It’s been six months since our last tabulation of the multifamily residential projects under development in Downtown Denver, so it’s time for an update!
As before, I am limiting the projects included in this update to those that are new construction multifamily residential (rental or for-sale) of ten units or more since January 2012 and located within a 1.5-mile radius of a geographic central point in Downtown Denver (17th and Arapahoe).
Here’s the September 2013 map. Click/zoom on the image below to view it in a new browser window, or click here to download a high-resolution PDF version.
The accompanying table (click to view at full size):
What’s changed since our March 2013 update?
Four projects totaling just over 100 units have moved from the Under Construction to the Completed category.
Four projects totaling about 600 units have moved from the Proposed to the Under Construction column. The two most prominent of these are the 312-unit 20th & Chestnut project (which includes the full-service King Soopers grocery) and the 187-unit 2100 Delgany development. Additionally, the number of units under construction for the Denver Housing Authority’s multi-phase Mariposa project in La Alma/Lincoln Park increased by over 150. Together, these changes resulted in the total number of units in the Under Construction column increasing by about 700 since our March 2013 update.
The number of units in the Proposed category grew by nearly 200, with the roughly 600 units moving from Proposed to Under Construction offset by almost 800 units being added to the Proposed column. The three biggest new projects added to the Proposed list include a 400-unit project at 3500 Rockmont Drive (former Mail-Well Envelope site next to City of Cuernavaca Park), the 74-unit Colfax Marketplace development, and the 34-story Confluence project. We haven’t featured anything yet on a few of these projects in the Proposed column, but blog posts on them are in the works.
In summary, it appears we have probably hit a peak, for now, in the Under Construction column, with about 5,000 units currently being built within the Downtown Denver area. It is likely that the number of units that will be finished during the next six months—moving from Under Construction to Completed—will probably exceed the number of new units added to the Under Construction column. However, there are a lot of rumors out on the street about more multifamily residential projects on the drawing boards. The apartment vacancy rate is still quite low and I’m hearing reports that these new developments are leasing up quickly so… you never know what will happen!
At the moment, however, the surge of residential development in the Downtown Denver area (as well as the city proper) is astounding; a clear indication of the economic and cultural shifts taking place locally and nationally that Americans are increasingly seeking a more urban lifestyle.
Nice, thanks for this.
How many of these in each category (proposed/under construction/completed) are for-sale units? Is that a quick tabulation for you?
Probably about 1%
While you are tabulating…wondering how many of these under construction units are “affordable”/”workforce” designated? Any idea?
Certainly many of the ones in DHA’s Mariposa project are going to be subsidized to some degree, although the project does include a market-rate component. I’d guess maybe 90-95% of the total are market-rate.
The Renaissance Stout Street apartments are also affordable. Part of the building is to transition chronically homeless and the other part is housing for 30-50 percent Denver’s median income ($16,000 to $35,000 a year).
Ken,
I like this data best of all you offer. When do you expect to deliver updates on these proposed projects: 3500 Rockmount, O2xygen, and 1000 Speer?
Hi Dan. These are projects that have been submitted to the city and have been generally known for some time, but due to lack of verified renderings and other information, we haven’t posted anything yet. However, I’m planning on doing posts on what we know about these projects, as limited as that may be, within the next week.
And this is just based on a 1.5 mile radius from downtown. There is construction going on EVERYWHERE! It’s pretty amazing to see all this development, albeit not all high rise construction. In the long run, I’m just happy to be living in this great city during another building boom.
I’m curious why 1900 16th being listed as proposed–does that mean that they are planning on adding residential units to the building?
Yes, the final phase of the 1900 16th/DaVita project is to add about 8 floors of residential on top of the parking garage along 15th Street.