Union Printers Home selects design firm to lead revitalization process | News

In celebration of the 130-year anniversary of the Union Printers Home, UPH Partners announced Wednesday that design firm Sasaki will spearhead the revitalization of the property, providing a master plan for the 26-acre campus. 

UPH Partners, consisting of a group of local inventors, bought the property for $18.5 million last summer with the intent to preserve, energize, and revitalize the iconic campus located off Union Boulevard and Pikes Peak Avenue near Memorial Park.

The Union Printers Home opened in 1892 as a home for retired members of the International Typographical Union. Most recently, the campus housed a nursing home and assisted-living facility that was closed in 2020 after a resident died of hypothermia on the grounds at the Home. The state revoked the company’s license to operate, and all the residents were moved.

Renovation is expected to take a minimum of five years.

Enter Sasaki, whose projects include the designs of Pearl Street Mall and the University of Colorado, the non-aviation real estate master plan for Denver International Airport and the master plan for the redevelopment of Lowry Air Force base in Denver. 

To be completed in about 18 months, the Union Printers Home master plan “will inform the vision that blends elements of adaptive reuse with new construction encompassing a mix of uses to include hospitality, retail, commercial, dining, entertainment and residential,” the release reads. 

“The proud location of this site on the crest of a hill overlooking Memorial Park created a distinct position at the edge of downtown for decades,” Joshua Brooks, Sasaki project lead, said in a statement. “Now, as Colorado Springs has grown around the property with diverse land uses including civic, institutional, commercial and residential, the site has become a nexus that can serve as a community center in and of itself. Sasaki is thrilled to be a part of this landmark project to preserve and reimagine the Union Printers Home.”