DOWNTOWN DENVER ECONOMIC UPDATE
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
FEBRUARY 2015
News & Rankings
Residential development in Downtown and its City Center neighborhoods continues at a brisk pace with 1,669 residential units created in 2014. Recently completed projects include 16M, AMLI at Riverfront Park, Verve, and Broadstone Blake Street. Skyhouse Denver, one of the tallest planned rental towers in Downtown’s history, recently broke ground and will add 354 new apartments to the Central Business District when the 26-story project is completed in the summer of 2016. Another new 34-story rental tower, The Confluence, recently commenced construction in the Central Platte Valley neighborhood and will add 288 new units when it is completed in 2017. On the for-sale front, there are 189 townhomes currently under construction or planned throughout the Downtown neighborhoods. For more information about development in Downtown Denver, refer to the Quarterly Development Map Updates at www.downtowndenver. com/resources-downloads.
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White Lodging announced plans for an 18-story, dual-brand hotel tower on 15th and California Streets. The two new hotels, an AC Hotel by Marriott and a Le Méridien, will open in 2017.
•
Construction began on Skyhouse Denver, a 26-story luxury apartment building at Broadway and East 18th Avenue. The 354-unit apartment building will be completed in 2016.
•
WorldRemit, a London-based financial services firm, chose to locate their North American headquarters in Downtown Denver.
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1401 17th Street, an office tower in LoDo, was acquired by Chicago-based Zeller Realty Group for $75 million. Other recent office building sales include 700 Broadway, purchased by CBRE Global Investors, and 1901 Broadway, purchased by Velocis.
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS PLANNED OR UNDERWAY AS OF FEBRUARY 2015 City Center Neighborhood
For-Sale Units
Rental Units
Number of Projects
Auraria
-
-
-
Ballpark
-
315
2
Capitol Hill
8
423
5
Central Business District
-
776
3
CPV/Denver Union Station
-
2,763
10
Curtis Park/Five Points
73
369
7
Golden Triangle
17
938
5
Highland
36
431
6
Jefferson Park
55
332
3
La Alma/Lincoln Park
-
745
2
Lower Downtown
-
-
-
Uptown
-
372
1
189
7,464
44
Total
•
•
•
•
Sources: Downtown Denver Partnership, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, Denver Business Journal, Denver Post.
A report by Coldwell Banker concluded that Denver is the best commercial real estate market in the U.S. The annual report examines vacancy and rental rates for office, retail and multifamily markets as well as population and unemployment. Travel and lifestyle website, Matador Network, named Denver the 7th best place for coffee lovers in the world. NerdWallet found Denver is the 5th best place for job seekers in 2015. The report analyzed job availability, workforce growth and affordability. Real estate blog, movoto.com found Denver to be the 6th most creative city in the U.S. The ranking was based on the level of arts employment as well as the number of art galleries, art supply stores and bookstores in each city.
DOWNTOWN DENVER ECONOMIC UPDATE FEBRUARY 2015 EMPLOYMENT
About This Report
first and smallest area, the Business Improvement District (BID), is the core of Downtown Denver, The second area, “Downtown,” includes the BID as well as a few surrounding districts such as the Golden Triangle. The third area, City Center Neighborhoods, includes the BID, Downtown, and surrounding residential neighborhoods such as Uptown and Highland. Data in this report was provided by Development Research Partners. For questions or comments, please contact the Downtown Denver Partnership Research Department at 303-534-6161.
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE
OFFICE MARKET
HOTEL MARKET
This report contains the most recent economic indicators available for Downtown Denver and the Business Improvement District. According to the most recent indicators, Downtown Denver economic conditions continue to improve. Employment growth is strong, consumers are spending at a healthy pace, and the downtown commercial real estate markets reported rising average lease rates and declining vacancy.
Summary
EMPLOYMENT Employment levels rose in both Downtown Denver and the Business Improvement District (BID) between the second quarters of 2013 and 2014, with employment levels rising 3.1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. The natural resources and construction supersector continued to report the strongest growth, generating an additional 1,700 jobs over-the-year in Downtown Denver.
2Q 2014
+3.1%
Metro Denver
+3.7%
Colorado
+3.4%
United States
+2.0%
BID
DOWNTOWN DENVER Industry
Share
Professional & Business Services
31%
35,625
36,972
3.8%
31,623
32,103
1.5%
Government
19%
23,430
23,053
-1.6%
20,999
20,718
-1.3%
Leisure & Hospitality
16%
18,870
19,523
3.5%
12,782
13,099
2.5%
Financial Activities
12%
14,435
14,658
1.5%
11,491
11,284
-1.8%
Natural Resources & Construction
9%
8,931
10,619
18.9%
8,654
9,793
13.2%
Information
3%
4,243
4,224
-0.4%
3,563
3,513
-1.4%
Wholesale & Retail Trade
3%
3,935
3,968
0.9%
2,951
2,943
-0.3%
Other Services
2%
2,743
2,732
-0.4%
2,236
2,346
4.9%
Education & Health Services
2%
2,687
2,705
0.7%
1,581
1,557
-1.5%
Transp., Warehousing & Utilities
1%
1,449
1,513
4.4%
1,351
1,393
3.2%
Manufacturing
1%
859
903
5.1%
113
121
7.7%
117,206
120,871 3.1%
97,343
98,872
1.6%
Total
2Q13
2Q14
Change
2Q13
2Q14
Change
121,000
Employment Trends Downtown Denver
This report includes the most recent quarterly data available and covers economic conditions in three areas. The
RETAIL SALES
119,000
DOWNTOWN DENVER HISTORICAL EMPLOYMENT
117,000 115,000 113,000 111,000 109,000
2Q10
4Q10
2Q11
4Q11
2Q12
4Q12
2Q13
4Q13
2Q14
Sources: Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Labor Market Information, Current Employment Statistics; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Development Research Partners; Downtown Denver Partnership.