16th Street

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Downtown Denver remains sparse a year after all that to do about turning the 16th Street Mall into 16th Street.

Totally worth the $100,000 that they paid for the rebrand.

But despite the empty high rises, the people in charge of revitalizing downtown do see opportunity on the horizon.

It's kind of wild to think about, but 40% of downtown Denver's office space is empty right now.

Denver might have a skyscraper problem.

A year after $175 million renovation of 16th Street wrapped up, we asked, what's the future of downtown? 16th Street.

There's no denying that we know our greatest vulnerability in this moment in time continues to be our commercial office market and commercial vacancy.

guy smoking?

Normally we're spending money to rebrand 16th Street Mall, 16th Street.

I'm proud.

I'm really proud, Jeff.

Where's that

theater? It's on the 16th Street Mall.

Nice.

Yeah.

And next thing you know, we heard about a rap contest on the radio station down at KDKO.

It was downtown at Woodsworth on the 16th Street Mall.

You know

what I'm saying? It was a rap contest live on the radio station.

It was live.

So we all got dressed and we walked all the way downtown to the 16th Street Mall.

It was Carlos Lando.

I think Ricky O was one of the DJs down there.

They roll the suitcase out the front doors, past the fountains on, on, on Wynkoop Plaza.

They head up toward the 16th Street Mall, but I'll just say 16th Street.

They check into a really nice boutique hotel downtown.

Then Saturday, they get up and they wander over to Civic Center Park, and they stand at the bottom of the Capitol steps because somebody told them about the step that's exactly a mile high.

Camping on the sidewalk.

Why spend your money at the boutique hotel? You could just camp out on the sidewalk.

Don't camp out in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, camp on the 16th Street Mall.

Now, three of those make up, are you ready, 80% of all the arrests: shoplifting, disturbing the peace, and property damage.

It was super smooth.

Um, I compared it to, so right before I rode the 15, I took the 16th Street Mall ride, which obviously is a totally different kind of project because it's a bus-only-

Beep, beep, boop

... um, corridor and not a-

[laughs]

Jinx.

Um, so the thing that really stuck out to me most when I was riding the s- um, the 16th Street Mall ride was that the driver had to get out every time that a wheelchair came on the bus, and they had-

Mm

I love it here, but we're changing.

So no more walking the 16th Street Mall after dark? No, I don't get down there very much.

I'm in my little

bubble

And, you know, I always share a lot of the same stories because I feel like people relate and they like hearing stories.

what I have to say about my past, my background.

And so, yeah, we had an office downtown, right on the 16th Street Mall.

I was down there for seven years.

He's got the Hash Cab license.

Yeah, that's right over off of 16th Street Mall, over off of Broadway.

His license plate's Hash Cab, yes.

I, yeah, so it's a Cash Cab-