Downtown Denver Rebounds and Plans for Diversified Future

DENVER, Oct. 15, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Downtown Denver is poised to emerge from the post-pandemic reset with a stronger, more diversified urban core, according to a new report by the Downtown Denver Partnership.

Foot traffic in downtown Denver has recovered to over 90% of pre-pandemic levels, and visitor and resident activity is at or above pre-pandemic levels. More people are living downtown today than before the pandemic, even as the traditional office-driven central business district (CBD) continues to face significant vacancy. This recovery is part of a broader trend of generational investment within the downtown core, including developments along 16th Street, the Auraria Campus for Higher Education, the Ball Arena redevelopment, and the new Broncos and Denver Summit stadiums. These investments build on landmark developments such as Union Station, Coors Field, Market Station, Larimer Square, and LoDo, which have transformed the city over the past several decades.

Florida's report argues that office occupancy alone is no longer the sole measure of downtown health. Hybrid and remote work have changed how people use cities, creating an opportunity for downtowns to become places people choose to spend time for a wider range of experiences, connections, and opportunities. The broader downtown is described as a "mosaic" of distinct but interconnected districts, including LoDo, Union Station, Ballpark, Golden Triangle, Central Platte Valley, Auraria, and the stadium districts. These areas increasingly overlap in housing, education, entertainment, culture, innovation, and business.

The report identifies several assets that give Denver a distinct advantage, including $10 billion in investment around major sports venues, the arts' $3 billion economic impact, Colorado’s $66 billion outdoor recreation economy, a growing downtown residential population, and the region’s higher education and innovation ecosystem. The greatest challenge and opportunity remains the traditional CBD, with roughly 12 million square feet of vacant office space. Florida suggests that Denver will need a range of approaches, from office conversions and reinvestment to redevelopment for housing, parks, entertainment, innovation, and other uses that bring more people downtown throughout the day and week.

Housing will play a central role in this evolution. More than 1,600 residential units are currently under construction, and the Downtown Area Plan calls for doubling the downtown residential population from roughly 35,000 to 70,000 by 2045. The report argues that Denver’s next chapter should build on the assets and activity already drawing people downtown rather than depend on the return of a single dominant use. This reinvention could position Denver as a national model for the future of American downtowns.

Florida presented the report’s findings on October 15 as the keynote speaker at the Denver Business Journal’s Reimagine Denver: Downtown Reality Check event, where he joined local commercial real estate leaders in a broader conversation about the future of downtown. The report builds on the Downtown Area Plan and major public and private investments underway across the urban core.

The Downtown Denver Partnership, which implements a place-based economic development strategy to support its vision for an economically competitive, dynamic, and growing downtown, is driving progress forward for the benefit of all in Denver’s center city. The partnership convenes the public, private, and philanthropic sectors to ensure that the investments already underway add up to something greater: a downtown that creates opportunity, reflects the identity of the city, and gives people more reasons to be there every day.