Four years ago, when the Colorado Rockies owners opened their McGregor Square project across 20^th Street from Coors Field, Lower Downtown had arrived at a good-news bad-news moment.

The bad news was that the Rocks had already lost 51 games and were 18 games out of first place. The pandemic that shuttered the baseball season the previous year was battering LoDo and its restaurants, and a reopened ballpark saw attendance fall below two million for the first time in years.

The good news was that the 2021 All Star Game was headed for Coors — and by gametime, McGregor Square Residences was open, 80% of its loft-style units already sold. They joined a 182-room Rally Hotel, plus offices and restaurants, to create a new entryway from LoDo into the ballpark.

Ship’s prow layout

This Sunday, interested potential buyers can tour a 2,200-square-foot penthouse loft that’s back on the market, with a ship’s prow floorplan flanked by window walls that converge to point directly into the ballpark.

Kentwood City Properties agents Kevin Garrett and Matt McNeill, who office across from the train station, did the original sale of these lofts, and have had a close-up view of all LoDo has been through.

“It feels like the energy is coming up, people coming back to work a little more,” McNeill said.  “The homeless issue has really improved.”

The agents add that as in other parts of the market, they see too much inventory and a quieter buyer now. This unit, two bedrooms, an office, and designer finishes including automated shades, has been reduced in price to $2.775 million. It includes two parking spaces — rare in the building.

Now the Rockies are limping into the All-Star break with 70-plus losses, but the agents point out that there are reasons other than baseball to be here.

The team has posted 20-odd wins, roughly the same number as there are taverns within a block’s walk — including ChopHouse, directly across Wynkoop Street in the Union Pacific’s historic “head house” building, that’s endured since the ballpark first opened.

Colorado Symphony

In a district where many successes were one-offs from old buildings, McGregor is a rare example of a planned pedestrian flow, channeling crowds from Union Station to the ballpark’s entrance. Its centerpiece is a 28,000-foot ballpark-themed plaza, designed to lure nicer dining.

On a night when the Rocks are in town, you can watch the game from there on a 66-foot screen. Or this July 30, when the team is back east, that will be where Christopher Dragon conducts the Colorado Symphony in a “Best of Mozart” night, including the “Jupiter.”

Retail and restaurants here have seen ups-and-downs. But McGregor residents made out well from the Brinkerhoff family restaurant divorce that apportioned the Caldero space in McGregor to Renee Brinkerhoff, who promptly rebranded it as La Loma — a very popular brand.

The agents also note that the plaza lets passersby through during dining hours, but tightens security when an owner of this unit would rather have quiet.

On Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., visitors can look down wistfully onto 20th Street, where a sea of fans partied away an October night in 2007, after the Rockies won their first and only pennant.