Downtown Denver Ready for a Boom?

The Denver downtown area looks as if it is poised for a significant period of growth over the next several years. Downtown Denver real estate has seen several booms in the past. The last occurred in the early to mid 1980’s when the oil shortage of the 70’s stimulated oil companies to create a significant demand for office space in Downtown Denver. In addition to the oil boom, the city had growth tied to a strong national economy and a healthy technology sector. At that time, whenever we looked at the Downtown skyline, there was another building going up with cranes towering against the sky. The oil boom ended, the economy slowed, and technology suffered a decline. The demand for office space dropped quickly; vacancies increased.

Now the downtown area is seeing office space with low vacancy rates, the new downtown convention center has been completed, and job growth in Denver in 2005 and 2006 is creating a need for more office space.

With the demand for more office space and the new convention center, hotels are being attracted to the area.

Condos and Lofts are being built in the LoDo area and Golden Triangle, with more in the plans. Apartment/Condominium conversions are taking place on the periphery of the downtown, including Capitol Hill.

Developers are eyeing the declining and worn out retail space in the Downtown area along the 16th Street Mall and looking at plans on what can be done. The new residents in the area are asking for a large supermarket and more retail shopping.

ColoradoBiz magazine lists new hotel development and plans that includes the Hilton Garden Inn, Residence Inn, Four Seasons Hotel, Embassy Suites Hotel, Homewood Suites Hotel, a Best Western Hotel, and a proposed Denver Athletic Club Hotel. ColoradoBiz reports, “’It’s amazing, it is historic,’ says “Dr. Colorado,” aka historian Tom Noel. But… ‘It’s comparable to what we have every 30 years, and of course Denver is a boom-and-bust city,’ Noel added.”

What do you think?