Zeppelin began exploring the neighborhood.  He was attracted to the abandoned Yellow Cab dispatch center and corporate headquarters on the west banks of the Platte River.  Sited between the RTD bus barn and Reddi-Mix Concrete, the 10-acre site included a mid-Century brick building, a 300 foot radio tower and several maintenance buildings.  Zeppelin bought the property, opening his office there in 2001.

Phase 1 of the development, completed a decade ago, transformed the 25,000 sf brick building into flexible work spaces for a variety of creative businesses - photographers, marketing companies and tech start-ups. A wide Main Street running north and south through the building defines the building.  The renown FUEL Cafe opened in 2008 and recently expanded to include a patio and additional dining room.

TAXI 2, a new, mixed-use building, opened in August 2008. Dubbed a “Landscraper” because the 550-foot long structure stood on end would be a 55-story skyscraper. Will Bruder, David Baker, Harry Teague and Alan Eban Brown collaborated on the design of this project, which includes 44 residential units, 60,000 sf of office space, TAXI Fitness and Pilates Aligned at TAXI.

The latest addition to the TAXI site is FREIGHT, a mid-century, brick, dock-high freight warehouse, directly adjacent to the first two TAXI buildings overlooking the Platte River. Leased to more than a dozen new economy businesses, including an early childhood education center, the reuse of the 50-year-old building includes 5/8-inch thick tempered hockey glass panels from the Pepsi Center. The 48”x100” panels let natural light stream in. Reclaimed bowling lanes have been transformed into office furniture and workstations at FREIGHT.

Glass garage doors, an environmentally sensitive HVAC system, high-ceilings and big volume space, and what Kyle and his father, Mickey Zeppelin, call “Main Street” corridors, define all of TAXI’s buildings. The Zeppelins believe the adaptive reuse of the building and adjacent site is the most cost-effective way to provide quality, flexible, technologically relevant space to businesses, at a cost not achievable in new construction. The first two phases of TAXI include more than 130,000 square feet of commercial space – including the Fuel Cafe – and 44 residences. When completed, the 18-acre campus will have more than 800,000 square feet of mixed-use space.

Because of the success of the FREIGHT building, Zeppelin Development is turning its attention to construction of TAXI 3, a planned 100,000-square-foot office building.