DENVER — With more federal workers returning to the office, Denver7 wanted to assess the state of Downtown Denver's commercial real estate market.
We obtained data showing that nearly 25% of the Denver metro area has empty office space.
Stuart Zall who owns theZall Company — focused on commercial real estate — shared some insight on the market. Zall said right now, the city is facing some head winds, but he is seeing businesses renew their leases occupying office spaces in downtown Denver.
Zall also shared that before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was not an empty space on the 16th Street Mall. However, between the pandemic and construction of the 16th Street Mall, downtown took a double punch. He said it is now a challenge to get people back to downtown with factors like homelessness and crime, but he does see things slowly starting to get back to normal.
"A high tech company... took a huge space over on 16th and Blake. You can look it up. I mean, that's a big win for the city," Zall said.
While commercial real estate is moving in the right direction, the Downtown Denver Partnership is dedicated to keeping downtown thriving. The group hopes that projects like the nearly completed 16th Street Mall will attract more foot traffic in downtown Denver.
60% of Downtown Denver Partnership businesses have returned to offices, Beth Moyski with the group told Denver7. While the partnership acknowledges many restaurants leaving Denver, the group is optimistic.
"We may have some restaurants closing, but we actually have just as many, if not more, opening. And small businesses work that way. People have an entrepreneurial spirit, particularly here in Denver, and that's why we have kiosk where people start their businesses," Moyski said.
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