the Central 70 work affect us?

The highway rebuild finished construction in July 2023, so the main lane closures are behind us. The corridor operator still controls access along its edge, so any work that affects shared right-of-way, lighting or drainage needs coordination. We include those meetings in preconstruction.

Can you keep our plant running while we expand?

Yes. We stage the work so production lines, loading docks and utilities stay live, with temporary partitions, scheduled outages and clear rules for contractor traffic. Outage windows are planned with your maintenance team weeks ahead, and we hold material on site so a shutdown does not wait for deliveries.

Is a rail connection practical on these lots?

Some parcels have it and others have easements that make it difficult. Spur design depends on curve radius, available length and the railroad's approval process. We evaluate it in the first weeks and tell you honestly if the lot cannot support it.

How tight can a truck court be?

With 53-foot trailers, depth and maneuvering room drive the building footprint. On shallow urban lots, we run swept-path studies, consider angled or cross-dock layouts, and may recommend a smaller building to leave room for the trucks. A short court that jams the street is worse than a smaller building.

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