DENVER — Officials with the City of Denver on Wednesday announced a plan to invest more than $100 million into 10 different projects aimed at bringing people back to downtown.
The projects are part of the Downtown Development Authority's Plan of Development, which was adopted back in 2024. The millions of dollars are coming from a $570 million fund aimed at improving downtown "without raising taxes or impacting the city's budget," according to the city.
"The most important thing is that all of these investment dollars come through the extension of a tax increment finance that was put in place in 2008 for Union Station. Voters last year voted to extend that mechanism for the next 15 years without increasing taxes," said Mayor Mike Johnston on Wednesday. "These are not general fund dollars. These are not city dollars. These are not city capital dollars.
"These are dollars that are owned and cared for by the Downtown Development Authority, and they only have the legal approval to spend those dollars in this footprint that's controlled by statute, so it's dollars that come from the taxes that are generated by the commercial activity that was built at Union Station. The idea was, if you believe that you can build development that will drive new growth, then you can keep some of the growth from those new entities to support future growth."
- Watch the full announcement below
In April, the Downtown Development Authority board approved the "first step" in transforming downtown: the safety plan that brought more police presence to 16th Street. The new round of investments is aimed at supporting businesses, creating more housing options, increasing redevelopment, and improving public spaces.
Below is a rundown of the 10 projects and how much money they're projected to receive from the fund.
One of the first investments will be to bring small businesses to downtown. Approximately $2.7 million will be invested in new retail spaces for Green Spaces Market, which serves as a hub for local artists and small businesses.
"One building is on 16th Street and California, right by the light rail station, and the other building is on 16th Street and Welton," said Jevon Taylor, the owner of Green Spaces Market. "The McLintock building on California is essentially gonna be a mix of restaurants, retail, clothing stores, and other really cool concepts."
According to officials, $400,000 will go toward renovating a space for the Denver Immersive Repertory Theatre, while $640,000 will allow Milk Tea People to relocate to a more "visible" space along 16th Street. Another $750,000 will help expand Sundae Artisan Ice Cream on Glenarm, according to the city.
When it comes to housing, the city plans to use more than $31 million to convert two historic buildings on 16th Street from office space to residential buildings. About $17 million will go toward converting the Symes Building, which will hold 116 units of housing and retail space, and $14.5 million will go toward converting the University Building, which will hold 120 units of mixed-income housing.
The city hopes that Denverites making between $29,450 and $72,950 a year, or 30 to 80 percent of the area median income, will be able to live in these buildings.
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Twenty-three million dollars will be allocated to purchasing two parking lots near the Denver Pavilions on 15th Street and redeveloping the spaces. The remaining $42 million is expected to go toward public spaces throughout Denver.
- $5 million has been allocated for Skyline Park to enhance accessibility, lighting, safety features, and other amenities.
- $7 million will be used to make changes to the McNichols building, like renovating the ground floor, creating outdoor dining spaces, and bringing an arts marketplace.
- The final $30 million will be used to "activate" Civic Center Park by adding new infrastructure, lighting, garden walkways, and more.
"Denver is open for business," said Doug Tisdale, the Downtown Development Authority's board chair. "It's open for recreation, it's open for entertainment, it's open for culture, it's open for living."
Denver City Council President Amanda Sandoval said the overall vision is to transform downtown Denver from being one with a "commercial core" to "a place where people live, gather, celebrate culture, and build community."
For longtime downtown Denver residents like Lisa Pope, it's an announcement that brings excitement.
"We moved from California," she said. "We wanted to find a city that had a lot going on. We moved here, thinking we'd move right downtown to see what it's like, and it's fantastic. It's so much fun to live downtown."
Pope told Denver7 she feels there was a transition period during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 summer protests, and homelessness issues for the downtown area.
"It was a little eerie when COVID hit because everything shut down here. There weren't any people, any cars on the streets," Pope said. "We went through protests, and things got boarded up. That was scary and sad."
Now, Pope feels like downtown Denver is on the other side of that.
"We're trying to revitalize, activate," she said. "I think the one thing people forget is we're formally known as the Central Business District, but we're downtown. We need more green spaces. We need retail shopping. We need more restaurants, bars, and activities."
"I think this first announcement of 10 projects, $100 million, they've kind of hit all that," Pope added.
Pope told Denver7 she's hopeful the investments in downtown will help transform the area more.
