Denver office buildings shows possibilities

Denver hopes converting office buildings to apartments is the key to revitalizing downtown.

Although some employees have returned to the office since the pandemic spurred the switch to working from home, the Downtown Denver Partnership said employee counts downtown were only 60% of 2019.

Although fewer workers are commuting, vehicle traffic is 2% below 2019. But much of that happens on nights and weekends, the latest traffic analysis from INRIX shows.

If people are willing to come downtown to eat and play, providing more options for them to live there makes sense.

So, Denver spent $75,000 in federal money to hire Gensler to score 29 downtown office buildings on whether they’d be likely candidates to convert to apartments.The Gensler study shows 16 buildings are prime conversion candidates while 13 have potential.

Source: Study of 70 downtown Denver office buildings shows possibilities