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It’s a new day for Denver as we get ready to welcome a new mayor, Mike Johnston, and new faces on our City Council.
So, what will all this mean for our CRE industry?
We’ve seen and felt the effects of past administration and council decisions on the way CRE operates, particularly over the last couple of years – from the backlog of project permitting sitting in the understaffed Community Planning and Development department, to the passage of policies such as the Expanding Housing Affordability Ordinance, Energize Denver and Waste No More. In so many ways, local government is a powerful player in our real estate environment.
For our part, we believe our new mayor and council have the opportunity shape our city’s future for the better through creative, collaborative approaches to our built environment as well as the public realm. Success here will start at home with prioritizing streamlined processes and ensuring staffing levels to support a well-regulated, but also highly functioning development pipeline.
More broadly, Denver is at a pivotal juncture. Denver Our Return to Office (RTO) in March was 59%, which is the highest monthly average we have recorded so far and 10% above the national average, but still clearly well below our pre-pandemic levels. The new administration will be challenged to unite our city behind a clear, compelling vision for the future.
Our biggest hope is that the Johnston administration will see the development community as a partner in meeting our growing city’s demands – from housing to transportation infrastructure and beyond. We look forward to continuing to build relationships with this new administration and advocating – always – for the importance of a welcoming, connected, vibrant, equitable, and resilient built environment.
