Denver Office Tower to Become Apartments
The “High Fidelity Project” in Denver is moving forward with its plan to convert a downtown office tower into multifamily housing. The project is part of a growing national trend of adaptive reuse for underutilized commercial real estate. These complex conversions create opportunities for project managers skilled in budgeting, logistics, and stakeholder coordination.
- The "High Fidelity Project" is a plan by developer The Luzzatto Co. to convert the office towers at 621 and 633 17th Street into approximately 700 apartments. The total estimated cost for this large-scale adaptive reuse project is $319.66 million. - This conversion is a response to downtown Denver's office vacancy rate, which reached an all-time high of over 34% in late 2024. The project is one of at least nine major office-to-residential conversion proposals in Denver since the pandemic began. - To help finance the project, the developer has requested $62.97 million in tax-increment financing from the Downtown Denver Development Authority (DDDA), a body that allocates funds for downtown revitalization. - The project team includes New York-based design firm HLW International, Denver-based MDP Engineering Group for MEP, R&R Engineers for civil engineering, and Thornton Tomasetti as the facade engineer. - Nationally, the trend of converting offices to apartments is accelerating, with projections showing the number of converted units rising from 45,200 in 2023 to an expected 77,700 in 2025. This trend is most prominent with older Class B and C office buildings that have become functionally obsolete. - For business majors, entry points into construction management on projects like this often include roles such as Project Engineer or Project Coordinator, which assist Project Managers. Key transferable skills from a business background include budgeting, cost control, contract management, and client relations. - The developer, The Luzzatto Co., has acquired other major office properties in downtown Denver at significant discounts, including the two-tower Denver Energy Center. The company's total downtown acquisitions give it control of four skyscrapers, with plans to create over 1,200 residential units across its properties. - Adaptive reuse projects present unique construction challenges; conversions often require a larger portion of the budget for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) system overhauls compared to new construction, where the structure or facade might be the largest cost.
