In the battle for Downtown Denver’s future, victory or defeat could hinge on convincing people it is safe to visit, work and live in the area, and key to that will be restoring the vibrancy of 16th Street (“mall” was recently dropped from its name), which is wrapping up a three-year renovation.
Surveys of why people avoid downtown center on a lack of a sense of safety, and city officials and the Downtown Denver Partnership have made restoring it a priority.
READ THE FULL PROJECT: At a crossroads: Downtown Denver is waiting for its rebound
“No matter how cheap rent is or how green a building is, it alone won’t drive activity or interest,” said Greg Bante, an executive managing director in Denver for Savills, a London-based commercial real estate brokerage firm.
Whether a client wants a small or large amount of space, the first word out of their mouths is “safety,” said Bante, who has focused much of his career on downtown since 1995, helping large employers like Encana and Chipotle secure leases.
A lack of safety turns downtown’s strengths into weaknesses and will derail any recovery. Downtown is the metro region’s transit hub, with transportation connections that should provide a huge competitive advantage. But that advantage is lost if people feel they will be harassed getting to or after arriving at Union Station, which transit workers described in 2021 as a “lawless hellhole.”
Likewise, the bars and restaurants won’t be as big a draw if people feel they need to rush to get home while there is still safety in numbers. And an abundance of office space, even if it is discounted, won’t compensate for workers who would prefer the quiet of their home office to having random strangers shout at them, aggressively panhandle for money or try to sell them drugs.
“The city has a real opportunity right now to get this right,” Bante said, adding that he is encouraged by the steps that Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration is taking, chief among them finding housing for 2,000 people living without shelter. That has nearly eliminated encampments in central Denver. And RTD has made big strides in securing Union Station.
“I think the next important stuff for us is public safety, as there was still a perception that downtown was not safe, and that was critically important. We’ve made some really good progress so far,” Johnston said.
Drug crimes are down 55%, the murder rate is down 17%, and shootings are down 23%, he said. Although the statistics are moving in the right direction, one high-profile incident can set perceptions back, and that is what happened in January.
Elijah Caudill, 24, was charged with first-degree murder in a series of random knife attacks on 16th Street that killed two people and wounded two over a two-day period. Among the dead — Celinda Levno, a 71-year-old flight attendant with American Airlines and Phoenix resident visiting the mall during a layover and Nicholas Burkett, a 34-year-old who had struggled with drug addiction and a lack of housing.
In April, Johnston announced the deployment of a dedicated 10-officer unit to patrol 16th Street on foot, bicycles and motorcycles. A new DPD Downtown Kiosk at 16th and Arapahoe streets will allow for a quicker response. And a tourist favorite is coming back — the city’s horse-mounted patrol unit.
Additionally, the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District is adding three additional shifts of Park Ranger patrols and the Downtown Development Authority is paying for an additional 10 police officers to patrol during the day. New Denver District Attorney John Walsh has pledged to prioritize safety downtown and apply data-driven crime reduction strategies. The city is upgrading infrastructure, improving cleanliness and adding more trees and greenery throughout to create a more welcoming environment.
“For me, downtown is the emotional heart, the economic heart, and the cultural heart of a city. It’s what tells the story of who you are,” Johnston said.
Beyond public safety, Johnston moved to lower two obstacles and make real estate investors feel safer taking a risk on revitalization efforts.
The city has slowed down the implementation of Energize Denver, a plan passed in 2021 to reduce carbon emissions from larger buildings of 50,000 square feet or more. Downtown has the highest concentration of such large buildings in the state. Compliance deadlines have been pushed back from 2025 to 2028 and from 2030 to 2032. Fines for non-compliance have been cut in half. Building owners facing financial hardships, as many now do, can request extensions and obtain more time to replace systems.
“Energize Denver is right-minded, but with bad timing,” said Jeffrey Friedman, a partner in the Denver office of Hall Estill specializing in real estate law.
Upgrades will benefit the environment, improve the interior air quality and boost the long-term value of buildings, Friedman said. But for an owner who isn’t collecting enough rent to make the mortgage, requiring a new HVAC system is a big ask.
What is more likely to happen is that the cost of Energize Denver and other city initiatives will get worked into discounts on the final sales price of buildings as they switch ownership.
Johnston, like mayors before him, wants faster approval times for building permits and site plans, which can take two years or more to clear. Delays add to costs. He is offering a 180-day maximum approval timeline when permits and site plans are submitted together, backed up with fee refunds of up to $10,000 if the deadline isn’t met.
Projects will be assigned “champions” to help navigate the city process and improve the odds of an approval. Faster approvals, while not limited to downtown, should improve the economics of fixing up older buildings or constructing newer ones. The more active downtown buildings become, the more people there will be circulating on the streets.
Denver’s Yellow Brick Road
If downtown is the heart of Denver, then 16th Street is the spine of downtown, the corridor on which it either stands tall or slouches over. Since April 2022, that spine has undergone surgery, leaving downtown retailers reeling and visitors hesitant to drop by.
Completing the $175.4 million renovation can’t come soon enough for those who make a living along the corridor or who simply want to enjoy their time downtown. For downtown to get its flow back, the backhoes and construction equipment need to go, which should happen around Labor Day weekend.
Architects I.M. Pei, Henry Cobb and Laurie Olin designed the conversion of what had been a car-congested street into one of the country’s longest pedestrian corridors, linking two new transit hubs, the Broadway Station and the Market Street Station.
The corridor was branded as the 16th Street Mall and designed to compete with suburban development, a place to shop, dine, lounge around or walk to work. It became a place to hang out for locals and a destination for tourists.
The pavers contained a pattern modeled after the back of a rattlesnake and over time, they came to bite pedestrians. Some of the pavers shifted and turned into tripping hazards. When it rained or snowed, slick surfaces turned them into slipping hazards, especially for anyone wearing dress shoes.
By 2016, heavy wear and tear had taken its toll, and the pandemic, which cut foot traffic by 90%, left the corridor deserted.
In the spring of 2022, the city, in partnership with RTD, the Downtown Denver Partnership and the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District, began reconstructing the mall to improve safety and mobility, address deteriorating infrastructure and create more opportunities for residents, workers and visitors.
The renovation, set to wrap up by late fall, is a year behind schedule and $25 million over budget. Unexpected finds, including a brick tunnel, while digging 20 feet down for utility installations on the western blocks near Market Street caused delays, said Ryan Schmidt, vice president and district manager for PCL Construction’s Denver office.
Trying to preserve access for retailers along the mall also delayed progress. But a long list of businesses ended up closing their doors anyway. They include Colorado’s only Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, Panera, Mellow Mushroom, Hard Rock Cafe, Banana Republic, Sephora, McDonald’s, TJ Maxx, Ana’s Norwegian Bakeri, Jason’s Deli, Sofia’s Roman Pizza and more.
Last year, retail vacancies along the corridor were at 27%, five times the metro-wide average. But after the earlier sections of 16th Street reopening, the rate has fallen to 21% and several more leases are in the works, which should help refill empty storefronts, said Kourtny Garrett, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership.
The fresh look for 16th Street includes smaller and more slip-resistant pavers — about a million of them. A lack of root space made it hard for trees to survive on the mall, but Schmidt said that problem has been addressed in the new design, which should result in a more vibrant canopy with taller trees. The original ones were too unhealthy to transplant, but they ended up in some of the furniture.
A new name accompanies the new look. The moniker Mall was more about marketing than reality, which confused out-of-state visitors expecting a shopping mecca. Downtown hung onto mall longer after the suburbs stopped using the term. On May 20, Denver caught up, returning the corridor to its original name,16th Street, with a new tagline — The Denver Way.
Several events are planned on 16th Street throughout the summer, starting with a concert by DJ Fisher that drew 5,000 fans on Memorial Day. That is being followed by the 16th Street Summer Kickoff on May 31 and June 1, with the IFSC World Speed Climbing World Cup; the 16th Street Grand Bazaar, featuring local crafts, clothing and food; the Skyline Beer Garden; and bands, buskers and art installations up and down the corridor.
Long a source of complaints, officials are counting on 16th Street becoming a source of compliments, an attraction rather than a distraction.
In a sign of how important he considers 16th Street to Denver’s future, Johnston has a large block-by-block map of it pinned on the wall in his circular office. He uses it to track reconstruction progress and chart updates on leasing activity at vacant storefronts.
“We want 16th Street to feel like a place where you’ll come and get lost. You can go there and end up at a great restaurant, in a great bar, in a great store or hanging out with friends,” Johnston said.
He envisions 16th Street as a basecamp for those heading to other parts of the state and a showcase of the best things Colorado has to offer. And he sees it as the pathway to downtown’s revival.