Ball Arena opened as the Pepsi Center, and is home to the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche. (Thomas Gounley)
It’s been a year.
The pandemic roared its head early in the year, then faded from public view as the months passed. Maybe you finally went back to the office, or maybe your employer decided work-from-home is here to stay.
But business didn’t stop. And BusinessDen was there to cover it.
In the midst of the daily stream of restaurant openings, capital raises and property sales, a few themes emerged in our newsroom in 2022.
Here are some of the top storylines of the year — and the things we’re wondering as 2023 begins.
Cherry Creek takes off
While downtown Denver continued to struggle in many aspects in 2022, it was a different situation in Cherry Creek.
The commercial district, already hot in 2021, only seemed to get hotter in 2022.
Four office buildings are now under construction in Cherry Creek, three of which broke ground this year. Most of the office space in those buildings is already leased.
Historically, Cherry Creek has generally been home to smaller office tenants, and the city’s most prominent firms have been based downtown. But there are signs that is starting to change. In September, oil and gas firm Antero Resources Corp. struck a deal to move its headquarters from Union Station to Cherry Creek, taking an entire building that has yet to break ground.
What we’re watching in 2023: Who is the next big tenant that Cherry Creek lands? And do we see movement on the long-mentioned redevelopment of the vacant Sears component within Clayton Lane?
Office to residential rumblings
It’s a topic of conversation in most big-city downtowns these days: Since there’s less demand for office space, should we turn some of these office buildings into apartments?
Since December 2021, the owners of four downtown buildings have indicated they’re exploring residential conversion. And the city has set aside money to study how it might encourage such efforts.
What we’re watching in 2022: Residential conversion sounds easier in theory than it is in practice. Office buildings often have much larger floorplates than apartment buildings. Plumbing matters when you need to put dozens of bathrooms on each floor. What Denver buildings does conversion actually make sense for? And what does the city decide it can do?
The housing market boom ends
It was a wild ride in 2020 and 2021 when housing prices rose quickly and consistently.
Then came 2022, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Again. And again.
Sales have slowed. And prices have dipped somewhat.
Among those most-impacted? Algorithm-driven “iBuyers” like Opendoor. The San Francisco-based company paid $779,000 in April for a home on Newton Street in West Highland. Six months later, Opendoor sold the home for $625,000 — a stunning $154,000 loss.
What we’re watching: The winter is typically a slow season for home sales. But how does the market come out of the gate in the spring?
Mayoral race kicks off
Mayor Michael Hancock is entering his final months in office. In 2022, the race to replace him kicked off. Three women led the fundraising race through Sept. 30, although other prominent candidates declared for the office after that date.
What we’re watching: What candidate or candidates do Denver business leaders line up behind? And, more critically, who actually gets the most votes?
Broncos sell
A new era of Broncos football began in August, when the team was sold to an ownership group led by Walmart billionaire Rob Walton, son-in-law Greg Penner and daughter Carrie Walton Penner.
Then the team kicked off the season and … well, there’s work to do.
What we’re watching: In December, the Broncos announced $100 million in planned upgrades to Empower Field at Mile High, which the team has a lease for through 2029. But don’t take that to mean that a new stadium, or a new location entirely, isn’t in the team’s future.
Ball Arena redevelopment
The Broncos aren’t the only sports team in town. In 2022, BusinessDen broke the news that Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke hopes to turn the sea of parking lots surrounding Ball Arena into a whole new neighborhood. The arena itself would stay where it is.
The proposal complements the Kroenke-based River Mile project, which seeks to redevelop the current site of the Elitch Gardens amusement park.
What we’re watching: Aspects of the Ball Arena redevelopment proposal, including changes to a city-protected view plane, will go before the Denver City Council in 2023.
Housing mandate passes
Denver implemented new development regulations in 2022, requiring those building large residential projects to incorporate income-restricted housing units or pay a massive fee.
Projects for which the city received an initial development proposal by June 30, however, were grandfathered in under the previous regulations. So the city saw a surge in submissions ahead of that date.
What we’re watching: How does the new regulation affect land prices in the city? Do some developers head for the suburbs? And does the city need to push back deadlines to give staff more time to review all those plans?
Ball Arena opened as the Pepsi Center, and is home to the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche. (Thomas Gounley)
It’s been a year.
The pandemic roared its head early in the year, then faded from public view as the months passed. Maybe you finally went back to the office, or maybe your employer decided work-from-home is here to stay.
But business didn’t stop. And BusinessDen was there to cover it.
In the midst of the daily stream of restaurant openings, capital raises and property sales, a few themes emerged in our newsroom in 2022.
Here are some of the top storylines of the year — and the things we’re wondering as 2023 begins.
Cherry Creek takes off
While downtown Denver continued to struggle in many aspects in 2022, it was a different situation in Cherry Creek.
The commercial district, already hot in 2021, only seemed to get hotter in 2022.
Four office buildings are now under construction in Cherry Creek, three of which broke ground this year. Most of the office space in those buildings is already leased.
Historically, Cherry Creek has generally been home to smaller office tenants, and the city’s most prominent firms have been based downtown. But there are signs that is starting to change. In September, oil and gas firm Antero Resources Corp. struck a deal to move its headquarters from Union Station to Cherry Creek, taking an entire building that has yet to break ground.
What we’re watching in 2023: Who is the next big tenant that Cherry Creek lands? And do we see movement on the long-mentioned redevelopment of the vacant Sears component within Clayton Lane?
Office to residential rumblings
It’s a topic of conversation in most big-city downtowns these days: Since there’s less demand for office space, should we turn some of these office buildings into apartments?
Since December 2021, the owners of four downtown buildings have indicated they’re exploring residential conversion. And the city has set aside money to study how it might encourage such efforts.
What we’re watching in 2022: Residential conversion sounds easier in theory than it is in practice. Office buildings often have much larger floorplates than apartment buildings. Plumbing matters when you need to put dozens of bathrooms on each floor. What Denver buildings does conversion actually make sense for? And what does the city decide it can do?
The housing market boom ends
It was a wild ride in 2020 and 2021 when housing prices rose quickly and consistently.
Then came 2022, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Again. And again.
Sales have slowed. And prices have dipped somewhat.
Among those most-impacted? Algorithm-driven “iBuyers” like Opendoor. The San Francisco-based company paid $779,000 in April for a home on Newton Street in West Highland. Six months later, Opendoor sold the home for $625,000 — a stunning $154,000 loss.
What we’re watching: The winter is typically a slow season for home sales. But how does the market come out of the gate in the spring?
Mayoral race kicks off
Mayor Michael Hancock is entering his final months in office. In 2022, the race to replace him kicked off. Three women led the fundraising race through Sept. 30, although other prominent candidates declared for the office after that date.
What we’re watching: What candidate or candidates do Denver business leaders line up behind? And, more critically, who actually gets the most votes?
Broncos sell
A new era of Broncos football began in August, when the team was sold to an ownership group led by Walmart billionaire Rob Walton, son-in-law Greg Penner and daughter Carrie Walton Penner.
Then the team kicked off the season and … well, there’s work to do.
What we’re watching: In December, the Broncos announced $100 million in planned upgrades to Empower Field at Mile High, which the team has a lease for through 2029. But don’t take that to mean that a new stadium, or a new location entirely, isn’t in the team’s future.
Ball Arena redevelopment
The Broncos aren’t the only sports team in town. In 2022, BusinessDen broke the news that Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke hopes to turn the sea of parking lots surrounding Ball Arena into a whole new neighborhood. The arena itself would stay where it is.
The proposal complements the Kroenke-based River Mile project, which seeks to redevelop the current site of the Elitch Gardens amusement park.
What we’re watching: Aspects of the Ball Arena redevelopment proposal, including changes to a city-protected view plane, will go before the Denver City Council in 2023.
Housing mandate passes
Denver implemented new development regulations in 2022, requiring those building large residential projects to incorporate income-restricted housing units or pay a massive fee.
Projects for which the city received an initial development proposal by June 30, however, were grandfathered in under the previous regulations. So the city saw a surge in submissions ahead of that date.
What we’re watching: How does the new regulation affect land prices in the city? Do some developers head for the suburbs? And does the city need to push back deadlines to give staff more time to review all those plans?
