Cherry Creek, Golden and Highlands Ranch are adding office space as downtown Denver struggles with office vacancy rates approaching 40%.
Construction crews work on a new office space development in Cherry Creek at 242 Milwaukee St. on March 19, 2026, in Denver. Metro Denver continues to struggle with a huge surplus of office space, especially downtown, where the vacancy rate is approaching 40% and empty skyscrapers are And while the excess supply has reduced the number of office towers, it hasn’t deterred five developers from adding nearly 600,000 square feet of new office space this year and early next, according to a“Office development across the U.
S. remains quite limited at the moment. Outside of a handful of select gateway cities, most new projects tend to be concentrated in prime urban districts or higher-end suburban locations,” said Roxanne Cuceu, a spokeswoman with CommercialCafe. That theme is playing out in metro Denver, where three of the five projects are going up in Cherry Creek, which has avoided therepresents the region’s largest mixed-use project at 181,503 square feet, including 171,160 square feet of office space. CoorsTek, which owns the 12.5-acre site that once housed its ceramic manufacturing at 800 Ford St., is converting it into a mixed-useClayworks will locate its global headquarters in the new building, called B3, and will also open up space for outside tenants in the multi-year redevelopment. In Highlands Ranch, Remedy Medical Properties is building a 118,500-square-foot medical office building at 9051 SSG Chris Falkel Dr.Nationally, developers have 28.9 million square feet of office space under construction, with half of that having broken ground in 2025, according to CommercialCafe. The square footage of office space being added in Denver represents 0.4% of the total current office inventory, which ranks 16th overall as the percentage of office stock under construction among major metros. Boston remains the country’s leader for office construction, with 4.1 million square feet being added, which represents 1.6% of the city’s total office stock. The city’s dominance in biotech and life sciences is driving that growth. But even in Boston, the volume of new office space is running only a quarter of the pace seen in 2024. On a percentage basis, West Palm Beach, Fla., is adding the most space at 4%, which translates into 1.6 million square feet. That boom, centered on its downtown, is being driven by the area’s growing reputation as “Wall Street South.” For Denver, Cherry Creek is likely to be the epicenter of new office development for the foreseeable future as taller buildings rise up and the neighborhood densifies. Of the three projects underway in Cherry Creek, 201 Fillmore, which is also the address, is the largest at 130,000 square feet of office space. Schnitzer West, the developer, is taking a one-story retail building that once housed a boutique furniture store and replacing it with a seven-story tower. 201 Filmore will provide higher-end amenities like private terraces, a fitness center and upscale retail on the ground floor. The anchor tenant is Antero Resources, which is in the process of relocating from its current headquarters near Union Station. A new office space development is under construction at 201 Filmore St. in Cherry Creek on March 19, 2026, in Denver. Antero was a key company in spurring the revival of the Union Station neighborhood when it relocated from upper downtown to a new building in 2012. Milwaukee Place, 242 Milwaukee St., is a 94,000-square-foot building, of which 84,000 square feet represents Class A office space. The remainder will be ground-floor retail anchored by TileBar, which specializes in tile and bath design, not cocktails. Matt Joblon’s BMC Investments, the firm behind several other high-profile projects in Cherry Creek, broke ground in October and expects to finish the building by January on a former Sears store and Crate & Barrel site. “We are focused on high-quality, well-designed office and retail space in select submarkets,” said Kelly Pretzer, managing director and head of development and affordable housing at BMC. “We have delivered several office buildings in Cherry Creek. We know that submarket well.”Magnetic Capital, headed by partners Chris Carroll and Daniel Huml, has had no issues finding tenants to fill the five-story building. The retail on-site will include a rooftop bar, and tenants are completing finishes on their offices. A new office space development is under construction at 3250 East 2nd Ave. in Cherry Creek on March 19, 2026, in Denver. , the redevelopment of 13 acres on the west side of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center that housed a Bed Bath & Beyond and an Elway’s steakhouse, is expected to start demolition soon. That development is expected to contribute 600,000 square feet of new office space in the coming years, about as much as is now under construction metrowide. The Broe Group’s Timber 225, 225 Clayton St., is expected to add roughly 100,000 square feet of high-end office space. It represents Cherry Creek’s first “mass timber” office building, and is expected to be completed later next year. A four-story mixed-use building with office space is set to replace the Cucina Colore restaurant at 3035 E. 3rd Ave. Downtown Denver and the Denver Tech Center, by contrast, are facing the destruction of office space and unimaginably high vacancy rates six years after the pandemic began and workers went remote. Downtown did see 1900 Lawrence open its doors in 2024. The 30-story tower contains more than 700,000 square feet of class A office space, along with 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Riverside Investment & Development out of Chicago was the developer behind the largest office tower built in downtown Denver in more than four decades. While 1900 Lawrence has successfully poached high-profile firms like Gibson Dunn and Reed Smith from older skyscrapers, the tower symbolizes the downtown market’s ongoing struggle, with roughly 75% of its floor space still seeking a tenant, according to 19 leases available onCommercialCafe estimates that 450,000 square feet of Denver office space has been demolished in recent years, based on the information it has available. Much more is expected toThe owners of 7601 Technology Way, a six-floor office building with 140,000 square feet in the Denver Tech Center, have applied to demolish the building, even though it is a relatively young 30-year-old. The plan is to build 600 apartments on the site.late last year after determining it didn’t make sense to repurpose the structure, built in 2001, for residences, according toSome buildings have been targeted for conversion. Notable projects include the conversion of the historic Petroleum Building from office space into residential use, creating 178 new housing units, as well as similar work at the University Building that will add 120 mixed-income units.of downtown office space into approximately 700 apartments. On Wednesday, the DDA board approved a low-interest loan up to $63 million to support the High Fidelity Plaza redevelopment. Metro Denver’s apartment market, however, is pulling back after years of strong growth. That is reflected in rising vacancy rates and rents that have dropped to 2022 levels.The industrial market remains the strongest part of commercial real estate in metro Denver. Industrial space developers are building 7.9 million square feet in metro Denver, which ranks ninth in the country by total volume, according to CommercialCafe. Construction crews work on a new office space development in Cherry Creek at 242 Milwaukee St. on March 19, 2026, in Denver. Upon completion, the projects will boost the region’s total industrial inventory by 2.8%, which is above the 1.7% increase average nationally for all the industrial projects underway.Vacant site of former Denver brewery to transform into escape room conceptThe northern Front Range is home to the second-largest industrial project in the country, a 3.5-million-square-foot facility for Amazon at 6425 Byrd Drive in Loveland, PepsiCo is also working on the largest bottling plant in its history, a 1.2 million square foot facility near Denver International Airport that will replace a much smaller plant in River North. That said, CommercialCafe warns that with a 12.2% industrial vacancy rate in the region, which ranks second highest in the country among the 20 markets with the most new industrial construction, “the depth of occupier demand to absorb new supply is less certain.”Denver's 97-year-old City Park bandstand 'a total loss' after overnight fireHow to check TSA wait times at DIA and reserve airport security time slots'The Princess Bride' is back, Frozen Dead Guy Days, and more things to doGov. Jared Polis signs HOME Act, aimed at making it easier for nonprofits to build housing
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
9 Cherry Blossom Products for Peak Bloom in DCThe website that Washington lives by.
Read more »
DC’s Cherry Blossoms Are Officially in Peak BloomThe website that Washington lives by.
Read more »
Washington’s cherry blossoms hit peak bloom, sending a fleeting burst of pink across the capitalWashington’s cherry blossoms have reached peak bloom, and the city’s spring rush is in full swing.
Read more »
Washington's cherry blossoms hit peak bloom, sending a fleeting burst of pink across the capitalWashington's cherry blossoms have reached peak bloom, and the city's spring rush is in full swing.
Read more »
Things to do this weekend: Cherry blossoms are adding cheer across SoCalTorrance’s Cherry Blossom Cultural Festival is ready to bloom, while Descanso Gardens is bursting with blossoms.
Read more »
Denver7 Investigates finds 14 employment contracts improperly signed in Cherry Creek School DistrictNatalie Chuck joined Denver7 Investigates in May 2024. Previously, she worked as a Multimedia Journalist in San Diego where she covered historic flooding, wrongful-death lawsuits, and cold cases.
Read more »