The head of the Downtown Denver Partnership walked on stage Thursday and told a room full of people who work, live and invest in the city's core that virtually everything is awesome in downtown Denver right now.
Tami Door has the 2017 State of Downtown Denver report to back her claim up. The annual report looks at the vision, investments and economic indicators for downtown.
"Let me start with the headline: Downtown Denver is thriving," Door said. "Every economic indicator is up, and there's no doubt that the results are impressive."
IMA Financial Group Chairman and CEO, Robert Cohen, told the crowd at the Seawell Grand Ball Room that businesses in the area are working together to keep downtown strong for any economic downtowns that might lie ahead.
"Economic cycles are going to happen. ... There's going to be good times and bad times," Cohen said. "What's always impressed me about Denver and the people in this room during the 30 years that I've lived here is the downtimes is when we come together and invest, and when we have good times we don't stop investing."
Here are five takeaways from the Downtown Denver Partnership's report released Thursday.
- 42 projects under construction or planned in 2017 are expected to bring 6,295 new residents and 8,805 employees to downtown.
- Those 42 projects represent a $2.77 billion investment in downtown and 1,181 new hotel rooms, 5,341 residential units and 2.5 million square feet of office space.
- Big brands planning to open downtown in 2017 include Whole Foods and Sephora. Target is expected to open in the area next year.
- Downtown generated $52 million in sales tax during 2016 — a roughly 60 percent increase since 2010.
- The area saw 16.4 million overnight visitors last year.
Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
