DENVER | Main Development Thread #7

[RiNo Randy]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

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


76 Broadway


Photo courtesy Todd Snyder

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

According to LoopNet

And now it is official. The Hornet is closing after nearly 30 years. Truly sad. https://www.instagram.com/p/DM8OhPtpKjq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[TakeFive]

^^ I went there a couple of times... but that was a long time ago.

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Denver City Council approves $950M Vibrant Denver bond proposal, sending it to voters
Aug 04, 2025 By Sydney Isenberg, Brandon Richard -- Denver7 News

DENVER — The Denver City Council on Monday unanimously voted to approve the $950 million Vibrant Denver bond proposal, sending it to voters in November.

Small amendments were made to the proposal during Monday's city council meeting. Ultimately, the council voted 13-0 to allow the proposal onto the November ballot.

THE TOP TEN

1. 8th Avenue Viaduct & Multimodal Improvements | $89,200,000
2. (TIE) First Responder and Public Safety Training Center | $75,000,000
3. (TIE) Globeville Elyria-Swansea Connections: Marion Underpass | $75,000,000
4. Park Hill Park Buildout | $70,000,000
5. West 38th Avenue Multimodal Project | $55,300,000
6. 6th Avenue Viaduct Repairs and Mobility & Access Improvements | $50,000,000
7. Affordable Housing Project Development | $45,000,000
8. Red Rocks Backstage Expansion and Accessibility Improvements | $35,100,000
9. Bridges over Cherry Creek | $29,375,000
10. Santa Fe Streetscape and Multimodal Safety Improvements | $29,085,000

My favorite is the "Santa Fe Streetscape."

I'm impressed by the number of (not sexy) road/bridge projects.

[DenvertoLA]

Yeah, the City asking us to approve a billion in debt for mostly road improvements during a budget shortfall that is resulting in forced layoffs of county workers... it's a no from me

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by DenvertoLA

Yeah, the City asking us to approve a billion in debt for mostly road improvements during a budget shortfall that is resulting in forced layoffs of county workers... it's a no from me

I'll take the tax decrease if it doesn't pass (and will have the popcorn ready as existing infrastructure continues to crumble because of urban elites who want their bike lanes), but the city does need to cull it's workforce and own up to the decreased competitive environment it's policies have wrought.

50% growth in workforce in a decade with a discernible decrease in the quality of city services isn't sustainable.

[The Dirt]

That's a big fat no for me. You don't go into debt to create more infrastructure debt. Park Hill can get fucked specifically, but what is even the point of redoing 8th.

[RiNo Randy]

Does anyone have an account on BusinessDen?

This article is somewhat intriguing. Not much has been happening with the "refresh" over there since the Clever Girl thing was announced, tbh.

https://businessden.com/2025/08/05/new-f...-out-as-zeppelin-station-lists-for-sale/


Also, Denver City Council voted to eliminate parking minimums last night as well. Curious about your thoughts on that.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

I'll take the tax decrease if it doesn't pass (and will have the popcorn ready as existing infrastructure continues to crumble because of urban elites who want their bike lanes), but the city does need to cull it's workforce and own up to the decreased competitive environment it's policies have wrought.

50% growth in workforce in a decade with a discernible decrease in the quality of city services isn't sustainable.

Another interesting point is that when Biden Bucks, sales tax etc. were flowing the recommended "Rainy Day Fund" of 15% was spent down to 11%.

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Originally Posted by RiNo Randy

Does anyone have an account on BusinessDen?

This article is somewhat intriguing. Not much has been happening with the "refresh" over there since the Clever Girl thing was announced, tbh.

https://businessden.com/2025/08/05/new-f...-out-as-zeppelin-station-lists-for-sale/

I dug up a little more:

The new operator of the long-struggling Zeppelin Station food hall says he has walked away from his lease, a move that could complicate efforts to sell the RiNo building.

This is apparently a tangled legal mess.

Originally Posted by RiNo Randy

Also, Denver City Council voted to eliminate parking minimums last night as well. Curious about your thoughts on that.

It may help a little but I suspect it won't be that impactful. It could help by making it easier to build 'missing middle' housing.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

That's a big fat no for me. You don't go into debt to create more infrastructure debt. Park Hill can get fucked specifically, but what is even the point of redoing 8th.

Issuing debt for infrastructure improvements, not maintenance, is exactly what the city should be spending money on. But I'm with you on the Park Hill funding and will be a hard no on the park fund because Park Hill is a bunch of fuckwads.

As for redoing 8th to drop the viaduct and create access to a new neighborhood (that may or may not benefit a new stadium district as well) is a prudent investment. We spent tens of millions to redo Brighton Blvd and will spend tens of millions to improve vehicular access into RiNo because, surprise, people still drive as does commerce.

[RiNo Randy]

Agreed on the Park Hill comment(s). I lived over there for 10 years. The RNO is dominated by a bunch of NIMBYs. All the rest are apathetic to what has/hasn't been happening. One of the main reasons I moved out of that neighborhood.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by RiNo Randy

Also, Denver City Council voted to eliminate parking minimums last night as well. Curious about your thoughts on that.

I don't have any issues with Denver's parking changes. What always amazes is the never-ending difference between ideology and reality.

From Paolo Zialcita/Denverite

City planers pointed to other major cities in the United States that have abolished parking minimums, like Austin and Minneapolis. They found that those changes led to reduced development costs, more housing units and ....

Austin only recently eliminated their requirements so it's too soon to know anything. But see below.

The 2040 Plan to encourage multiplexes in Minneapolis continues to be a huge disappointment. There is one example of a 23-unit apartment but I didn't care enough to dig deeper.

How much parking is getting built in Austin now that it's not required? One program offers an idea.
September 18, 2024 By Audrey McGlinchy -- KUT News

In 2019, the Austin City Council created Affordability Unlocked. The policy allows developers to forgo parking requirements and other building rules as long as they set aside at least half of the homes they build for low-income people. A KUT analysis of 14 Affordability Unlocked projects finds that developers built, in total, about 25% fewer parking spaces than they would have had to under Austin’s old parking rules.

The findings in Austin mirror those in other cities where builders have not had to comply with minimum parking requirements. According to a study of Buffalo, New York, developers built, on average, 21% fewer parking spaces two years after elected officials stopped requiring parking.

This article is not only well written, it's interesting: They interviewed some of the tenants to get their reaction. In one complex tenants who worked later came home and the only parking was for visitors; they got towed. Interesting way to treat your tenants.

The change in Denver should make some difference over time but this won't be any big game changer.

[TakeFive]

Here's $2.7 million; now go make it happen

Originally Posted by RiNo Randy

I spoke to Jevon Taylor at Green Spaces in RiNo today about their plans on 16th Street. Sounds like they will be occupying a fair amount of space at the intersections of California and Welton. Similar to what they have in RiNo, but different. An art gallery is part of the plans. They hope to have business occupying the spaces around the first of the year.

RiNo entrepreneur to offer ‘taste of Denver’ on 16th with $3M in DDA cash
August 7, 2025 By Matt Geiger -- BusinessDen

Jevon Taylor has 18,000 square feet of retail space along the 16th Street Mall and he's going all-in on local operators, with the help of an expected $2.7 million from Denver's Downtown Development Authority.

According to Downtown Denver Partnership

$2.7M investment in new downtown retail space for Green Spaces Market, which provides affordable retail and business space for local artists, non-profits, and small businesses 

Oh, I get it. At first I thought 'taste of Denver' meant food but perhaps not just food.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

This article is not only well written, it's interesting: They interviewed some of the tenants to get their reaction. In one complex tenants who worked later came home and the only parking was for visitors; they got towed. Interesting way to treat your tenants.

Is a parking spot included with the rent? If not, tough shit. Climb the ladder and secure the means to have a residence with dedicated parking if that's your desire.

Or just keep on bitching and remain where you are.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

RiNo entrepreneur to offer ‘taste of Denver’ on 16th with $3M in DDA cash
August 7, 2025 By Matt Geiger -- BusinessDen

Here's the list of the tenants that will occupy the storefronts on 16th St between California and Welton from the article:

Green Spaces Market at the corner of 16th and Welton in the Sage Building:
- Migas Coffee
- Matter (bookstore)
- Lunar Plus (tech accessory shop)
- Be A Good Person (local clothing brand)
- art gallery and event space in the basement
- 20,000 of co-working space in the upper floors

In the McClintock building,
- Konjo Food
- Puppet Theater (fashion and clothing store)
- dual food and beverage concept that will sell sweets by day and cocktails by night
- Common Collective (thrift and vintage store).
- Fake Cowboys Club (Mexican restaurant)


Jevon Taylor, CEO of Green Spaces is offering the spots at a $15/sf lease rate. That's pretty ridiculous. But this also takes one entire side of 16th Street from having one occupied storefront to being fully occupied. That's a ton of energy being injected into the spot for a relatively small sum that can catalyze additional growth and reinforce the retailers that are already there.

Hopefully the DDA does this again and again to reactivate other areas of downtown. The Pavillions could use an injection as well, but that will be a bit more challenging given the size of those retail spot. My dream would be for B&N to retake their old spot and bring a bookstore back downtown.

[mhays]

It does actually work to let developers decide how much, if any, parking to provide. No this isn't specific to certain cities like mine.

Residents can typically rent assigned spaces. It's not a free-for-all.

One big change will be that small sites will now work for sizeable unit counts. Who cares if the geometry makes more than a few spaces impossible? If it's in a decent transit/walking area, build a bunch of small units with little or no parking.

Another will be making big projects pencil more easily. Sometimes one floor of parking is the difference between penciling and not penciling.

Developers have a strong incentive to get the number of spaces right--obviously. Underdo it and it'll affect leasing and rents.

As more units get built without parking, the local transit/walking culture will grow.

[RiNo Randy]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Is a parking spot included with the rent? If not, tough shit. Climb the ladder and secure the means to have a residence with dedicated parking if that's your desire.

Or just keep on bitching and remain where you are.

When I was looking for an apartment in Union Station/Ballpark/RiNo back in 2016, most complexes were charging an additional $100/month or so for a parking space. Not sure what the scenarios are today, but can't imagine they would walk away from that.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Is a parking spot included with the rent? If not, tough shit. Climb the ladder and secure the means to have a residence with dedicated parking if that's your desire.

Or just keep on bitching and remain where you are.

Sheash; It's not even Christmas yet and you're already a Grinch.

It appears to be an heavily Hispanic complex. I can vouch that they are a hardworking group of nice people.

For The Record

Five tenants interviewed in the parking lot of Vi Collina, an apartment complex off East Oltoft Street in South Austin, said they sometimes feel there isn't enough parking. The development has 192 spaces for 170 apartments, about 40% fewer spots than would have been required under Austin’s old rules.

On a steamy weekday afternoon, Steve Escamilla carried out a trash bag from the apartment he shares with his mom. “I’ve never really struggled to find parking, at least for my building,” he said. “But then sometimes it’s packed randomly.”

Another tenant, Alyceson Ramirez, was headed to her job as a server at Texas Roadhouse. She said when many of her neighbors come home from their jobs around 8 p.m., the parking set aside for tenants fills up quickly. Some park in spots set aside for visitors. “Then people are being towed that actually live here,” she said.

There is a bus stop directly across the street from the complex. But in a city with limited public transit, Ramirez planned to get to work by car.

BTW, just try to visit your son/daughter/friends for one of these new fangled fewer parking spaces projects.

I guess we'll need to use Rideshare just to visit our kids/grandchildren etc; that would work. It would be nice if they had a valet area for pickup and dropoff.

Originally Posted by RiNo Randy

When I was looking for an apartment in Union Station/Ballpark/RiNo back in 2016, most complexes were charging an additional $100/month or so for a parking space. Not sure what the scenarios are today, but can't imagine they would walk away from that.

That's impressive. That was also back when DUS was brand new/still building out. I wonder with the crime/vagrancy that developed in the area how that has impacted those projects? Haha, maybe parking even more valuable.

Originally Posted by mhays

It does actually work to let developers decide how much, if any, parking to provide. No this isn't specific to certain cities like mine.

We're not talking about downtown Denver. They did away with parking requirements years ago.

The 36 unit used as an example to the City Council is in Five Points. Although just outside of downtown it was completed in 2023 with no parking due to proximity to transit.

I'm not sure what/where new projects will take advantage of this in the near-to-downtown area but I'm sure there will be a few. I see the more likely prospects to be 'missing middle' units.

The more likely beneficiaries of this change would come from the still developing vacant land out near the airport.

[mhays]

The typical locations for reduced ratios would be anywhere with good transit -- rail stations, places with frequent bus service, etc. That doesn't require a downtown location. Also the ratios tend to go thinner with smaller units.

You're treating this like a theoretical question. I'm explaining how it actually works in other cities.

And most spaces are assigned, not free-for-all.

This is like when people debated whether baseballs would fly farther in Denver before the Rockies showed up. It wasn't a question, no matter the morons who claimed that "thinner air would mean the balls would fall down sooner."

[TakeFive]

I have been keeping my eye out, looking for a few 'green shoots'



I found a couple of them:

Snowflake

According to BusinessDen tech firm Snowflake, a cloud data storage company, is doubling their space at 1700 Broadway by adding another 20K SF.

I'm wondering if they will be helping with their new AI research? They also recently subleased a huge space over 700K SF in Menlo Park as well as subleased a large Meta space in Belleview WA.

Note: There have been rumors that the tech scene has been consolidating primarily in the Bay Area, Seattle and NYC. Not sure this is really new or how accurate but the space Snowflake has in Denver pales in comparison to their other recent expansion. Still I like their presence in Denver.

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Raven Space Systems Selects Broomfield for New Headquarters
August 5, 2025 -- Mile High CRE

Raven Space Systems, a 3D printing company that specializes in aerospace-grade composites, has selected 830 Hoyt St., Suite 100, in Broomfield, for its headquarters and manufacturing facility. Raven’s expansion brings groundbreaking innovation in next-generation spacecraft and advanced space infrastructure to Colorado’s thriving aerospace sector...

In Colorado, Raven joins a thriving aerospace ecosystem, home to more than 2,000 aerospace companies and growing. Raven’s patented Microwave Assisted Deposition (MAD) 3D printing technology minimizes labor, tooling, and waste to rapidly manufacture aerospace-grade thermoset and ceramic composites by curing materials immediately after deposition. Applications include hypersonics, propulsion systems, reentry vehicles, satellites, aircraft, missiles, and rockets, among others.

3D printing technology seems to be maturing?

[mhays]

Riiiight. You claim familiarity but act like everything is new to you.

[wong21fr]

Denver has released the draft Downtown Denver Area Plan for public comment. The city is looking at ways to make the CBD a complete neighborhood with increased residential to offset the decline in office employment and to make it a more attractive place to visit. One interwoven thread is to increase the tax base which is an explicit recognition by the city that downtown tax revenue collection is down and it's negatively impacting the city as a whole as evidenced by the right-sizing that's occurring now to address the massive structural deficit that has finally materialized.

From the Denverite.

Here’s what’s in Denver’s plan for the next 20 years of downtown

Roads and transportation:

Speer Boulevard could be reworked, with a focus on the intersection with Colfax Avenue
Broadway could become a two-way street, with more room for trees, bicycles and transit to connect downtown and the Golden Triangle.
Welton Street could be converted into a two-way corridor connecting La Alma/Lincoln Park to Five Points.
21st Street, 22nd Street and Park Avenue could be turned into two-way streets with bike infrastructure, connecting downtown from Highland through North Capitol Hill.
21st Street could become a greenway and a “shared festival street” along the 5280 Trail.
Curtis Street could be revamped with a focus on pedestrians.

Parks and public space:

Parks could be built throughout downtown, including at 16th and Welton streets and along Broadway.
Civic Center could see a refresh of the Greek Amphitheater and Bannock Street would be integrated into the park. (The Downtown Development Authority has already authorized $30 million for Civic Center upgrades.)
Civic Center Station could be revamped with ground-floor retail, new homes and public space.
The city could build a new Cherry Creek park between Larimer and Blake streets, and create an urban waterfront along Cherry Creek between Blake Street and Confluence Park
The city could complete the Acoma section of the 5280 Trail, a loop around downtown.