Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2018
Table of Contents
01 Key Facts
02 Year in Review
05 Rankings 12 Mobility
06 Development 14 Residents
20 Tourism
22 Benchmarking
downtowndenver.com
Highlights
2018 State of Downtown Denver
79 average hotel
occupancy in Downtown
%
45,000 college
students in Downtown
4,525 residential
units in the
Denver Denver pipeline
1
Record-Setting Year
The rise of Downtown Denver continued throughout 2017 and the first half of 2018, establishing record highs
for employment, residents, hotel occupancy, and tech startup formation. City builders throughout Denver have
supported investments that are providing an extraordinary return—investments in strategic planning, transit,
arts and culture, technology, infrastructure, parks and recreation, conventions and visitors have all created an
environment that has propelled our economically powerful center city forward.
2
> 2007 Downtown Area Plan
Mid-Point Reflection
The 2007 Downtown Area Plan set forth a 20-year vision to make Downtown Denver one of the most livable places in the
world. Ten years into the plan, the next generation of downtown leaders are marking its mid-point with a determination to
keep the plan relevant with focused energy for the next ten years. To achieve a vibrant, economically healthy, growing and
vital downtown, Denver is showing a sustained effort in each of the plan vision elements, Prosperous, Walkable, Diverse,
Distinctive, and Green. This continued effort reflects downtown’s commitment to planning
with a purpose, building our center city, and making meaningful impact.
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4
Photo Credit: Keri Geha
Rankings
1 1
Highest increase in Top metro for small
skilled labor business employment
- JLL, 2018 - Paychex, 2018
1. Denver, CO 1. Denver, CO
2. Washington, D.C. 2. Seattle, WA
3. Philadelphia, PA 3. Houston, TX
4. Boston, MA 4. Dallas, TX
5. Portland, OR 5. Riverside, CA
3 3
Third best place to Third fastest growing
live in the U.S. large city
- US News and World Report, 2018 - WalletHub, 2018
1. Austin, TX 1. Austin, TX
2. Colorado Springs, CO 2. Charlotte, NC
3. Denver, CO 3. Denver, CO
4. Des Moines, IA 4. Seattle, WA
5. Fayetteville, AR 5. Nashville, TN
4 4
Fourth best place for Fourth best city for
business and careers working women
- Forbes, 2017 - MagnifyMoney, 2018
4 5
Fourth most exciting food Fifth best economy
city in America among large US cities
- Zagat, 2018 - Business Insider, 2018
+ In 2017 and early 2018, 17 projects were completed in Downtown Denver, totaling $1,352,880,000 in
investment and adding 1,711 residential units, 1,141 hotel rooms, and 1.1 million square feet of office.
+ As of mid-2018, there are 27 projects under construction and 8 planned for development in Downtown
Denver, totaling $2,260,160,000 of investment and adding 4,525 residential units, 772 hotel rooms, and
2.7 million square feet of office to Downtown Denver.
+ The largest office project completed in the past year was Hines’ 1144 Fifteenth Street, a 40-story, 670,000
square foot, spec office tower that was nearly fully leased at opening in spring 2018.
+ The largest residential project completed in the past year was Holland Partner Group’s Union, adding 579
apartments adjacent to Denver Union Station and anchored by a flagship Whole Foods Market.
+ The largest hotel project completed in the past year was White Lodging’s Le Meridien/AC Hotel, featuring
495 new hotel rooms, 12,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and an outdoor rooftop bar.
.5
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42
80
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$1
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$2
$9
“
Denver continues to see strong
demand from capital investors
nationally and now globally. We see
this demand continuing and look
forward to Denver’s continued rise as
a destination for investment capital.
52
projects completed in
2017 & 2018, under
construction, or
planned
Downtown Denver
Downtown Denver Office
Office Market
Market Trends
Trends Total DowntownEmployment
Total Downtown Employment
Direct Vacancy Rates Direct Average Lease Rates (Per Square Foot) 135K
8
“ Denver is geographically central to our business and will be a great location
for our new headquarters and employees, offering a high quality of life,
affordability, and access to premium cultural and recreational activities.
74% 10,000
8,000
6,000
Increase in tech
employment in Downtown 4,000
Denver since 2010
2,000
10,000+
People are employed by high tech
63%
Growth in tech
companies from
companies in Downtown Denver 2010 to 2017
Tech employment represents
8% of total downtown
employment
{
209 46 50 56 70 94 101
626 tech
2017 businesses in
Downtown Denver
Years in
7+ 6 5 4 3 2 1 in 2017
{
business 384 tech
2010 businesses in
Downtown Denver
in 2010
147 27 25 43 38 47 57
9
Definition of "technology sector" follows NAICS codes for businesses in the high tech sector as defined by the
Colorado Technology Association. Data from the Quarterly Census on Workforce and Wages.
+ A downtown office location provides access to Metro Denver’s exceptional and growing labor force of
over 1.6 million, 44% of whom have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
+ Metro Denver’s unemployment rate stands at 2.7%, one of the lowest in the country. Strong
population growth balances a tight labor market. According to the 2017 Census population estimates,
the City of Denver grew by 10,000 residents last year and Metro Denver grew by 36,000 residents.
+ Over 45,000 students attend public, not-for-profit institutions of higher education in Downtown
Denver, with an additional 10,000 attending various trade and private institutions that have classroom
space downtown.
+ The Auraria Higher Education Center is a unique higher-education community located in Downtown
Denver. The 150-acre campus is home to three distinct academic institutions: University of Colorado
Denver (19,401 students), Metropolitan State University of Denver (15,008 students), and the
Community College of Denver (9,013 students).
+ Downtown is home to many of the region’s leading coding schools and bootcamps including Galvanize,
General Assembly, SecureSet, Skill Distillery, and Turing School of Software and Design.
– Amy Zupon
CEO, Vertafore
10
“ Denver has proven
to be an incredibly
dynamic hub for
talent.
– David Collier
VP of Sales, Thanx
150K+
44%
68%
percentage of Downtown percentage of Metro Denver students enrolled at
Denver population with population with bachelor’s Metro Denver colleges
bachelor's degree or higher degree or higher and universities
11
+ Downtown Denver has 9 rail lines, 19.4 miles of bike lanes and trails, 60 RTD bus routes including RTD
Free MallRide and Free MetroRide, an extensive bike sharing network, and 4 carshare companies with 21
dedicated parking spaces.
+ Almost 60% of the Downtown Denver workforce uses transit, bikes, walks or shares the ride for its
commute to work. The greatest increase in commuter mode share over the past five years is among
bicycle use, which has almost doubled.
+ Transportation infrastructure continues to expand in Downtown Denver. Over the past year, Civic Center
Station reopened after a $31 million renovation; portions of 19th and 20th Avenues and Grant and
Logan Streets were converted to two-way complete streets with bicycle facilities; and the 14th Street
bike lane was upgraded to a parking protected facility from Market Street to Court Place.
Transit Drive Alone Bike Walk Carpool Telework Motorbike Lyft/Taxi/Uber Vanpool
39.3% 39.0% 8.3% 5.4% 4.0% 2.2% 0.9% 0.9% 0.1%
– Heather Larrabee
12 Executive Director of Marketing,
Photo Credit: RTD
Whole Foods Market
> Mobility Options in
Downtown Denver
Denver
International
Airport
Downtown 20
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13
+ 80,271 people live in the center city boundary and 22,801 live in the Downtown Denver boundary.
+ The City of Denver has experienced rapid growth in recent years, adding over 100,000 residents since
2010. While annual population growth has slowed slightly from its peak in 2015, the city continues to
add close to 30 people each day.
+ 4,525 residential units are under construction or planned for development in Downtown Denver.
+ The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Downtown Denver is $1,734 and the average rent for
a one-bedroom apartment in the center city is $1,462.
+ The average price of the 537 homes sold in Downtown Denver in 2017 was $583,000, and homes
sold for an average of $458/sf. In the center city neighborhoods, 1,535 homes sold in 2017 for an
average sales price of $495,000 at an average of $411/sf.
+ The recent wave of apartment construction in Downtown Denver has brought the ratio of jobs to
apartment units to a healthy 5.9 jobs per unit. According to a CBRE study, that ratio remains higher
than many other peer markets, showing additional potential demand for apartment homes.
DowntownDenver
Downtown Denver 199%
Residential Growth
population
Residential Growth growth
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
Center
CenterCity
City 43%
Residential
ResidentialGrowth
Growth population
growth
90k
80k
70k
60k
50k
40k
30k
20k
10k
Educational Attainment
42% 39% bachelor’s degree
or higher:
2% 2% bachelor’s degree
68%
18% 16%
doctorate
degree master’s degree
6% 4%
professional
61%
school degree
*34.3 *33.8
years years
WHITE
HISPANIC
BLACK
ASIAN
OTHER
WHITE
HISPANIC
BLACK
ASIAN
OTHER
*median age
47,849
$120,099
13% 10% 2% 3%
Family Family
(Married, No Child) (Other, No Children)
+ Downtown Denver has over 4,000,000 square feet of retail space with a 3.3% vacancy rate (down
31% year-over-year) and a direct average lease rate of $24.90 (up 5% year-over-year).
+ Retail sales tax collections in Downtown Denver have increased over 60% since 2010. Retail sales
in Downtown Denver are increasing at a faster rate than retail sales in the City and County of
Denver overall.
+ Over two-thirds of Downtown Denver residents fit the “Metro Renters” Tapestry Segment. This
demographic group is characterized by educated young-professionals who tend to rent vs. own,
have higher than average incomes, prefer travelling without a car, and tend to live alone or with
a roommate. The second most common segment is “Laptops and Lattes,” who represent 20% of
downtown residents. This segment has very high labor force participation rates, high salaries, and
are health-conscious, environmentally-conscious, and image-conscious consumers.
$40M 5%
information +
$30M distributors
$20M 7%
clothing +
$10M accessory stores
43% 24%
’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 restaurants hotel + other
accommodation services
16
“ Target is thrilled to bring our first small-format store to Colorado and be
part of a thriving community in Downtown Denver.
17
+ Downtown Denver has 152 acres of parks and open spaces, including Commons Park (20 acres),
Civic Center Park (12.5 acres), and Skyline Park (3.2 acres).
+ Shoemaker Plaza renovations were completed in 2017 and now offer greater and safer access to the
Platte River with wider pedestrian and bike access.
+ Since 2014, the urban tree canopy has grown by over 18% in the Downtown Denver Business
Improvement District. Due to a 2012 streetscaping project that increased the available soil volume
for each tree, the tree canopy increased by 54% on 14th Street.
“ Denver is an outdoor city where our parks and public spaces are exceptional places that
are a daily part of our urban lifestyle. The Outdoor Downtown master plan, completed
in 2017, builds on our outdoor spirit and outlines key implementation strategies to
realize the full potential of our great parks and public spaces.
5280 Loop -
A New Public Space
The Downtown Denver Partnership is nearing
completion of the conceptual design for the 5280
Loop, a new and distinctly Denver amenity that
will connect many vibrant and diverse center city
neighborhoods through the great urban outdoors,
creating a powerful sense of place. The 5.280-mile
trail will transform underutilized streets to better
link neighborhoods and connect people. Based on
input from over a thousand downtown stakeholders,
the 5280 Loop design repurposes our shared public
spaces to create new green space and an intuitive
and a safe route for the center city’s rapidly growing
population of residents, employees and visitors to
use active modes of transportation while engaging
18 in downtown’s unique neighborhoods, cultural
landmarks, civic facilities and more.
>
19
of $110 million.
> Downtown Denver
Hotel Scene
38 hotels and
10,300 hotel rooms
Over 500,000 sf
of hotel meeting
space
$186 average
daily room rate
79% hotel
occupancy
Peer-to-Peer Review
Each year the State of Downtown Denver provides the development community a comprehensive,
year-over-year analysis of the economic performance of Downtown Denver. This year, we are adding a
benchmarking analysis, showing how Denver compares with 14 other peer and aspirational markets.
This exercise is intended to help provide context to the growth and development of the area. Compared
to our past, Denver has experienced extraordinary growth; compared to our peers, we see opportunities
to get even better.
Guided by the 2007 Downtown Area Plan, we are a fast-moving, forward thinking, non-profit
business organization with the foundational belief that every day is our chance to make the city a
better place. Together with our more than 700 Member organizations, we are the leading voice for
private sector businesses in the center city.
Visit downtowndenver.com today to become a member and to join us in building our city.