Colorado Real Estate Journal - June 15, 2016
Downtown Denver currently has a total of 36 million square feet of existing office space. The direct vacancy rate is almost at a record low of 9.5% and net absorption as of fourth quarter of 2015 was 469,427 square feet. With vacancy rates dropping, the market is responding not only with increasing average lease rates of $33.14 SF, but also by constructing additional office space. A total of 2.7 million square feet of new space is currently under construction, planned or proposed throughout Downtown Denver. The newest office projects recently completed or under construction in Downtown Denver include 1601 Wewatta, a 10 story, 300,000 square feet building, The Triangle Building, an 11 eleven story, 200,000 square feet office tower, Union Tower West, the 100,000 square foot office space component of a mixed use project, and 16 Wewatta, a 5 story, 50,000 square foot building. With almost all of the parcels around Denver Union Station under various phases of construction, developers are beginning to look for other opportunities for investment. There are additional projects planned or under construction in other parts of Downtown including 1401 Lawrence, a 21 story, 290,000 square feet tower, Dairy Block, a 6 story, 260,000 square foot project, Riverview at 1700 Platte, a 4-5 story, 210,000 mixed-use project, and the 32 story, 606,500 square feet tower on Block 162. One of the tallest office towers to be built in Downtown in 20 years, is 1144 Fifteenth Street, a 40 story, 640,000 square foot tower is currently under construction at 15th & Arapahoe and projected to be complete in first quarter of 2018.