Denver considers converting vacant office space into housing: 'there will be affordable housing that comes out of this'
As work moves home, homes may move into Denver offices. The city of Denver is hoping to convert some downtown office buildings into housing. The first step in this plan is about three weeks away when the City Council will consider financing a study on the idea.
The Downtown Denver Partnership estimates a 21% vacancy rate downtown, some office buildings are over 50% vacant.
"In this technological age, it's a lot easier for us to work in a hybrid environment, to work from home. So office rates were already starting to dip, but the pandemic really accelerated everything," says Jenny Buddenborg, adaptive reuse senior project administrator for the city of Denver.
Denver is now asking the City Council to greenlight $75,000 in federal pandemic relief for a study on converting those offices into residences.
"It considers a number of different options to understand if a given building would be appropriate for that conversion type, and not every building will be," Buddenborg says.
Those factors include floor plans, ventilation, and proximity to transit. The city has a short list of 10 to 15 class B and C buildings in the Central Business District that they think could be good candidates to be turned into housing. Downtown, 1600 Glenarm and 1600 Champa are examples of already adapted buildings.
The newly adapted residences would likely be a mix of housing types. Denver's recently passed "Expanding Housing Affordability Policy" mandates developers create low-income restricted housing.
"So there will be affordable housing that comes out of this project," Buddenborg says.
It's a move to hopefully accommodate a growing population, keep downtown vibrant and meet climate goals.
"Reusing these buildings allows us to reuse existing materials, existing infrastructure, so we're not taxing the environment going forward," Buddenborg says.
If the City Council approves the funds, Denver hopes to get the study underway before the end of the year. They expect it to take two to three months. Then, they'll start conversations with the owners of eligible buildings about adapting them.
