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Apartment vacancies drop in metro Denver, but market still favors renters
Metro Denver apartment vacancy rates moved lower and rents rose slightly in the second quarter, but conditions still remain favorable to renters, according to the Vacancy & Rent Report from the Apartment Association of Metro Denver.
Average rents rose from $1,819 in the first quarter to $1,832 in the second, but remain down 3.7% over the past year and are still lower than they were in the second quarter of 2023. That contrasts with a 3.8% increase nationally over the past year period in rental costs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“This increase is less than half of the typical increase during the second quarter over the past 20 years because vacancy remains elevated,” said Cary Bruteig, a researcher with Apartment Insights and author of the report, which is in its 45th year.
The overall vacancy rate fell from 7% in the first quarter to 6.4% in the second. A year ago, the share of unrented apartments was 5.6%. Vacancies were highest in Arapahoe and Denver counties at 7.1% and 7%, and lowest in Jefferson and Boulder counties, which were at 5.2%.
Some of that reflects the higher demand in the second quarter during the peak leasing season. But it also reflects a slowdown in the number of new apartments arriving. Over the past 12 months, there have been 15,798 new apartments added, but only 2,375 of those came in the second quarter.
As the pace of construction slows, demand, measured as the number of units occupied or absorption, has stayed strong. Over the past 12 months, there have been 11,184 apartments occupied, including 4,573 the second quarter.
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“The number of apartments under construction has decreased by approximately a third from its peak in mid-2023,” Bruteig said. “This should lead to fewer new apartments completed in the quarters ahead.”
Bruteig estimates the oversupply situation will last through 2026, assuming absorption rates stay at around 11,000 a year. Slower migration and weaker job growth are two things that could weigh on apartment demand and extend the renter’s market.
New state and local regulations in many locales, especially Denver, which added an inclusionary housing ordinance to boost affordable housing, have combined with higher interest rates and construction costs to lower the number of multifamily starts, said Mark Williams, the association’s executive vice president.
Landlords continue to offer concessions to attract tenants. Those are averaging about 4.9% of gross rents, which is down slightly from earlier in the year. in dollar terms, landlords provided breaks worth about $90 a month on average.
The association’s survey was based on data from 248,812 apartment homes.
How BuildStrong helps women crush construction industry barriers
As the construction industry continues to grapple with a labor shortage, more women are assuming roles traditionally held by men.
Programs like BuildStrong Academy offer training and support to aspiring female tradespeople.
Victoria Son, a 2022 BuildStrong graduate, decided to transition from a potential career in dentistry to become a licensed general contractor.
Inspired by her parents, Son discovered her passion for woodworking, completed her training, and launched her residential remodeling business, Vee’s Fix-It Service. She aspires to become a custom home builder.
BuildStrong Academy, a Denver-based nonprofit, connects job seekers with the construction industry’s needs. It offers an 80-hour Construction Skills Bootcamp, which lasts five weeks and serves as a prerequisite for advanced courses. Last year, 226 students completed the program, with about 30% being women.
Kristin Davenport, who oversees the boot camp, credits the increase in female enrollment to a growing awareness of the lucrative potential in construction careers.
“We’re seeing more women realize that these jobs not only pay well, but they also offer fulfilling careers,” she said.
The boot camp caters to individuals from various backgrounds, including those with minimal construction experience. It offers opportunities to pursue apprenticeships in trades such as electrical work, HVAC, plumbing, and welding.
Nationally, women comprise approximately 14% of the 7.7 million people employed in the U.S. construction industry.
The construction industry continues to face challenges, with only 13% of construction companies owned by women.
Chris Regis, owner of Domani Development, said even after 33 years building and remodeling homes, she still constantly feels pressure to prove herself.
“You always have to show you know your stuff,” she said. “You have to be strong and confident, or people will walk all over you.
Regis recently completed a custom home build at 1860 E. Cedar Ave. in Denver. She worked hand-in-hand with architect Katrina Eckelhoff, principal of StudioHoff Architecture, and Bree Halax, owner of Halax Interiors, to create the $8.5 million home, featuring six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, built with wire-brushed cedar, local stone, and raw steel accents.
The women, who call themselves the dream team, enjoy working together and said their experience and collaboration skills make executing a complex project like the home on Cedar easier.
“We know each other and trust each other’s opinions,” Halax said.
Hoff said that sometimes, when she designs a home, that’s the end of her role in the project, likening it to sending a child off to college and then never hearing any progress reports.
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But working with Regis and Halax is a different experience. “We have a good interactive back and forth to make the project a reality.”
Son hopes that the push to increase the number of women in construction jobs will help alleviate some of the challenges women face.
“Half my (BuildStrong) class was women,” she said. “Hopefully, the stigmas and barriers are being rewritten.”
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this post’s preparation.
Housing complex proposed for vacant lot in Denver’s River North Art District
A mixed-use housing development has been proposed for a vacant dirt lot in Denver’s River North Art District. The plans were submitted to the city earlier this month by Kimley-Horn, a nationwide planning and design consulting firm.
The project, known as Alexan RiNo, is planned to be developed into a 7-story and a 4-story mixed-use residential building, with one side of the complex taller than the other, containing approximately 300 units with an average size of 956 square feet, according to city records.
Early plans for the vacant site included over 200 housing units and a 30,000-square-foot grocery store, led by EXDO Properties, Elevation Development Group and Kentro Group. However, the grocery store proposal has recently been dropped because of delays in rezoning and other factors.
A rendering from the concept plan. The mixed-use Alexan RiNo development, 3648 N. Downing St., will feature about 300 units, including studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom options. (Rendering from Denver Public Records)The residential units will offer a range of layouts, including studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom options, with some featuring possible balcony space.
Additionally, 10% of the units will be designated for households earning 60% of the area median income.
Aside from residential use, the development will feature 390 parking spaces and two loading spaces within an interior garage, about 4,500 square feet of ground-level retail space, as well as a leasing lobby, lounge, roof deck, pool, coworking space and two courtyard amenity spaces.
The project is bordered by East 36th Avenue, East 37th Avenue, North Downing Street and North Marion Street, located at the intersection of North Downing Street, Larimer Street and East 36th Avenue.
The approximately 2.3-acre site is currently used for surface parking. Planning documents show the project will include the demolition of existing retaining walls and utility poles on the property. Street lighting along sections of the project’s frontage will also be upgraded.
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Property records show the parcel of land is owned by DOMA LLC, which is tied to EXDO Properties, a subsidiary of the EXDO Group family. EXDO Properties oversees the management of commercial and residential property throughout the Denver area, according to its website.
The lot is now under contract to be sold to Dallas-based Trammell Crow Residential, a real estate investment and development firm named in the project’s concept plan.
Representatives from Kimley-Horn and EXDO properties did not respond to requests for comment.
Updated 11:35 a.m. July 24 to clarify language about what kind of housing project is being proposed.
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‘The end of the line is with me’: Family sells East Colfax property after a century
Mark Lampert has never lived without 2020-2040 E. Colfax Ave. in the family.
The 71-year-old and some family members — his siblings, cousins and their mothers — sold the 11,000-square-foot retail property last month for $1.6 million, or $145 per square foot. Tenants include Lion’s Lair, one of Denver’s oldest dive bars and a venue for punk and indie rock.
Mark Lampert’s great-great uncle Max Schiff bought the property in 1925, when a building boom was shifting Colfax from residential to commercial. There’s a major transformation now as well, as crews install a bus rapid transit line down the middle of the corridor.
“We could have held on longer until the BRT was done and probably sold it for more,” Mark Lampert said. “But, you know, frankly, all of us talked and we thought, let the next person, the next generation, take it and run with it to another high level.”
The building holds four retail spaces. Besides Lion’s Lair, there’s a liquor store, tattoo parlor and marijuana dispensary. While their lease agreements say a new building owner can force the businesses to move, Mark Lampert said he wanted to sell the property to someone who would keep them there.
That’s why, he said, he accepted $200,000 less than the property’s list price.
“There’s a close feeling with the tenants that are in there now,” Mark Lampert said.
The buyer, Commerce City resident Joginder Singh, initially reached out wanting to get the liquor store lease extended so he could buy it. Mark Lampert saw an opportunity and offered to instead sell him the building, which had been on the market for a few weeks.
“At a time when people are stepping away from East Colfax, he was in an opposite boat,” said Unique Properties broker Hudson Cramer, who represented the family alongside colleagues Michael DeSantis and Brett MacDougall.
Financing was challenging because of the dispensary and marijuana’s illegal status on a federal level. So the sellers stepped up and lent Singh $1.1 million at 5% interest.
And Mark Lampert’s run with the building isn’t completely over. He will still manage the property through another family company, Ann Lampert Realty Inc., which his grandmother started in the 1950s. He said she was one of the first women in Colorado to get licensed as a real estate agent.
“My grandmother would always say any husband would not buy a house without showing his wife a kitchen,” he said.
The property management firm oversees about 200 doors between Denver and Aurora. Mark Lampert, a George Washington High School graduate, spent his early career building apartments around the metro area with his father. There’s a subdivision in Denver’s Mar Lee neighborhood named after the family.
The family’s real estate gene, though, will go extinct with him.
“The end of the line is with me, unfortunately,” Mark Lampert said.
“Unfortunately, I burned my kids out at an early age,” he quipped. “I brought them to the office so many times that I had a little alcove in my office so they would play salesperson and buyer.”
Now in the twilight of his career, Mark Lampert insists he’s not sentimental about 2020-2040 E. Colfax.
Still, during the course of an interview he noted that he saw “Mary Poppins” for the first time six decades ago next door, where the Aladdin Theater once stood. And he recalled his Aunt Cissy was proud to own the real estate for a liquor store, tattoo parlor and bar. She’d visit her tenants often and Sugar Bear, the risque leather-and-lace tattoo shop artist, would always want to ink her.
It was emblematic of Colfax at the time — a seedy underbelly of Denver dotted with motels that Mark Lampert said were “rented by the hour.”
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But Colfax is a different place now. Residential is returning to the street in the form of large apartment buildings. More could be in store when the behemoth BRT infrastructure project is completed.
“This is almost as difficult right now for a lot of the retail establishments along Colfax as it was during COVID,” he said of BRT construction.
Still, Mark Lampert, who has spent his entire professional career in real estate, understands that these things happen in cycles.
“I’ve seen (Colfax) go from a very nice place to a very rough place coming back out to a very nice place again,” he said.
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Denver will allow loan transfer after affordable housing parcel purchased by Broncos
Denver City Council on Monday voted to allow the transfer of a $5.56 million loan the city had granted developer Jeff Shanahan in 2023 so he can build another affordable housing project after a company believed to be affiliated with the Denver Broncos bought him out in January.
Denver’s Department of Housing Stability, or HOST, extended the loan, funded with federal American Rescue Plan dollars, in March 2023 to Shanahan for the purchase of 1530 W. 13th Ave. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. In return, Shanahan agreed to construct 190 units affordable to renters or buyers making between 30% to 80% of the area median income under what is known as a rental and occupancy covenant.
Backed with the city loan, Shanahan paid $5.75 million for a building on 1.4 acres owned by Savio House, a nonprofit that provides family therapy, foster care placement and youth support. The nonprofit had purchased the location for $1.97 million in 2008 from the construction company G.H. Phipps, whose founder Gerald Phipps was a leading owner of the Denver Broncos from 1961 to 1981.
The Denver Broncos appear to have come knocking on the door of Savio House once again in the form of Atel Street LLC, which paid Shanahan $12.5 million for the building and land in January, more than double what he had paid less than two years earlier.
Shanahan and owners of at least a dozen other parcels around Burnham Yard in the Lincoln Park area were offered above market-rate prices and asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, according to transactions first uncovered by BusinessDen.
Why so much and why so secretive? The Broncos have said they are considering a new stadium, but not where it might be located. Burnham Yard is increasingly considered the leading site, given that there aren’t many parcels large enough and available within Denver proper.
The Colorado Department of Transportation is selling the 58-acre Burnham Yard, which it acquired in 2021 from the Union Pacific Railroad using state funds and borrowed money. Denver Water has also confirmed that it has been in talks with the team for more than a year regarding its 36-acre campus, which is adjacent to the yard.
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Privately-funded stadium and arena developments around the country have been criticized for displacing low-income residents and small businesses as they add not just a sports venue but also entertainment and high-end residential districts nearby that can boost revenues for team owners.
One exception is Willets Point in Queens, N.Y., a 25,000-seat soccer stadium that includes 2,500 units of affordable housing and no high-end housing.
The sale of 1530 W. 13th Ave. came with a deed restriction that requires any new owner to build affordable housing on the site, as did the deed of another vacant parcel nearby that the Denver Housing Authority sold for $7 million.
Shanahan told the city he will use the loan funds for another affordable housing project on 1.1 acres at 155 W. 5th Ave., which is in the Baker neighborhood.
The ordinance City Council passed describes the loan transfer as a way for the “initial investment to be recycled, nearly doubling the amount of affordable housing development.”
Cap Hill Lutheran church exploring apartments on its property
Capitol Hill’s newest development proposal calls for fewer pews and more bedrooms.
Montana-based BlueLine Development sent plans to Denver last month calling for a 58-unit income-restricted apartment complex that would replace a sizable chunk of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church at Ninth Avenue and Emerson Street.
BlueLine did not respond to a request for comment. The church, which has built housing in the past, declined to comment. Local firm Shopworks Architecture drew up the plans.
Our Savior’s Lutheran has been around since 1881, and at 915 E. Ninth Ave. for about a century. It built an addition in the early 1960s that runs along an alley on the east side of the lot, which spans about two-thirds of an acre.
The proposal calls for a 40,000-square-foot building designated as senior housing to replace the addition, wrapping around the existing church building from the alleyway and onto Emerson Street in an L-shape. It would stand four stories tall.
Public records show the project is in the running for public financing. BlueLine is asking for $2.8 million in state and local tax credits along with $13.5 million in tax-exempt bonds from the quasi-governmental Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. It’s one of 16 developments in Denver and 35 statewide in the running for the limited pool of tax credits that CHFA distributes twice annually.
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Our Savior’s Lutheran has built housing before. Next door to its property sits Emerson Gardens, a three-story, 30-unit income-restricted apartment building for seniors. It was built on church-owned property in the late 1980s.
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Build-to-rent development to add 424 homes in west Greeley
A new development is set to deliver 424 single-family rental homes in west Greeley after the area was rezoned by the city council last week.
The council unanimously approved rezoning 49 acres at the northwest corner of 25th Street and 71st Avenue as a planned unit development. This allows Galloway & Company Inc. to proceed with plans to develop The Village at Greeley, which will provide one- to three-bedroom homes for renters at monthly costs between $1,600 and $2,500.
Homes will range in size from 655 to 1,313 square feet, located in what the developer describes as a resort-style community with several amenities.
The development is build to rent, where developers construct homes that are only intended for renting rather than selling. This development trend has gained popularity over the past decade, as the demand for rental homes and affordable housing has increased amid rising home costs.
“I think that it is a substitute for the starter home that has gone by the wayside. There are no starter homes. They do not exist, and very few are built because land is too expensive and municipal fees are too high, and nobody can build them,” Galloway representative Brian Friel said. “There’s a huge housing crisis, and this is something that can potentially solve that problem.”
City staff reported build-to-rent homes have a lower turnover rate than standard apartments and demonstrate greater durability over time while maintaining affordability. However, city council members expressed concerns about how accurate that may be, given that the oldest built-to-rent homes are barely a decade old.
“My primary concern is this is a pretty brand new product and we don’t know what happens to this kind of thing 20 to 30 years from now,” Councilman Tommy Butler said. “I just want to make sure that we’re making a decision that’s going to be the best for the long term, and I am struggling with it.”
The council discussed whether these types of homes could be converted into condominiums in the future and whether they could be sold as individual homes.
Community Development Deputy Director Don Threewitt said though this could happen, it is not the developer’s intent to do so.
“These are apartments. They just happen to function, look, act and live like single-family homes,” Threewitt said. “If we look at any multi-four-story development in Greeley, we could say it could conceivably be converted into condos just as these could. But that is not the intent of the applicant.”
Despite approving the rezoning, most city council members voiced a preference that the development would provide for-sale homes instead of rentals.
While Councilwoman Deb DeBoutez believed this development would fill a needed gap within the community, Councilman Johnny Olson believed the need was a direct response to a rental preference among younger residents.
“I’ve talked to a lot of kids coming out of college who’d rather buy their toys and their new car instead of going into debt and owning a house so they can go play up in the mountains and do other things,” Olson said. “People don’t want to care about their future and their wealth; they only care about what their instant gratification is for today. So there is a need for this.”
Councilman Dale Hall agreed, saying that from his experience, many younger residents were choosing to rent as a means to avoid doing all their individual chores, such as mowing the lawn and watering it, and that this would be ideal for them.
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Butler, who said he’d rather see these homes be for sale, responded that the trend of renting rather than owning is out of necessity, not preference.
“As the youngest member of the council, people my age don’t want to rent. They’re forced to rent,” Butler said. “People should own their homes. People want to own their homes, but they can’t afford to.”
Mayor John Gates, who also had reservations about the project and concerns about affordability, said the city isn’t in a position to refuse the construction of new homes as the city’s population continues to grow.
With the council’s approval to rezone the plot, Galloway will now proceed to the next phase of development, although no timeline was provided for the project’s completion.
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