Part Four
Wait... what happened to Part Three?
Not sure; I looked around, couldn't find it.
I want to focus on the period between 2010 and 2015 - (so try to focus like a razor beam on this period)
I clearly remember
BG918 (hope things are well in Tulsa) being one of our 'caution flags' thinking Denver may be getting overbuilt, that a Recession may not be far off.
The Apartment Experts
Ah yes, these guys were (often) sure Denver would soon be waay overbuilt and vacancies would go through the roof. Problem was, they relied too much on historical data of new units, vacancy etc. To be fair population (and other) data lags by a year or so.
The Tech World View
In the 1st half of the 2010's it was Austin that sucked all the tech oxygen out of the air. More mundane tech companies looking to escape CA often ended up in Dallas due to generous incentives.
Yes, Colorado/Denver has always had a solid tech presence but those companies mostly landed in the suburbs. It was only in the 2nd half of the last decade that tech discovered downtown Denver.
The World of Developers
Take look at this list. While it doesn't change a lot from year to year I did intentionally picked out 2015.
The Lennar Multifamily Story (abbreviated)
Like many new-to-Denver builders LMC started in the suburbs. They built in Green Valley Ranch before they came downtown. They started with a modest project along Blake Street before building a nice-sized project in Uptown, then moving into Arapahoe Square before falling in love with the Golden Triangle. While LMC may be a star in Denver, it's also a typical 'cautious' approach to building in Denver.
Most of the developers on the Top 50 list have at least some presence in Denver. Some have been busy builders like Holland Partners, Mill Creek, Trammel Crow Res and more recently Greystar. Others have dabbled.
Carmel who's CEO grew up in Denver has only become more prominent in recent years. AMLI who's long had a local office only revved up more recently in the City although they've built in Denver over a long time.
The development of Brighton Blvd corridor was real slow early on; now it's On Fire. It just takes time to build momentum typically.
It is pretty impressive the number of National developers that have built in Denver. Still, it all just does take time.
Footnote: Just a reminder that all the population data being discussed is STATE data although presumably Denver metro comprises a majority of it.