DENVER — Denver City Council approved a new 20-year plan that lays out both short-term and long-term action steps targeting some of the city’s biggest challenges, including what to do with massive office vacancies. This Downtown Denver Area Plan is the city's first update since 2007.
City planners said one of the biggest issues downtown is how many office buildings are still empty after the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now, city leaders say 11 to 12 million square feet of downtown office space is sitting empty, with a vacancy rate around 28%.
They say filling ground-floor businesses and bringing more people to live downtown could help turn the business district into a full, vibrant neighborhood, not just a place to work.
“Our hope is that we can reduce office vacancy by about seven million square feet. one way is adapting and reusing those buildings into mixed-use or housing,” David Gaspers, special projects supervisor for Denver’s Community Planning and Development, said.
City planners said council’s approval now kicks off implementation, with some changes happening soon and others taking years. Addressing the vacancies is just one part of the 20-year plan.
To see the full Downtown Denver Plan click here.
To see the current state of how downtown Denver is doing right now, click here.
