DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[TakeFive]

Broadway restaurant real estate sells to local investor for $3M
May 21, 2025 By Matthew Geiger -- BusinessDen via The Denver Post

The Hornet has a new landlord for its nest on Broadway. A group of five investors operating under 76 N Broadway LLC purchased the bar and grill’s real estate at 76 N. Broadway last week for $3.3 million, according to public records.

The Hornet still has several years left on its lease and will be unaffected by the change in building ownership. The entire two-story, 13,000-square-foot structure is also home to another restaurant tenant, Lucky Noodles, and has 18 roughly 400-square-foot offices on the second floor. One of the buyers, Tyrone Rocque, said the restaurant at the corner of 1st Avenue and Broadway was what they were really after.

76 Broadway


Photo courtesy Todd Snyder

“I think it’s nearly fully leased,” Rocque said of the office space. “We may just gut it and completely make some class-A space out of it. We may leave it as is. We haven’t really made a decision. I mean, that’s totally the tail on the dog. We wanted what was on the first floor — we really wanted The Hornet.”

Since the closing and reporting of the sale The Hornet's space is now for lease.

According to LoopNet

Located in the heart of North Broadway, 76 N Broadway offers a high-visibility leasing opportunity in one of Denver’s most dynamic commercial corridors. The neighborhood is known for its lively, walkable atmosphere with regular street events, boutique shops, and popular dining spots.

[TakeFive]

A bit Upbeat moving forward

Denver office market report -- Q2 2025 -- Avison Young

In Q2, Denver’s office market saw over ±928,000 square feet in leasing, driven largely by demand for smaller, adaptable office spaces between ±5,000 and ±20,000 square feet.

Tenants are showing a clear preference for high-quality space in accessible locations, with Southeast Suburban Denver emerging as a hotspot thanks to its strong amenity mix and major tenants like Spectrum and AECOM. The submarket has logged 2.6 million square feet in leasing activity since 2024, illustrating its rise as a tech-focused business hub.

Meanwhile, with new development tapering off, sublease space is becoming a practical solution—especially as availability continues to decline. Supporting these positive signs are improved public safety downtown and a growing population that positions Metro Denver well for long-term office demand.

So far, this year has been really slow for leasing activity but it's not unusual for activity to pick up during the 2nd half of the year.

[RiNo Randy]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Ongoing changes along South Broadway


Interesting take that he's hurt by the loss of nearby food options.


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Heavy metal brewery closes taproom on Broadway after 13 years
July 11, 2025 By Jonathan Shikes -- The Denver Post

Doesn't surprise me. I've been harping on this issue at the RiNo BID planning sessions. Mortensen (3083 Walnut) and Xcel (3500 Blake, aka T3) have recently brought ~1,500 employees to the District and there is a dearth of lunch options in that area. It's even worse on the Brighton Blvd side. Obviously, those two companies aren't going anywhere, but there was an article last fall (I can't find it now) about a business that had been officing on Brighton and was moving to downtown, specifically citing a lack of lunch options.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by RiNo Randy

Doesn't surprise me. I've been harping on this issue at the RiNo BID planning sessions. Mortensen (3083 Walnut) and Xcel (3500 Blake, aka T3) have recently brought ~1,500 employees to the District and there is a dearth of lunch options in that area. It's even worse on the Brighton Blvd side. Obviously, those two companies aren't going anywhere, but there was an article last fall (I can't find it now) about a business that had been officing on Brighton and was moving to downtown, specifically citing a lack of lunch options.

Two firms isn't enough critical mass for a multitude of lunch spots (Xcel wants a cafe in the lobby of T3 to support their in-office workers). Add in that Xcel are tight-fisted flemwads with expense accounts of about $10/day and you're not going to get a lot of lunch seekers outside of the building.


But, the desire to have an entire building to themselves was the driver for moving to RiNo with all other factors being subservient.

[RiNo Randy]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Two firms isn't enough critical mass for a multitude of lunch spots (Xcel wants a cafe in the lobby of T3 to support their in-office workers). Add in that Xcel are tight-fisted flemwads with expense accounts of about $10/day and you're not going to get a lot of lunch seekers outside of the building.


But, the desire to have an entire building to themselves was the driver for moving to RiNo with all other factors being subservient.

Agreed to a point. Paradigm is also leasing out. Davis Graham & Stubbs is already occupying some of that space. There is a shit pile of vacant office space on Brighton Blvd.

But to your point about Xcel, here are the lunch options within reasonable walking distance of their office: Slater's 50/50 (across the street), Clever Girl (across the pedestrian bridge - and not really sure what options are in there currently), Butcher Block Cafe (if you're willing to go through the 38th Street underpass or the pedestrian bridges with addition distance), Black Shirt Brewing, Rino Beer Garden, Rush Bowls, Beyond Thai, Himchuli, Campo Juice Kitchen, Mr. Oso, Casa de Manuel, Improper City (one food truck on a typical weekday), Walnut Room, and possibly Shake Shack. Add in a couple coffee shops as well. But that is it.

Odd that if they want a cafe in their building, why haven't they done it already?

Mortenson's employees will overlap with some of those, but have more options to the west (Denver Central Market, etc.).

I'll add that I spoke to an Xcel employee as she was leaving the office last week while I was on my way to the RiNo BID planning meeting. I had one question for her - "what is missing in this area?". The only thing she mentioned was lunch options. They've only been in that office a few months. If this is the sentiment already, there is a problem.

[mhays]

Lunch places are tough to make work. You're paying high rents and labor costs for a very short service time. Most customers don't spend much.

A large percentage of office workers won't buy lunch at all -- because they bring something from home, subsist on the free apples and granola bars in their office, have real employee cafeterias, don't eat at all, etc. Some people have lunch meetings on the company dime but many companies discourage that.

How many good lunch places are there in the Downtown core? Draw a circle around the inner 10,000,000 sf of office space and I bet the number will disappoint.

[RiNo Randy]

I'm not disagreeing with the difficult economics of a lunch spot. But several in RiNo (and downtown) are doing just fine.

Keep in mind that both Mortenson and Xcel moved from the CBD, where there certainly were more options closer to what they are facing today (even if some were chains).

I worked in corporate America for 25 years. I went out for lunch way more than I ate on a campus or brought my own lunch over those years (pandemic era excluded as I was primarily WFH).

And yes, it is a chicken vs. egg scenario. You need a certain level of volume to justify a restaurant. But office goers also want a variety of lunch options as part of their RTO lifestyle.

[mhays]

When I hear that (a) there aren't many lunch places, but (b) several are doing fine, here's my first question: Do they need to be packed to survive? Would diluting the inventory with more places make it harder for most of them to do well?

[RiNo Randy]

Originally Posted by mhays

When I hear that (a) there aren't many lunch places, but (b) several are doing fine, here's my first question: Do they need to be packed to survive? Would diluting the inventory with more places make it harder for most of them to do well?

No.

[TakeFive]

The problem with restaurants in Denver is called STUPID... as in the city of Denver is stupid.

Because of the cost of living City Council wanted to do the 'right' thing and jacked up the minimum wage to $18.81 (in 2025). The state minimum wage is $14.81 which is plenty high enough. There's nothing wrong with Council's logic but their utter lack of common sense is awful. When restaurant owner can't make any money because of all the costs they go out of business and instead of making that juicy minimum wage employees are now making $0 per hour. Similarly it's why they don't open a restaurant to begin with.

BTW, it's not solely the minimum wage; there are a number of things. So far City Council hasn't offered to pay anybody's increased insurance costs or their increased property taxes etc. Faster permitting promised; we'll see.

Consider Mexican food. Whether for lunch or dinner a taco is a taco; a burrito is a burrito. BTW, I know of (at least) two Mexican food joints that as soon as their leases expired they high-tailed beyond the Denver city boundary to one of the other surrounding cities. You can do Mexican food elegantly and charge more, of course, but for most people a taco is a taco and a burrito is a burrito -- lunch or dinner.

[TakeFive]

This is rather cool, I guess

Largest High Density Modular Housing Project Sets Record In Denver
July 16, 2025 -- Mile High CRE

Farrington Construction Management has completed West Holden Place, the largest high-density modular construction housing project in the City of Denver. Located in the Sun Valley neighborhood, West Holden Place is a six-story, 77-unit multifamily development that offers attainable rental housing for households earning 80–120% AMI. The development features 1- and 2-bedroom units ranging from 500–1,000 square feet. FCM’s use of modular construction, in which a development is built off-site in sections, signals an innovative, affordable approach to addressing the housing crisis.

“I’ve been building apartments in Colorado for twenty years, and modular is the most exciting thing to happen to this market,” said Eric Farrington, owner of Farrington Construction Management. “The efficiency in modular multifamily comes from the design and the manufacturing. We are seeing high density modular multifamily come in 15-20% cheaper than conventionally built, and we can build it 40% faster.”

West Holden Place -- 2639 W Holden Place






Courtesy Farrington Construction Management

[TakeFive]

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
Children laughin', people passin', meeting smile after smile
And on every street corner you hear
Silver Bells (Songwriters: Jay Livingston / Ray Evans)


Denver’s huge sidewalk rebuild set to begin with $75M contracts
Jul. 15, 2025 By Paolo Zialcita -- Denverite

Two contractors will carry out the city’s sidewalk repairs program over the next few years.

Two contractors could soon start construction on Denver’s sprawling new Sidewalk Enterprise Program, which collects fees from property owners to fund thousands of miles of sidewalk repairs and construction.

Milender White Construction and SEMA Construction could be paid $25 million and $50 million, respectively, over the next three years if Denver City Council approves the contract. They would be responsible for managing new construction and repairs of sidewalks across the city.

City workers have already identified projects it wants the contractor to work on.

The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is already using money from the fee for relatively minor spot repairs to damaged sidewalks in Sloan’s Lake, Berkeley and Capitol Hill. The pace could pick up significantly with the construction companies on board. Construction of new sidewalks will mostly be concentrated in the Globeville and Elyria Swansea neighborhoods, but they’re also planned for Harvey Park, Green Valley Ranch and Sloan’s Lake.

Credit Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends)

[TakeFive]

Oil and gas giant eyes downsizing move from Upper Downtown to LoDo
July 16, 2025 By Matt Geiger -- BusinessDen

EOG Resources, a Texas-based oil and gas giant, is prospecting for a new Denver regional headquarters next to Union Station. The publicly traded company is eyeing a lease for the vast majority of office space at the Millennium Financial Center, 1550 17th St., according to several sources familiar with the deal.

Millennium Financial Center -- 1550 17th Street




EOG Resources is currently located in

Dominion Towers -- 600 17th Street (owned by Franklin Street Properties)


Courtesy JLL Properties

[TakeFive]

Why AI Will Finish The Office Sector Transformation The Pandemic Started
July 14, 2025 By Matt Wasielewski, Bisnow National

Corporate office occupiers didn’t know it at the time, but the global pandemic gave them a head start on the artificial intelligence revolution.

“Corporate real estate portfolios need to be agile, fluid and liquid, because the changes are continuing,” said Peter Miscovich, who leads JLL’s global future of work business line from New York. “In the good old days, signing a 20-year lease meant being pretty set on that envelope commitment. That has certainly changed.”

I think a lot of this is still speculative but no doubt AI is here to a degree and will only grow.

Ten to fifteen years ago 'startups' would lease twice as much space as needed based on projections of strong and fast growth with the ability to raise buckets of capital. I suspect these practices are no longer likely.

This will add to the difficulty of trying to fill office space.

[TakeFive]

Reed Smith Signs 30,644 SF Lease at 1900 Lawrence
July 15, 2025 -- Mile High CRE

Riverside Investment & Development (Riverside) has signed global law firm Reed Smith to a long-term, 30,644-square-foot lease for the 28th floor at 1900 Lawrence in Denver. Reed Smith will make the move from 1400 Wewatta St., where it has 19,000 square feet, when the lease commences in July 2026. The deal comes fresh on the heels of Riverside’s recent loan extension and $34 million capital infusion, deployed to accelerate the leasing program.

So that's two full floors from the law firm crowd plus a couple of smaller leases. In any case it nice to see this gem of a building starting to see more leasing occur.

[RiNo Randy]

When I saw their reel on instagram, I was excited, because plans for this site have included a full service grocery store in the past.

Much to my dismay, there is only 4,500sf of retail in the plans. But I will be glad to see the site at 36th and Downing developed at some point, if this plan is approved.

https://www.nakeddenver.com/post/alexan-rino-development-plans-to-transform-36th-and-downing

[TakeFive]

Office real estate wide open in Denver as vacancy rate hits 36 percent
Jul. 18, 2025 By Sarah Mulholland -- CPR News

Office buildings in downtown Denver continue to empty out. The vacancy rate in the area hit 36.8 percent in the second quarter, according to CBRE, a real estate services company.

New leases slowed to a trickle, with 1.1 million square feet leased out in the second quarter. That’s nearly 40 percent less than the same time last year, the data show.

I'm calling it: THE BOTTOM IS IN (for leasing/vacancy)

The broader Denver metro region — which includes neighborhoods like RiNo as well as the suburbs and Boulder — is faring slightly better, with a 27 percent vacancy rate, CBRE data show.

I'm mildly surprised that the whole metro area including Boulder is as high as 27%. Then again misery loves company.

Headwinds are building for Denver’s office landlords even with more people returning to the office as companies ratchet back on remote work. Many companies are adopting hybrid work policies. That’s creating some activity as plans firm up, but not enough to fill up all the empty space.

“Some companies are still fine-tuning their hybrid work strategies, which will support office demand, albeit on a smaller scale than in recent years,” CBRE analysts wrote in a recent report.

The good news is that more businesses are making 'future' decisions about space; the bad news is that AI is coming.

Landlords are increasingly giving up on older buildings that can’t find tenants. The pace of demolitions and conversions of dated properties is starting to outpace new construction, according to CBRE. The trend is expected to accelerate as more property owners face debt burdens they can’t pay off.

This statement likely applies to the national market and NOT specifically to Denver.

I Like to Speculate:

• At some point the City of Denver will become landlords due to non-payment of property taxes.
• Converting downtown Behemoths to Co-living apartments is NOT a good idea. High RISK.
• More modest-sized buildings perhaps in LoDo or Union Station area might more easily be converted from office to housing.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by RiNo Randy

When I saw their reel on instagram, I was excited, because plans for this site have included a full service grocery store in the past.

Much to my dismay, there is only 4,500sf of retail in the plans. But I will be glad to see the site at 36th and Downing developed at some point, if this plan is approved.

https://www.nakeddenver.com/post/alexan-rino-development-plans-to-transform-36th-and-downing

Trammell Crow Residential is a good fit for that site. They do a nice job with more affordable market rate apartments generally. It's also why the required affordable units wouldn't bother them.

Here's the original proposal in Denverite. I'm not surprise Andy couldn't find anyone to do a grocery store.

BTW, If you ever run into anyone who knows Andrew Feinstein, offer to buy them a couple of beers if they'll tell you all about Andy. He's a good business guy with a heart. Fascinating life and background story.

[RiNo Randy]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

BTW, If you ever run into anyone who knows Andrew Feinstein, offer to buy them a couple of beers if they'll tell you all about Andy. He's a good business guy with a heart. Fascinating life and background story.

I met Andy a few months ago at his annual "Just Because" party at Reelworks. Super nice guy! His current projects in Africa are amazing!

[TakeFive]

^^ Good to hear

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Per CBS

The mayor also hinted that an announcement regarding the Broncos and potential plans for a new stadium would be coming soon. "I'm hoping in the next few weeks," he said. The Broncos' current contract at Empower Field at Mile High expires following the 2030 season. "Over my dead body will the Broncos leave Denver. I would fire myself."