Downtown Denver's office vacancy rate grows to 38.2%

Office-to-Residential Conversions

• Many commenters suggest converting vacant offices to housing, but others stress it’s usually technically and financially difficult.
• Challenges cited: plumbing capacity (more bathrooms, kitchens, laundry), re‑wiring, HVAC and fire code upgrades, ventilation for stoves/ovens, and structural issues when drilling new cores.
• Modern office floorplates are often too deep for adequate natural light in units; older buildings and warehouses are seen as more convertible.
• Several note that full demolition and rebuilding as residential can be cheaper and yield more desirable housing than retrofits. Some cities (NYC, Boston, Portland) are mentioned as exploring or rejecting conversions depending on economics and regulation.
• A minority argue code can be relaxed or ignored for “black market” live‑work spaces to increase housing, countered by others pointing to tragedies and the life‑saving rationale of building codes.

Urban Design, Zoning, and Family Housing

• Denver is criticized as a “single‑use” city focused on downtown commuting, with RTD oriented around bringing workers in rather than supporting mixed-use neighborhoods.
• Several compare US cities unfavorably to European examples (e.g., Berlin) with integrated parks, bike paths, and nearby services, arguing Denver is a concrete jungle hostile to families.
• Debate over how much space families “need”: many say 1,000 sq ft 3‑bed units are adequate if schools, parks, and amenities are close; others note Americans expect far larger homes.
• Strong disagreement over single-family zoning: some want SFH zoning eliminated in favor of dense, mixed-use areas; others defend SFH neighborhoods as a legitimate preference.

Homelessness and Downtown Experience

• Downtown Denver is described as unappealing, especially 16th Street, due to visible homelessness and some threatening encounters.
• Proposed solutions range from housing-first and mental health services to more policing; some insist homelessness is largely a societal policy choice, others emphasize addiction and property destruction.
• There is frustration that current approaches (police sweeps, displacement) are costly and ineffective.

Politics of Land Use in Denver

• A contentious episode: a former golf course protected from redevelopment and turned into a park instead of mixed housing plus “free” park space.
• Critics see this as left-wing opposition to housing that now costs the city tens of millions; defenders stress it was conserved land and argue other housing sites exist.
• Some generalize that US left-leaning groups often oppose dense housing while supporting parks.

Economics of Vacancy, Housing, and Offices

• Commenters note that despite high office vacancy, rents haven’t fallen proportionally, complicating “just build more” narratives but not disproving that more housing moderates rent growth.
• Several say the rational outcome is “creative destruction”: write down or demolish obsolete Class C offices and replace them with residential where profitable.
• Others question how landlords can afford to keep properties vacant; suggested explanations include long-term bets on higher rents and, in some cities, the need for vacancy/underutilization taxes.
• Some argue Denver’s core is simply unattractive (few good amenities, safety concerns), making both office demand and downtown living less appealing despite oversupply.

Climate and Remote Work

• A strand of the discussion links high vacancy to remote work and criticizes companies that mandate office returns while claiming climate commitments.
• One view: the “greenest commute” is no commute, and tax policy could recognize emissions reductions from remote work.
• Others counter that large-scale demolition and rebuilding also carries significant embodied carbon costs, so climate impacts of redevelopment are not straightforward.