DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[laniroj]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

This feels like Celebrity Sports Center redux with the caveat that the target demographic is a bit older.

Hopefully they over-chlorinate the hell out of this new place too! The smell of chlorine and birthday parties really brings me back to my childhood! This new concept looks great and I'm sure the (over)active denver population will take to it in spades.

[TakeFive]

April was a Good Month

Originally Posted by rds70

Route 40 on east Colfax is also under construction:
https://milehighcre.com/new-apartmen...wntown-denver/

I had the strangest and vague idea that I had read about this some time ago.
Maybe it was a dream?
Nope; I found it - the Breaking News

Slipstream Properties, KTGY Bring Rehab and Development to Denver’s Capitol Hill Neighborhood
Dated: October 24, 2013 -- By Joshua Ayers

New Route 40 Mixed-Use Development

Slipstream Properties is poised to capitalize on the resurgence of Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood with the development of its Route 40 community, a mixed-use property comprised of an existing three-story, 1930s era building and a new five-story mixed-use structure. The development is located on East Colfax Avenue between Corona and Ogden Streets.

According to the recent project release

Englewood-based Consolidated Investment Group (CIG), a leading-edge real estate investment company managing a large, international portfolio, has announced the start of construction on Route 40, a multifamily property located at 1040 E. Colfax Avenue in Denver. The new seven-story building will include 210 apartment units, 5000 square feet of retail space, and robust amenities...

The architect for Route 40 is Boka Powell and the general contractor is Symmetry Builders. Gables Residential will manage the property.

I'd be curios of the backstory; none-the-less this time it's "For Real."

-----------------------------------

Originally Posted by rds70

808 Lincoln had a groundbreaking today:

https://milehighcre.com/trailbreak-p...ia-residences/

Here's a rendering courtesy of Trailbreak via BLDUP

Kaia Residences -- 808 N Lincoln St

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

This feels like Celebrity Sports Center redux with the caveat that the target demographic is a bit older.

In my closet I have a box of Celebrity Sports "tickets" that I figure one day will be worth $millions.
-----------------------------------------

As apartment vacancy rates rise, Denver rent prices for new leases are going down
Apr 29, 2025 By Wanya Reese -- 7Denver News

DENVER — Supply and demand — the concept apartment industry leaders say is leading to rent prices going down across the Denver metro area. Rent prices are at their lowest rate since the opening quarter of 2022, the Apartment Association of Metro Denver said. Industry leaders said, we are in a renter's market, which is good news for consumers who are currently looking to rent.

Denver7 listened to a vacancy and rent report conference where presenters revealed many apartments are offering specials, giving consumers the chance at free rent or steep discounts. Those experts explained that apartment owners have to make concessions as they work to increase occupancy rates for their apartment buildings. Looking at the numbers, the vacancy rate is 7% in the Denver metro area and the average rent price is down from last quarter.

It depends on where you live

In Arapahoe, Denver, and Jefferson counties, industry experts are seeing vacancy rates on the rise while places like Adams, Boulder and Douglas counties see the opposite

I recently read a piece stating that Austin had the larges rent drops followed by Denver followed by Phoenix. Why Phoenix? Like mentioned above there a parts of the Metro Phoenix where rents are strong, growth is good while in the City itself there's growing vacancy.

[TakeFive]

CBRE

Denver Office Figures Q1 2025
April 9, 2025

The Denver metro office market continued to face headwinds in Q1 2025 as evidenced by negative total net absorption of 813,000 sq. ft. ... Total vacancy increased slightly to 26.8%, while sublease availability continued its downward trend... While leasing fundamentals are expected to gradually improve, owners of distressed assets with low occupancy and limited capacity for improvements will face significant challenges.

Denver Downtown Office Figures Q1 2025
April 15, 2025

Leading market indicators pointed to the Downtown office market inching another step closer to recovery as more occupiers have solidified their space needs through signing longer-term leases. The total vacancy rate increased by a slight 30 bps (basis points) quarter-over-quarter and was up 230 bps year-over-year to reach 35.3%.

No new construction projects were in the pipeline for the third consecutive quarter, following the completion of 1900 Lawrence in mid-2024. As we progress through 2025, the market is expected to further stabilize, but recent heightened economic uncertainty could lead to some companies’ growth plans being put on hold until the impact of tariffs becomes more apparent.

The Denver Gazette broke this story:

TIAA to lay off 84 workers in downtown Denver ahead of office closure
May 2, 2025 By Bernadette Berdychowski / The Denver Gazette

As financial services firm TIAA prepares to close its downtown Denver office next year, layoffs have begun. TIAA will begin laying off 84 workers from its downtown office beginning July 1, according to a filing to state officials required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).

Last August, the firm notified workers it would relocate 1,000 workers from Denver to Frisco, Texas — where the company built a new 15-story corporate center next to the Dallas Cowboys headquarters and practice facility. It meant the company would leave three years before its lease at 1670 Broadway expires in 2029, as downtown continues to struggle with rising vacancies.

I found this statement interesting.

The company said in its WARN letter on Tuesday that it plans to close down the downtown office in summer of 2026 and is looking for a smaller office “elsewhere in Denver.”

[TakeFive]

This is an interesting/fun development

Play Hooky at the Historic Evans School, Now a Beer Garden and Café
April 21, 2025 By Cynthia Barnes -- Westword

This new project by City Street Investors makes the grade.

Want to recapture the teenage thrill of cutting class and drinking beer? Now you can — right on campus, with nary a principal or truancy officer in sight. After sitting empty for fifty years, the historic Evans School in the Golden Triangle now welcomes kids of all ages to the Schoolyard Café and Schoolyard Beer Garden (although beer is still limited to those over twenty).

Photos courtesy Marc Piscotty

The Schoolyard Beer Garden and Schoolyard Café are the latest project of City Street Investors, the team behind the redevelopment of Denver's Union Station, Hangar 2 Lowry and Edgewater Beer Garden, among other places; it purchased the property in 2019. "It's hard to believe that in such a great location, that building could sit basically unused for half a century," says Joe Vostrejs, one of City Street's founders and principals. "We were very excited to get it."

"We plan to lease out the balance of the first floor to as many retail- and wellness-related uses as we can," adds Vostrejs.

[TakeFive]

Despite the Headline the article is pretty good

Denver’s 16th Street Mall faces ongoing vacancies and low traffic
Cinco De Mayo By Carly Moore -- KDVR

This is a nice Update:

Ten of the 13 blocks of 16th Street Mall are expected to open by May 31. Intersections of Tremont, Court and Cleveland are set to open later this year.

DENVER (KDVR) — According to a new annual report, the 16th Street Mall is still struggling to fill vacancies, and it’s also dealing with decreased foot traffic. The Downtown Denver Partnership said the retail vacancy rate is about 30%. Empty storefronts still line 16th Street Mall, and the vacancy rate is twice as much as the rest of downtown’s average of 15%. There are 45 spaces that are empty right now along the mall.

Obviously the construction is an understandable issue. But only recently has the city started to make things a little less onerous for retailers in general. To compensate for City stupidity has been expensive.

Through the city, the Downtown Denver Partnership provided nearly $644,000 in grants to 60 businesses in 2024 to help keep them afloat during the multi-year construction projects.

“Two of our biggest challenges to business, we know, are both the perception and reality of public safety, as well as the ability to do business and get your permits and move through the city. We know this, and it’s challenging for the entire city.

[TakeFive]

Denver CRE Leaders Welcome City's Efforts To Speed Permitting
May 06, 2025 By Jonathan Rose, Denver

Mayor Mike Johnston’s overhaul of Denver’s permitting process has been met with cautious optimism from local developers — but a wait-and-see approach remains among the development community.

At Bisnow’s recent Denver Construction and Development event held at Flatiron Crossing in Broomfield on April 23, developers, general contractors and other commercial real estate players welcomed Johnston’s new 180-day target for permit reviews. They called it a step toward restoring Denver’s competitiveness amid growing national and local pressures.

Obviously, things are easier to 'see' in hindsight. It's also fair to say that it's never a bad time to be business-friendly.

But they were quick to point out that the problems go deeper than just timelines.

“When you're competing with cities like Phoenix and Dallas that are high growth and more pro-business, large investors with big checkbooks are going to prioritize ease and certainty.”

“We're actively hearing from some people that [they’re] going to take a pass on Denver right now for a variety of reasons,” Vostrejs said. “It's not just this. Some other issues, other regulations, minimum wage, all sorts of things that are making us a little less competitive.”

By way of example the AZ Governor invited Google's Waymo to set up shop in the state back in 2015.

CNBC carried the updated story yesterday.

The “Waymo Driver Integration Plant,” a 239,000 square foot facility outside of Phoenix, will assemble more than 2,000 Jaguar I-PACE robotaxis, the Alphabet company said in a statement.

The plant will be “capable of building tens of thousands of fully autonomous Waymo vehicles per year,” when it is fully built out, Waymo said. The company also said it plans to build its more advanced Geely Zeekr RT robotaxis that feature its “6th-generation Waymo Driver” technology later this year at the plant.

Note: This is not something that Colorado lost out on due to 'snow'; rather it's one example for the advantage of being business-friendly. For the unaware Waymo is all-electric.

[TakeFive]

Affordable Housing always Welcomed

Affordable Housing Targeting Single-Parent Families Opens in Denver
May 6, 2025 -- Mile High CRE

Denver’s first investment in city-funded housing vouchers has taken shape with the grand opening of Warren Village at Alameda, an affordable housing community targeting single-parent households. Warren Village at Alameda provides 89 income-restricted apartments, including 79 supportive housing units with wraparound services for households exiting homelessness.

Warren Village at Alameda -- 1390 W. Alameda Ave.




Images courtesy Warren Village

Warren Village has been serving Denver families for decades; this is their third location.

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Developer proposes 5-story affordable housing, child care center in Denver
May 5, 2025 By Cassidy Ritter (Denver Business Journal)

DENVER — A national developer envisions turning a parking lot in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood into affordable housing and a child care center. Developer Gorman & Co. submitted plans to Denver to convert the approximately 1.17-acre lot at 901 N. Grant St. into a five-story building.

Concept plans submitted last month call for 147 units with a second-level amenity deck and a 7,500-square-foot early learning center on the ground floor.

[TakeFive]

Speaking of Trailbreak Partners

Trailbreak Partners Completes 123-Unit Ridian Apartments
May 7, 2025 -- Mile High CRE

Trailbreak Partners, a Denver-based commercial real estate investment and development firm, has completed the construction of Ridian Apartments, a 123-unit Class A multifamily community located at 3295 N. Eliot Street in Denver’s sought-after Highlands neighborhood. Construction on Ridian Apartments began in mid-2022, and the community is now ready to welcome its first residents in the coming weeks.

With a mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units averaging 670 square feet, the residences include custom flooring and cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, walk-in closets, in-unit laundry, oversized windows and private balconies in select units.

Courtesy Trailbreak Partners

[Fritzdude]

Hey - whatever happened to Denverinfill.com? Did they stop posting updates? I’m getting more frequent updates from several Instances accounts like DevelopingDenver and NakedDenver. I was wondering if they’re behind the content of those sites?

[TakeFive]

Amazing Happens

The legislature passes business-friendly Bills.

New Colorado law seeks to boost condo development by reforming construction defects rules — again
May 12, 2025 By Seth Klamann -- The Denver Post

Gov. Jared Polis signed a law Monday that’s a negotiated settlement to the construction defects wars — a bid by state legislators to bolster the development of condominiums and other starter homes.

The bill’s backers, including Polis, say it will result in the building of more affordable, market-rate starter homes while helping the entire spectrum of housing availability. If more condos are available, higher-income renters or older homeowners who want to downsize can move into them and free up space elsewhere. It applies not only to condos but to other detached structures, like duplexes and townhomes.

Should this work, it could factor into more/better TOD as well as other missing middle housing.

Wait; There's More

Governor Polis Signs Modular Housing Bill
May 9, 2025 -- Mile High CRE

On May 8, Colorado Governor Jared Polis held a press conference at West Holden Place, a new modular workforce housing community in Denver’s Sun Valley neighborhood by Adam Berger Development, to sign into law SB25-002, also known as the Regional Building Codes for Factory-Built Structures bill.

... the new legislation aims to streamline the approval and construction process for factory-built residential and nonresidential structures, including modular and tiny homes. Once the Colorado State Housing Board adopts related rules, oversight by the state plumbing board, electrical board and fire suppression administrator will no longer apply to these types of structures, removing costly and time-consuming regulatory redundancies.

Yet Again

A new era of single-stair apartment buildings is coming to Denver and other Colorado cities
May. 13, 2025 by Bente Birkeland -- Denverite

In an effort to encourage denser development, Gov. Jared Polis signed a new bill into law on Tuesday to allow smaller apartment buildings in Colorado to be built with a single staircase, instead of the two previously required by building codes.

Under House Bill 1273, cities with more than 100,000 residents must revise their building codes by Dec. 1, 2027, to allow for a single stairway exit in apartment buildings of up to five stories, with a maximum of four units to a floor.

(Well, You knew it couldn't last, right?)

ALL HAIL DENVER'S HUNGRY LAW FIRMS

Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce disappointed in direction of Colorado
May 14, 2025 By: Shannon Ogden -- 7Denver News

DENVER — Colorado's business climate is heading in the wrong direction, according to the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

This week, the chamber held its annual State of the State event to review the work of the 2025 legislative session.

"For example, we saw, this year, 43 bills introduced that create a new private right of action, so a new way for someone to sue a business. We saw 37 of those bills last year," West said. "And obviously, not all of those passed, but it shows an increasing trend of an overly litigious environment that all adds up to cost and risk to businesses. That really creates an atmosphere where it is difficult and challenging to do business."

[TakeFive]

Updating a previously posted announcement of an auction

Downtown office tower sells for $22M in first deal since 2005
May 14, 2025 By Thomas Gounley -- BusinessDen

An office tower south of downtown Denver has changed hands for the first time in two decades, for less than it fetched back then. The 1290 Broadway building sold Monday for $22.4 million, according to public records. The structure is 17 stories and 252,000 square feet, meaning the deal works out to $89 a square foot

1290 Broadway



According to the DBJ An LLC tied to an address in Suffern, New York, purchased the 17-story building.

[TakeFive]

It’s not a great time to own an office building in Denver
May. 13, 2025 By Sarah Mulholland -- CPR News

Denver’s office values are cratering, according to new data from the county assessor. Nobody’s really sure how much further they’ll fall, or how the slide will reshape the city’s skyline.

Office property values are down between 10 percent and 25 percent since the last time they were assessed for tax purposes two years ago, according to Denver county assessor Keith Erffmeyer. Some are down even more, he said. “It'd be like if you were holding a rubber band and you were holding one finger steady and pulling it down with the other,” Erffmeyer said. “We've seen the top of the market, I would say, hold value and remain relatively flat, while we've seen the bottom end kind of really sag.”

Generally stuff we already know.

When office workers first started working from home, building owners waited to see what was going to happen, he said. Now, a lot of leases are expiring, Erffmeyer said, and tenants are moving or reducing the amount of space they lease.

It can take a long time to figure out what to do with these buildings after a default. Take the Wells Fargo Center, known as the Cash Register Building. The property has been in limbo since the owner defaulted nearly two years ago.

With respect to those older tired buildings.

“When we look at what might happen to those [older] buildings, some might be candidates for conversion, certainly not very many of them,” said Jeannie Tobin, the director of market analytics for Denver at CoStar, a real estate data company. “Those are few and far between … Office owners are going to have to get pretty creative when it comes to those older legacy buildings … especially the larger ones.”

What is the Highest and Best Use?

In the meantime, office values in Denver could drop further, according to Jerrold Bregman, a business attorney and partner at BG Law in Denver.

That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, according to Bregman of BG Law. Eventually, prices will fall enough to lure investors that can put the land to better use, he said. “At some point, the market will respond to the economics … And that presents an opportunity,” he said.

[TakeFive]

A Little Bit of Sunshine

Denver could loan $5M to convert historic commercial building to income-restricted residential
May 08, 2025 By Kyle Harris -- Denverite

Three stories of commercial space at the historic Denver Dry Goods building at California Street and the 16th Street Mall may soon become 55 new income-restricted homes. To complete the project, developer Perry Rose LLC is asking the city for a $5.5 million loan to a roughly $65 million budget. On Wednesday, a Denver City Council committee sent the loan to a full council vote.

Between renovating old units and building new ones, the plans call for one studio, 56 one-bedrooms and 49 two-bedrooms.

Denver Dry Goods




Photos courtesy Rent Cafe and Wikipedia

Denver Dry Goods was built in the 1880s. It once housed a popular downtown department store, a saddlery, a tea room – and, most recently, T.J. Maxx.

Back in the 1990s, after an economic downturn, preservationist and developer Chuck Perry converted a portion of the building into 51 affordable homes. The commercial space where the 55 units are planned is currently vacant.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Fritzdude

Hey - whatever happened to Denverinfill.com? Did they stop posting updates? I’m getting more frequent updates from several Instances accounts like DevelopingDenver and NakedDenver. I was wondering if they’re behind the content of those sites?

I don't think that Ken or Ryan have anything to do with DevelopingDenver or NakedDenver- I believe they've gotten busy with life. Andrew Cushen of Build Up Denver does do blog posts on DenverUrbanium which has had more frequent updates than DI. The big takeaway is how much effort Ryan was putting into DI posts.

NakedDenver is such a mixed bag, I feel like a lot of the content is AI-produced, but they sometimes have a good nugget. DevelopingDenver seems to be the gold standard now, but the discourse is nothing like it was on this forum in it's heyday.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

A Little Bit of Sunshine

Denver could loan $5M to convert historic commercial building to income-restricted residential
May 08, 2025 By Kyle Harris -- Denverite

It should be noted that this is NOT funding coming from the Downtown Denver Authority but is a good illustration of how much of a multiplier affect DDA funding can have on housing conversions downtown.

[TakeFive]

Denver’s 16th Street Mall has a new name

"THE DENVER WAY"

..........

[Cirrus]

"16th Street" sans Mall is ok. "The Denver Way" is forced. "16th Street Way" I actually would have liked.

Anyway, I trust y'all will post some pictures of the fabulous new mall way when it's worth photographing. Yes? Yes.

[mhays]

Every district naming effort will be unpopular, but this one is particularly questionable.

Locals will still call it 16th due to habit and its location between 15th and 17th. They'll also be confused about the name at first. People take pride in not using marketing names.

Visitors will be confused by the name forever. My first thought was "the Denver method." Returning visitors will already know the original name.

My area gives some clues. Tourists screw up "Pike Place Market" constantly, despite it being well-known for generations. They don't get that it's named after the street that runs through it, Pike Place. Second, the City and business community renamed Lower Queen Anne "Uptown," of which there were 24 per Wikipedia last I heard. I'll never call it that. Third, the business community started calling part of Downtown "West Edge" but it's never become common. Fourth, my old employer changed its name in 2000, but in 2025 it's still often called its own name.

[mr1138]

^ I still call where the Broncos play "Mile High Stadium"

I think our resident forum blogger may have misrepresented the outcome a bit here. The city is officially renaming the street to just "16th Street." This is what is being reported in every Denver media outlet, and seems like a good move to me (this just reverts back to the original name before "mall" was added).

The Denverite article also says "In addition to calling the former mall 16th Street, city brass are also referring to it as 'The Denver Way.'" But I don't at read this at all as saying that is the official new marketing name. This article from Denver7 doesn't even include the phrase "the Denver Way" anywhere in the article. It says that the big outcome here is that they dropped the word "mall."